Luther Quinter McCarty (March 17, 1892 – May 24, 1913) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1911 to 1913. He was considered by most to be the greatest of all the "Great White Hope" fighters who fought during the time of Jack Johnson. He claimed the Heavyweight Championship during Jack Johnson's troubles with the United States Government, with many boxing historians rating him the man with the best chance of defeating Johnson. McCarty was ranked #10 on The Ring magazine's list of the best American heavyweights of the 1910s.
McCarty, solidly built and agile, stood about 6'4", and used his 80" reach to throw his strong left jab to both his opponent's head and body with equal accuracy. Though he was at his best controlling the action from a distance, he also possessed a powerful right hand, a devastating left hook to the body, and a punishing uppercut - called Betsy - that he would use when his opponents tried to fight him in close. In addition to his physical strengths, McCarty also had a cool fighting style, never appearing in the ring too nervous or affected by his opponents.
Early life Luther Quinter McCarty was born on 20 March 1892 to Maggie McCarty (née Scott), a native of Ireland, and Anton P. McCarty, a cure-all elixirs salesman and proprietor of the White Eagle Medicine Company. Depending on the source, he was born on a farm 30 miles southwest of Lincoln, Nebraska, on a ranch near McCook, Driftwood Creek, Wild Horse Canyon, or in a hollow somewhere in Hitchcock County. His mother was reported to be a stout six feet and 200 pounds, whilst his father stood six feet, five inches tall at 315 pounds. In 1893, Mrs. McCarty died, giving birth to a stillborn son, and as there was no woman in the home, both Luther and young-sister Hazel were taken in by two of McCarty's good neighbours, Mr. and Mrs. John Houlahan, while Anton worked away in his fields of broom corn. He grew up in Piqua, Ohio, and spent time at Sidney gym, as he resided in Sidney since 1907. By 1910, eighteen-year-old Luther decided to go west to lead his life as a cowboy, and found work on a farm in Montana, as an itinerant farmhand, breaking horses. In 1910, he – along with friend Lefty Williams – paid 50 cents to join O'Leary's Athletic Club gymnasium.
Professional boxing career Early career During the first winter in Montana he began boxing with some of the locals, and soon caught the eye of the local fight promoters. He was a substitute for Yank Kenny, who left town the day before the fight, and on January 7, 1911, in his first recorded fight, he knocked out Wat Adams in the second round, and after had had several bouts in Montana, North Dakota, and Canada, fighting seven times, winning seven fights, by stoppage. Of these such bouts included legendary iron-chinned Joe Grim, earning a draw spending his energy in trying to knockout the "toughest man on earth". He had worked as a sparring partner in Culbertson, Montana, in the fall of 1911. And additionally, on December 6, 1911, McCarty fought Joe Cox (6-1, 4 KOs), and stopped him in the sixth-round by way of an uppercut.
On December 18, 1911, Fury fought 25-year-old contender Jeff Clark (60–5–8, 30 KOs) in a non-title bout in Springfield, Missouri. With the exception of the first and second rounds, which were rushed by McCarty, Clark was easily in the lead. The fourth and fifth rounds were evenly contested, but in the third round Clark hooked a left to McCarty's chin, which floored him, though McCarty was up at the count of four. Through the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth rounds, McCarty was outclassed and ultimately lost a points-decision. After defeating McCarty, Clark was said to be matched to fight Harry Wuest on December 28, 1911, followed by that of Joe Jeanette at Memphis in January 1912. After his defeat by Clark, less than two-weeks after, McCarty faced Harry Wuest, in which he followed another loss in the form of a newspaper decision. Following his defeat to Wuest, McCarty returned to achieve five consecutive knockouts in his defeats of Jim Harper, Bill Schultz, and Joe Hagan. McCarty returned to the ring on May 3, 1912, at the Springfield Athletic Club, Springfield, Missouri against Carl Morris (13–2–0, 9 KOs), to which McCarty caught him with a clean right-uppercut to the jaw which sent Morris down in the sixth-round. There was some confusion over how long Morris was down after being put there by McCarty. Morris claimed he was only down six seconds while referee Edward W Cochrane, who was not allowed to utter an audible count by local police, claimed Morris was down fourteen seconds, in which most of the ringside agreed with. The fifth consecutive knockout came in the form of his defeat of Jack Reed on May 23, 1912.
Rise through the ranks On August 5, 1912, McCarty lost the fight via newspaper decision to experienced Jim Stewart. In the fourth, Stewart landed his right on McCarty's jaw with all his might, resulting in his opponent dropping his hands and grinning. McCarty started off with a rush, taking Stewart by surprise and slamming him back against the ropes with a volley of left and right swings and straight punches. Stewart stopped almost everything. McCarty started with a left jab to the face. In the ninth round, McCarty nearly floundered to the floor from weariness when Stewart made him miss. On August 6, 1912, The New York Times wrote that "McCarty did his best work with a left hook. He showed plenty of punching power with this hand. And occasionally he jarred Stewart with his right, but his work with this hand was crude. He was continually trying for Stewart's stomach, but he seemed unable to land in a manner which carried any speed behind the blow. He rushed continually, with his arms extended at full length, and wasted the power which the blow would have carried had he stood still and snapped his punches."
Following his loss to Stewart, McCarty began his journey towards the top of the heavyweight division by facing future lineal champion Jess Willard (10–2–0, 7 KOs) at Madison Square Garden on August 19, 1912. At the weigh-in, Luther, 20 at the time of the fight, weighed in at 203 and a one-quarter pounds, one of the heaviest he had weighed professionally; Willard, 30, came in heavier at 224 pounds. On August 20, 1912, The New York Times wrote: "Willard's great height and reach had McCarty baffled in the first two rounds, but in the next two the Westerner tore in at a clip that gave promise of an easy victory, if not a knockout. Willard came back strong, however, in the later rounds of the bout, drove McCarty back with his accurate left jabs, shook McCarty from head to toes with terrific right uppercuts, and had him bleeding from the mouth, nose and forehead. Both of McCarty's eyes were swollen when he left the right, and Willard carried a large bruise on his left cheek." The fight was granted a draw from The New York Sun, Chicago Tribune, The Boston Daily Globe, whilst being granted a newspaper decision for Willard from The New York Times. Willard was given the verdict almost unanimously by the New York papers, and it was said in reports of the contest that McCarty was hardly able to land one telling blow on him. Undeterred by his previous two results, McCarty fought and beat Jim Barry, Jack McFarland and Al Kaufman, by way of knockout.
On December 10, 1912, McCarty fought against Fireman Jim Flynn (60–16–20, 40 KOs) in Vernon, California, with the winner to face Al Palzer on January 1, 1913, for the heavyweight championship of the world. McCarty weighed 205 pounds, marginally higher than his previous fights, with Flynn coming in at 190 pounds. Flynn entered with a record of 10–1–0–1 in his previous twelve bouts. McCarty improved his record to 16–2–3 with 14 stoppage wins, with a sixteenth-round technical knockout over Flynn. Flynn was an easy target for McCarty's best blows, including a left jab and a right-cross. Although Flynn was outclassed from the first round, he was first in trouble in the eighth-round when a short right sent him to the map for the count. Twice more before the end of the round Flynn went down, once rolling over on the floor three times before rising to his knee, where he crouched with blood pouring in a stream from his mouth and face, while Eyton tolled the seconds. Both of Flynn's eyes were closed, his right ear was pounded to a grisly pulp, his noise broken and his lips driven to shreds between his teeth, resulting in referee Charles Eyton heeding the demands of the howling crowd to stop the fight. After the fight, Flynn remarked: "Jim Corbett said in a mouthful after his second fight with Jeffries - 'he was too damned big.' That goes for me here. I never new they made men so game."
World White heavyweight champion McCarty vs. Palzer On December 10, 1912, after McCarty's stoppage of Flynn, it was announced that McCarty would face White heavyweight champion Al Palzer (8–3–0–1, 5 KOs) on January 1, 1912. In January 1912, Jack Johnson had begun active training again with the idea of getting back into the game, with Johnson remarking: "As far as McCarty and Palzer fighting for the championship — it is absurd. McCarty may be a wonderful boxer, but I will bet $10,000 that I can beat McCarty, Palzer and Willard in the same ring and take on one 15 minutes after defeating the other [...] When I fought Jeffries I told the public just how the bout would come out [...] I hope that the American public will forget some of the things that have been said about Johnson and let some of the 'black hopes' and 'white hopes' meet Johnson and fight it out and let the best man win."
At the official weigh-in, before the fight, Palzer tipped the scales at 218 pounds, while McCarty weighed 205 pounds. Prior to the fight, Palzer remarked: "I'll win any time between the first and the tenth. If the one good old punch doesn't do the work early in the fight I'll wear him down long before the limit. McCarty can't stand my pace. I'm in good shape and never was so confident in my life." However, McCarty stated: "I expect to be a world's champion tonight. I never saw Palzer box, but I'm willing to take anything he can send to give one back. I just ask no quarter. Just let us get together and let the better man go out of the ring with the belt around his waist. I won't be surprised if I land the knockout within two rounds, but I'm ready for whatever comes." Through seventeen rounds and into the eighteenth, McCarty out boxed, out-generaled and out-punched Palzer, and in the eighteenth had Palzer wobbling sadly, his knees shaking under the great strain of the body they no longer were able to support steadily. A succession of lefts and rights to the head, which rocked Palzer to the bottom of his immense frame and caused blood to stream from cuts on his eyes and lips. As the bell signalled the start of the eighteenth-round, McCarty stung Palzer with a left to the jaw, followed by a right to his head. Palzer reeled away, wobbly and shaken. McCarty stalked him for the kill, and referee Eyton knifed in between the two, raised his hands, and the bout was over. Upon his defeat of Palzer, he was given a diamond-studded belt, valued at five thousand dollars, and was the recognised white heavyweight champion of the world. After the events of the Palzer fight, Jack Johnson (54–10–10–3, 25 KOs) set side the tradition that required the champions to wait for others to challenge them, and called on McCarty to face him for the lineal championship. Speaking after the fight, McCarty said: "When I accepted the heavy-weight championship belt, I agreed to an unwritten clause that I should never fight a negro [...] Well, I'm going to live up to my contract.", and that he would not fight Johnson "under any circumstances.”"
McCarty vs. Pelkey