Tiger Flowers

Theodore "Tiger" Flowers (August 5, 1895 – November 16, 1927) was an American professional boxer. Nicknamed "The Georgia Deacon", he rose to prominence in the early 20th century, becoming the first African-American World Middleweight Boxing Champion after defeating Harry Greb to claim the title in 1926. He was inducted into The Ring Hall of Fame in 1971, The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1976, The World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990, and The International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1993.^[1]

Tiger Flowers
Statistics
Real name	Theodore Flowers
Nickname(s)	Georgia Deacon
Weight(s)	Middleweight
Nationality	United States
Born	(1895-08-05)August 5, 1895 Camilla, Georgia
Died	November 16, 1927(1927-11-16) (aged 32) New York City, New York
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	161
Wins	136
Wins by KO	56
Losses	15
Draws	8
No contests	2

A left-handed fighter, Flowers was fast and elusive, usually avoiding heavy punishment while landing fast, sharp blows.

Similar to other historically celebrated African-American public figure prizefighters, Tiger Flowers is considered a trailblazer of his era, competing during a time where the boxing profession was predominantly white.

Flowers’ is often compared, in precedence, to fighters George Dixon, the first black boxing champion who won the Bantamweight World Title in 1892, Barbados Joe Walcott, first black to win the World Welterweight title on December 18, 1901, Joe Gans, the first black to win the World Lightweight Title in 1902, and also the more controversial Jack Johnson, the first black to win the World Heavyweight Title in 1908.

In addition to becoming the first black Middleweight champion, Tiger’s unprecedented accumulation of wins (136) and knockouts (56) in his career spanning less than ten years proved to many skeptics that African-Americans could compete at the highest level.

Contents

• 
  1 Personal life
  


• 
  2 Professional career
  


• 
  3 Death
  


• 
  4 Notable bouts
  


• 
  5 See also
  


• 
  6 References
  


• 
  7 Further reading
  


• 
  8 External links
  

Personal life

Theodore Flowers (born February 11, 1893) was born in Mitchell County, Georgia, the son of Lula and Aaron Flowers. His parents previously married in Camillia, Georgia in December 1888.

Flowers’ siblings included an older brother named Carl, and two sisters, O.C and Gertrude.

Theodore Flowers married Willie Mae Spellers and together they had a daughter, Verna Lee Flowers Jackson.

Professional career

Flowers (left), posing with Mickey Walker before their 1926 title bout

After working as a stevedore on the Georgia coast, Flowers temporarily relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1918; this is where he ultimately began boxing professionally at the age of 23.

By early 1920 he started training with manager Walk Miller. Over the next six years the lightning-quick lefthander competed all over the country in a grueling ascent to the top of the boxing ranks.

Flowers combined showmanship inside the ropes with a public persona characterized by sobriety and religious devotion; eventually becoming donned “The Deacon”. He famously carried a Bible into the ring for each fight and also shared scripture. A devoutly religious man, Flowers would recite a passage from Psalm 144 before every bout throughout his career.^[2]

Flowers’ first bout was a victory over fighter Billy Hooper; which he followed up with an impressive two-dozen straight victories before suffering his first loss to Panama Joe Gans.

Like many other African-American boxers of the time period, Flowers found it difficult to obtain fights with white fighters early in his career. He found himself primarily having to fight men of his own race, and many times over, in order to make a living. Despite this, during his era Flowers challenged many high-caliber fighters, including Maxie Rosenbloom, Sam Langford, Kid Norfolk, Johnny Wilson, Jamaica Kid, Mickey Walker and many other future Hall of Fame inductees.

By 1924, after being rated the number-one contender for Harry Greb's middleweight title by The Ring magazine, Flowers earned a shot at Greb; despite previously losing a questionable decision to light heavyweight champion Mike McTigue.

On February 26, 1926, before a crowd of 16,311 at Madison Square Garden, Flowers dethroned champion Harry Greb by unanimous decision. He would also defeat Greb once more on August 19, 1926 to defend the title, although both match results were considered questionable.

Tiger's next and final championship bout came against Mickey Walker on December 3, 1926 in Chicago, where he was defeated for the title. A match decided by points in the end, it was considered a controversial decision in the eyes of many. The match later was investigated by the Illinois Athletic Commission, but the decision was not overturned.

Flowers immediately set his sights on a rematch to regain the title, but tragically his career would be cut short before ever gaining the opportunity.

Flowers’ final match, a victory over Leo Gates, was fought November 12, 1927. ^[3]

Death

Flowers was hospitalized in New York City in early November 1927, requiring surgery to remove scar tissue from around his eyes. Complications from the surgery ultimately resulted in his death on November 16, 1927 at age 32.

The tragic circumstances of Tiger’s death was considered reminiscent of that which caused the death of former champion Harry Greb about a year prior.

Posthumously, Theodore Flowers was honored as one of the greatest fighters of his era. The International Boxing Research Organization would rank him as number 12 on their list of Greatest Middleweights of All Time. Boxing historian Bert Sugar placed him 68th in his Top 100 Fighters catalog.^[4][5] The Bleacher Report named him the number 6 greatest southpaw in boxing history.^[6]

An important figure in Atlanta's black community, Tiger was remembered as a deacon for the Butler Street CME Church and as a member of the lodges of Masons, Elks, and Knights of Pythias. His house on Simpson Road was one of the most luxurious in the city.

Estimates put the number of mourners who turned up to show their respects at around 75,000, with an additional 7,000 crammed the City Auditorium to witness a lavish memorial service. He was laid to rest at Lincoln Cemetery in Atlanta.^[3]

Notable bouts

Result	Opponent	Type	Round, Time	Date	Location	Notes[7]
Draw	Maxie Rosenbloom	PTS	10	1927-11-09	Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
Win	Pete Latzo	UD	10	1927-09-30	Artillery Park, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Draw	Maxie Rosenbloom	PTS	10	1927-07-04	Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois
Loss	Mickey Walker	PTS	10	1926-12-03	Chicago Coliseum, Chicago, Illinois	Lost World Middleweight Title
Loss	Maxie Rosenbloom	DQ	10	1926-10-15	Mechanics Building, Boston, Massachusetts
Win	Harry Greb	SD	15	1926-08-19	Madison Square Garden, New York City	Retained World Middleweight Title
Win	Harry Greb	PTS	15	1926-02-26	Madison Square Garden, New York City	Won World Middleweight Title
Loss	Mike McTigue	SD	10	1925-12-23	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Win	Frank Moody	PTS	10	1925-12-10	Mechanics Building, Boston, Massachusetts
Loss	Jack Delaney	KO	4 (12)	1925-02-26	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Loss	Jack Delaney	KO	2 (12)	1925-01-16	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Win	Johnny Wilson	TKO	3 (10)	1924-12-09	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Loss	Harry Greb	NWS	10	1924-08-21	Legion Stadium, Fremont, Ohio	Newspaper decision
Win	Panama Joe Gans	NWS	12	1923-05-25	Toledo Coliseum, Toledo, Ohio	Newspaper decision
Loss	Kid Norfolk	KO	1 (12)	1924-08-21	Springfield, Ohio	For World "Colored" Light Heavyweight Title
Draw	Kid Norfolk	PTS	8	1922-07-04	Memphis, Tennessee
Loss	Sam Langford	KO	2 (10)	1922-06-05	Ponce de Leon Ballpark, Atlanta, Georgia
Loss	Kid Norfolk	KO	3 (10)	1922-01-30	Atlanta Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia
Loss	Panama Joe Gans	KO	5 (15)	1921-12-15	Atlanta Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia
Loss	Panama Joe Gans	KO	6 (15)	1921-08-08	Atlanta Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia

See also

• List of lineal boxing world champions


• List of middleweight boxing champions

References

1. 
   ^ Cyber Boxing Encyclopedia - Tiger Flowers CyberBoxingZone.com Retrieved on 2014-04-30
   


2. 
   ^ "Tiger Flowers Bio". International Boxing Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2014-05-18..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   


3. 
   ^ ^ab Kaye, Andrew (May 8, 2003). "Tiger Flowers (1895-1927)". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2014-04-11.
   


4. 
   ^ All-Time Middleweight Rankings IBROresearch.com Retrieved on 2014-04-29
   


5. 
   ^ Bert Randolph Sugar (2005). Boxing's Greatest Fighters. Lyons Press. ISBN 978-1-59228-632-4.
   


6. 
   ^ Seekins, Briggs. "Manny Pacquiao and the 25 Greatest Southpaws in Boxing History". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
   


7. 
   ^ Tiger Flower's Professional Boxing Record BoxRec.com. Retrieved on 2014-05-18.
   

Further reading

• Andrew M. Kaye, "The Canonisation of Tiger Flowers: A Black Hero for the 1920s," Borderlines: Studies in American Culture 5, no. 2 (1998): 142-59.


• Andrew M. Kaye, The Pussycat of Prizefighting: Tiger Flowers and the Politics of Black Celebrity (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2004).


• 
  Herman "Skip" Mason Jr., Black Atlanta in the Roaring Twenties (Dover, N.H.: Arcadia, 1997).

External links

• 
  Professional boxing record for Tiger Flowers from BoxRec
  


• Tiger Flowers - Cyber Boxing Zone Biography


• IBHOF Bio - Tiger Flowers


• 
  Theodore "Tiger" Flowers historical marker

Achievements
Preceded by Harry Greb	World Middleweight Champion February 26, 1926 – December 3, 1926	Succeeded by Mickey Walker

Authority control	GND: 129740551 ISNI: 0000 0000 3620 4460 LCCN: n2003023513 VIAF: 55235251 WorldCat Identities (via VIAF): 55235251

This page is only for reference, If you need detailed information, please check here