Philly Boxing History

April 16, 1951

GIL TURNER UPSETS JACK IN 1951 FIGHT OF THE YEAR

By Lanse McCurley                         (Phila. Daily News)

The harder fists of youth won another battle of the generations as what the long ring wars have of left Beau Jack faded before the stronger attack of young Gil Turner before more than 6,000 people at the Arena last night. But it wasn't all youth which won, there was planning in the way the youngster tore into the veteran of the whirlwind style instead of waiting for the fury to come to him. Referee Charley Daggert and Judges Frank Knaresboro and Zack Clayton were unanimous in giving the decision to Turner. A crowd of 6,094 spectators paid $18,884.35 to see the duel. They got a bargain.

Turner swept into attack with confidence instead of the fear many experts had predicted would be his, carried the pace for almost the entire battle, and as early as the the first round, and later, in the second, fifth and sixth rounds, clearly had his famous rival on queer street.

But he could never pin the bobbing, weaving Jack hard enough to drop him, and even as late as the seventh, Beau fought back to his best round of the night, his only one. But his old fury showed only in the early stages of the fight. Later, his legs would no longer carry him in and out with the speed needed to make his style effective.

In the seventh, the fading warrior hit Turner with a right that carried his last bit of strength, and Gil merely shrugged it off, although the pain made him grimace and he had nothing nothing but admiration for his senior rival after the bout. The battle was magnificent.

HOME

CALENDAR