Panama Joe Gans
| Panama Joe Gans | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Cyril Quinton Jr. |
| Weight(s) |
Welterweight Middleweight |
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) |
| Nationality | Barbados 
|
| Born |
November 14, 1896 Barbados Settled in New York in 1917 |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 134 |
| Wins | 90 |
| Wins by KO | 43 |
| Losses | 31 |
| Draws | 11 |
| No contests | 2 |
Panama Joe Gans was a black boxer who held the World Colored Middleweight Championship for four years, shortly before it was discontinued. Born Cyril Quinton Jr. on November 14, 1896 in Barbados, British West Indies and raised in the Panama Canal Zone, the 5'7" Quinton originally fought out of Panama and then New York City. He took his ringname from boxing great Joe Gans, the first black American fighter to win a world boxing title. He found his greatest fame fighting as a middleweight at between 147 and 160 lbs, but in his early career he took the Panamanian Lightweight Title and contended for the Panamanian Welterweight Title at weights roughly between 130 and 147 pounds.
Panama Joe Gans was born Cyril Quinton Jr. on November 4, 1896 on the small tropical Island of Barbados. His family moved to Colon, Panama while he was still a child. After his father died when he was very young, he was detained by local authorities for stealing fish and spent the next five years in a detention center. At the center, he learned the basic aspects of boxing by partaking in bouts organized by his classmates. Under the guidance of H.R. Cambridge, a local Panamanian business manager, and real estate developer, Quinton adopted his ring name, and became a successful boxer in the Canal Zone where he fought his first thirty fights with considerable success.
On October 10, 1915, Panama Joe first won the Lightweight Championship of Panama at only eighteen against Young Sam Langford at the Pacific Theatre in Panama City in a twenty-round points decision. He later took the Middleweight Championship of Panama by knocking out Benny McGovern in the third of fifteen rounds on November 30, 1916 at the Santa Ana Plaza in Panama City. At the time, these titles were often described as extending to both Central and South America.
In his first bout after taking the Middleweight Championship of Panama on December 12, 1916, though barely twenty-one years old, he soundly defeated Abraham Jacob Hollandersky, a former holder of the Panamanian Heavyweight Championship in 20 rounds in Panama City.
In 1917, Panama Joe was brought to New York by the talented boxing manager Leo P. Flynn, and settled in Harlem. Some of his important early victories were against the Jamaica Kid, Cleve Hawkins and Battling Thomas.
Gans had an important early career win against Jeff Smith on July 8, 1919, in an eight-round newspaper decision of the Philadelphia Inquirer at Atlantic City. On October 23, 1919, Gans made a very strong showing against well known boxer Bert Kenney in an eight-round newspaper decision in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Kenney had been an opponent of Jack Dempsey in 1916. On May 24, 1920, Gans made a splash in the boxing world by knocking out Young Fisher in the fifth round at Rochester, New York. On June 15 of that year, Gans would defeat Fisher again in a ten-round newspaper decision. Rather than acting as a lever to gain access to more lucrative opponents, several boxing historians wrote than these wins, and Gans' exceptional record may have made it more difficult for Gans to sign for a bout with a white Middleweight championship contender.
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