The topic for Week 24 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Last One Standing.” There’s always a last one standing in boxing!
For several years in the 1930’s and the 1940’s, my dad’s Uncle Everett was one of the leading amateur boxers in Maine. When searching the newspapers for a catchy headline of a winning match, I found one from the March 21, 1941 Waterville Morning Sentinel titled “Everett Ladd and Pancho Villa in Semi-Final Here.” Pancho Villa? I recognized the name. Wasn’t he a famous boxer?
Yes….and no. There was a famous boxer named Pancho Villa. He was a scrappy, Filipino who stood only 5’1” and is best known for becoming the World Flyweight Champion. He died in 1925 from complications resulting from an infected tooth, so clearly this wasn’t the same Pancho Villa. The Pancho Villa Uncle Everett knocked out was some white dude from Winslow. I know he was white because the newspapers made it a point to mention it when any of the boxers weren’t. Still, pasty Pancho Villa was reputed to be a fierce competitor. Fans were excited about this match-up, just as they were when the two fought in 1938.
I love the way the reporter uses words to paint a vivid picture. He wrote:
Both Villa and Ladd are catalogued as aggressive artists, who toss science out the window and are content to flail away from gong to gong or until someone is wrapped in the arms of Morpheus. The scheduled distance is six rounds. Promoter Joe Bolduc said last evening that fans are already asking for ringside seats and Joe anticipates another big turnout like that which witnessed the recent amateur show.
Uncle Everett whupped Pancho’s ass, just like he did back in 1938. Again, the reporter’s wordplay leaves nothing to the imagination. The March 28, 1941 Waterville Morning Sentinel reported the following:
A sizzling six rounder, the semi-final joust between Pancho Villa of Winslow and Everett Ladd of Portland was won by Ladd as Villa failed to continue the bout at the start of the sixth session. It was called a technical kayo in the fifth frame. Villa weighed 149, and Ladd 152.
Up to this point both boys battled terrifically, one giving just as the other. There were more knockdowns in this one battle alone than most people would see if they went to a dozen fights.
Pancho, at times clowning in his own inimitable way, went down to the canvas five times during the torrid thumping party, four times for the count of nine and once for the count of five. Ladd went down but once, for the count of eight.
Three other bouts gave the fans plenty for their money as two of them ended in kayos and the other a decision, the only one of the night on the five card program.
It’s unknown how Uncle Everett was introduced to boxing. The first mention of his participation in the sport was in a newspaper in 1936 when he was 21 years old. Uncle Everett won more fights than he lost. A popular boxer on the amateur New England circuit, newspapers often referred to him as “the slugging welterweight” or “the Westbrook Walloper.” He was known for hitting hard. He once hit an opponent so hard that he broke his hand, losing the match on a technical kayo.
His amateur career came to an abrupt halt in September of 1941 when he was suspended by the league indefinitely. The story behind the suspension seems a bit suspect.
In “Talking it Over with Jack Moran, Sports Editor” in The Bangor Daily News, September 18, 1941, Moran wrote about how disappointed fans in Bangor were when a highly-anticipated six round semi-final between newcomer Charlie Babock of Bangor and Everett Ladd fell through. Everett joined the army, and they refused to give him leave to participate in the fight. Instead, Lee Anderson, a boxer with bad knees, filled in and the match was frustratingly boring – not at all what the fans paid for and expected. The referee ended the match part-way through the third round because Anderson was floundering so badly and in obvious pain. Moran didn’t place blame on Ladd who was unable to get leave, or on the promoters, who in an unusual move, made the boxers sign contracts to be there to ensure the fight went through. They did everything in their power to deliver the much-hyped match to the fans. Instead, Moran placed all the blame on Uncle Everett’s manager for not finding a comparable replacement. He wrote, “He knew of Babcock by reputation and apparently from observation. And when it became known that Ladd wasn’t available then his job was to find someone who would make a good fight of it. Even if he didn’t know Babcock, he knew Ladd. And armed with that knowledge it seems he could have found someone who was nearly as good or better.”
On September 20th, Uncle Everett missed a match in Rockland with Slugger Thomas. The Ladd/Thomas match was the main event, and fans were again left disappointed with the last-minute substitution. Though no information was available explaining why he missed this match, it was likely another case of the military refusing to grant leave. From 1936 when his boxing career is first mentioned in the newspaper until these two incidents in September of 1941, there’s not even a whisper of him missing a match. He was a reliable competitor and a regular on the circuit.
The Maine Boxing Commission wasted no time and suspended him four days later, on September 24th. Given his military commitment coupled with his previously sterling reputation, the suspension seems unduly harsh. Why were they making an example of him, when the papers often named boxers who failed to show up for scheduled matches?
A sports writer from The Lewiston Evening Journal agreed when he wrote this snarky snippet for the newspaper on September 27th:
Here in Maine the boxing commissioners indefinitely suspended Everett Ladd of Westbrook because of his failure to show up for a bout in Rockland. Now they’ll have nothing to do until they want to get into print again and then they’ll raise the suspension.
Uncle Everett fought in shipyard matches through 1942 to keep in shape, and in 1943, his suspension was lifted. The Portland Evening Express heralded his return on July 26, 1943:
Veteran Everett Ladd of Westbrook, who has been keeping in trim by boxing in shipyard bouts, returns to action in the top preliminary battle with Teddy Savasuk of Winslow as his target. There will be many former Ladd backers anxious to see how the Westbrook walloper has done since laying off ring work several months ago.
His boxing was put on hold when he left for the war. He picked it back up, though less frequently, when he returned. In 1965 he participated in a reunion committee to bring together New England amateur boxers who fought before and during WWII. Over 200 people attended the event, which doubled as a fundraiser for the Sisters of Mary Blind School Fund. Uncle Everett continued to box until 1968, but retained a passion for the sport until his death in 1979. He was truly one of the last, great Maine boxers left standing.
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