Research -March 30th

1906 – Canada’s First World Heavyweight Boxing Champion

Tommy Burns, the first Canadian to win the world heavyweight championship on February 23, 1906 with a 20-round decision over champ Marvin Hart. Burns was just 5 foot 7 and 175 pounds and born near Hanover Ontario.(CP PHOTO / National Archives of Canada)  He wasn’t expected to last any longer than 10 rounds in the ring against American Marvin Hart in February 1906, but Tommy Burns not only defeated the reigning champion to become the first Canadian to win the world heavyweight boxing title, he managed to defend it 11 times in less than two years.

Unlike his competitors, Burns travelled to all corners of the globe to challenge anyone and everyone who posed a threat to his title, regardless of race. Believing the title only had weight if it was contested amongst all races, he became the first heavyweight champion to fight with a Jewish challenger and a Native American. In 1908 he was the first to agree to a heavyweight championship bout with an African American. Jack Johnson took the title from Burns, but credited the Canadian with being the only white heavyweight who ever provided a black man with the opportunity to win the title.

In his career, Burns set records for the quickest heavyweight knockout (1 minute 28 seconds) and most consecutive knockout wins by a heavyweight champion (8) as well as shortest heavyweight champion in history.
 

Tommy Burns, byname of Noah Brusso, (born June 17, 1881, Hanover, Ontario, Canada—died May 10, 1955, Vancouver, British Columbia), Canadian world heavyweight boxing champion from February 23, 1906, when he won a 20-round decision over Marvin Hart in Los Angeles, until December 26, 1908, when he lost to Jack Johnson in 14 rounds in Sydney, Australia. This victory made Johnson the first black fighter to hold the heavyweight championship, a development that outraged some fans and even led to rioting in the United States. Burns had successfully defended his title 11 times before the fight with Johnson.

 

From 1900 to 1920 Burns had 60 bouts, winning 46, 36 by knockout. Near the end of his boxing career, Burns joined the Canadian army and taught boxing to military recruits. He was also involved in various business ventures, including a clothing store and a speakeasy. Late in his life Burns underwent a religious conversion, and in 1948 he became an ordained minister. Despite the large sums he had made during his career, Burns died impoverished. He was inducted into Ring magazine’s Boxing Hall of Fame in 1960.

 

Life after boxing

 

In 1928 he moved to New York City where he ran a speakeasy. Although he was wealthy at the end of his boxing career, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression wiped out his fortune. Burns went to work as an insurance salesman and security guard, among other jobs.

Burns continued to box occasionally after dropping the title. During the Great War he joined the Canadian army, serving as a physical fitness instructor for troops in Canada. In 1920, and a month after his 39th birthday, Burns challenged British champion Joe Beckett. Burns was stopped in the seventh round when, after suffering two knockdowns, his corner threw in the towel to end the fight.