LOOKBACK: Legendary Austin boxer fought twice outside along the Cedar
Jackie Graves boxed in summers of 1950, 1952 at Marcusen Park baseball stadium
On a summer night in 1950, Austin’s Jackie Graves continued his comeback as a national featherweight when he walked into the ring at his hometown’s Marcusen Park baseball stadium.
Nicknamed “The Austin Atom,” Graves was facing off July 24, 1950, against Jackie Blair — the “Texas Sensation from Dallas” — after a great deal of pre-fight hype. Graves and Blair trained separately in public in a boxing ring set up at Horace Austin State Park near the pool.
But their fight ended in the first round.
Graves, a 130-pounder, landed a lefthand punch to the jaw of Blair, who didn’t fully recover by the referee’s 10 count although Blair challenged the ruling in the ring and afterward.
“It wasn’t the gentle breeze wafting unwelcome odors from the disposal plant but it was stench, and more than 2,000 fight fans quit Marcusen Park in disgust Monday night,” the Austin Daily Herald wrote July 25, 1950.
While expectations were for Marcusen to host more than 5,000 spectators, the ballpark still drew a good crowd to watch Graves — also called “The Hormel Hammerer” and “The Austin Assassin” — in his first outdoor boxing match in Austin since 1943 when he fought as an amateur. He turned pro the next year.
Graves, who died in 2005 at age 83, was inducted posthumously in 2011 to the Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame, with a record of 82–11 and two draws in his professional career from 1944 to 1956. Out of his victories, 48 were knockouts or KOs.
“There has never been any debate among local historians as to who was the most-exciting fighter to ever climb into a Minnesota ring, as Jackie Graves has universally held that title more than a half century, and oh, what a fighter he was,” according to the Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame.
In 1950, the Herald described the Graves-Blair match as having a “weird finish” and being Graves’ “easiest fight of his career,” while proving tough luck for its promoters, the Queen of Angels Catholic Church Men’s Club.
“Most fans were picking Graves to knock out the Texan in the third, fourth or fifth (round),” the Herald wrote. “Blair had been unimpressive in workouts here.”
Graves was heavily favored to beat Blair in his search for a third-straight win in a comeback campaign that started June 15 in St. Paul and led to eight consecutive victories for Graves. This comeback stemmed from Graves being knocked out two matches straight in late 1949 and early 1950.
Yet, the Marcusen Park fight didn’t give Graves much redemption as the Herald noted Blair was stunned by the punch but didn’t appear hurt.
“Blair immediately protested. He looked fit as a fiddle and ready to proceed with the fisticuffs,” the Herald wrote.
The Austin Atom also was stunned and not happy.
“So far as (Graves’) comeback bid is concerned, last night’s fracas hurt him more than it helped.”
Graves wanted a good workout “but last night’s affair didn’t even give the Austin boy a chance to get warmed up.”
Graves could draw a crowd. During his amateur career, Graves attracted 3,000 to 5,000 spectators for every fight. After training for years in Austin’s Shaw Gym downtown, Graves posted a 284–6 amateur record, including a 1942 national title.
Six days before their fight, “full-fledged workouts” began for Graves and Blair in Austin. On his first day, Graves spent an hour on the punching bag and shadow boxing at the state park.
In Minneapolis the next day, Graves boxed several rounds against a partner at the Star and Tribune newspaper’s boxing clinic.
After more workouts in the state park, Graves and Blair weighed in at noon before the fight at Shaw Gym. Their 8:30 p.m. main event followed preliminary fights.
Tickets sold in today’s dollars for $48 ringside; $32 grandstand; and $16 bleachers. The fight was another way to use Marcusen’s $65,000 concrete grandstand that opened two years earlier (nearly $885,000 today).
The quick Graves-Blair ending was a “severe blow” to the Queen of Angels Men’s Club, which had hoped it would start a successful series.
“The setup at the park was pretty sweet, and the weather was ideal” but fans were “burned up,” the Herald wrote.
Two years later, Austin’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1216 organized another Graves fight at Marcusen while hosting about 1,500 delegates for a state VFW convention. The following night, Marcusen hosted an “all-professional wrestling” event in the same ring.
But the 10-round fight against Corky Gonzales of Denver lacked the 1950 pre-fight hype. It also sold about 500 or so fewer tickets.
A day before the fight, the promoter noted in the Herald that plenty of tickets were available despite rumors of a sellout.
Gonzales won a narrow decision over Graves, mostly from knocking Graves to the mat four times in the 8th round. Graves was called “rusty,” with the Herald noting he had not fought since March in Miami.
Two days later, the promoter considered the fight “a big bust” as both fighters were too injured for the next promoted match a week later in Minneapolis.
