Joseph Gans Was One Of The First very popular black sports heroes in Baltimore. He was an exceptionally talented and well respected boxing champion during the first decade of the twentieth century. Boxing experts of his time referred to him as "the greatest boxer who has ever lived." Later writers argued he was "the best fighter, pound for pound, that ever laced on a glove." He held the lightweight championship for seven years between 1901 and 1908 and fought opponents from a wide range of class weights, something permissible at that time.
Gans was born in Baltimore on November 25, 1874, and given the name "Joseph Saifuss Butts," after his baseball-playing father. Adopted as a toddler he became "Joseph Gaines." His last name was changed again to "Gans" by boxing writers. He started boxing as a teenager, winning his first bout in 1890 and collecting a purse of $4 for his efforts, and turned professional in Baltimore in 1891. Gans faced the many hurdles that all "colored fighters" of his time encountered, but the openly racist opponents, fans, media, and promoters did not keep him from winning most of his fights.
Standing five feet six inches and weighing a mere 133 pounds, Gans won the lightweight world championship from Frank Erne, at Fort Erie stadium in Ontario, Canada, on May 12, 1902. During Gans's career, he fought one hundred and fifty-five opponents, winning 147 times and losing only eight fights. His biggest single earning was $11,000 for a 42-round match in 1906 in Nevada. His greatest opponent was "Battling" Nelson whom Gans fought three times as champion, losing his last fight to Nelson on July 4, 1908, at the San Mateo Hills arena, near San Francisco, California.
Gans's ability in the ring, as well as his charm and professionalism, won him a cross-section of fans in Baltimore and around the country. He used his boxing earnings to improve the welfare of his extended family, at the same time living in "fine style." Gans owned and operated the Goldfield Hotel in downtown Baltimore that housed his residence, plus a gymnasium, saloon, and nightclub. He entertained famous world class sports figures such as "Battling"Nelson and Jack Johnson at the Goldfield, Eubie Blake played piano there, and George M. Cohan and Edie Foy came to hear him. Gans is reported to have been the first African American in Baltimore to have purchased an automobile.
Gans's death from tuberculosis on August 19, 1910, in Baltimore, just two years after he lost his boxing championship, shocked his fans. They gave him a hero's funeral as thousands attended the service and lined Baltimore's streets to witness the colorful funeral procession taking his casket toMount Auburn Cemetery. In recognition of his outstanding boxing career, he was posthumously inducted into the Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame in 1973.
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