Joe Goss

British boxer

Joseph Goss (1837 1885) was an English bare knuckle boxer. He emigranted to the United States of America in 1867. After defeating Tom Allen in Boone County, Kentucky, he held the American and what many boxing historians now consider the World Heavyweight boxing championship from 7 September 1876 to 30 May 1880. Although he rarely scaled more than 160 pounds, the clever and aggressive Goss routinely fought men both bigger and heavier than himself.

Goss was born on 6 November 1837 in Northampton, Northamptonshire, East Midlands, England. His father was a shoemaker, and brought his son up in that trade. By 18, Goss was fighting exhibitions at county fairs and beginning to win a reputation as a talented hard hitting boxer. Goss lost one of the few matches of his early career when Hall of Famer Jem Mace defeated him in 19 rounds (1 hour and 55 minutes) near London on 1 September 1863 for the exceptional purse of £500 a side. The title bout was for the middleweight championship of England. Mace won the bout, Goss being "knocked out of time", or down and unable to continue the fight. Eluding the police, the large crowd had to be moved from two previous locations to Plumstead Marshes, Southeast of London. According to the Irish Post Goss lost to future American Champion Joe Coburn in a buildup to his fight with Jem Mace, which was to take place in Piercetown, Tipperary, Ireland in 1864. Goss fought a 1 round draw against Jem Mace on 24 May 1866 near Meopham, Kent that was considered to be for the English Heavyweight Championship. Very few blows were struck, when after 1 hour, the referee leapt into the ring and facing the laughter and hisses of the crowd, declared the fight a "drawn battle". Mace later claimed he had sprained an ankle severely a few nights before.

After several earlier fights were stopped by Police, Tom Allen and Joe Goss finally met on 5 March 1867 in Bristol for what a few historians considered a defense of the Middleweight championship of England. With Police still pursuing the combatants, the fight was relocated twice before commencing at last in Bristol. Goss had just completed a year in jail for his previous fight with Jem Mace. According to one account, Goss had a decided lead until the 34th round. Goss's right and Allen's left hands were somewhat disabled in the fighting, which caused the judges to end the fight in the 35th round in a draw. Like Jem Mace, Goss would soon flee to America where boxing was still popular, and somewhat less hounded by the Police, at least during exhibitions, where he would secure his income for the next few years.

Goss was in America by July 1867, and remained there fighting primarily exhibitions through 1882, except for a brief trip back to London in January 1876. Goss returned to America on 15 April 1876, accompanied by Jem Mace, and spent the Spring and Summer travelling the country with the circus. He sparred much of the time from 1877–8 with the well known wrestler, "Professor" William Miller, and the boxer Johnny Dwyer. Allen claimed to have won the bout, and stated "It seems to me that I cannot get fair play in this country, and I now say I will never again enter the ring". Allen was arrested briefly after the match, as boxing was illegal in Kentucky. Goss was later arrested on 16 September in New York and served four months in jail in Burlington, Kentucky. According to one account, Allen skipped bail to head to England to seek fights, and spend time at the racetracks. It had earlier been made clear to the combatants by the Mayor of nearby Pittsburgh that the illegal fight would not take place in his city. Goss had grown up and apprenticed as a cobbler in Wolverhampton, Buckinghamshire as a boy. By 1873, an Inn on Wolverhampton's King Street, known as the "Saracen's Head", he had once kept in Woverhampton, Buckinghamshire, near Birmingham, and Northeast of London was liquidated. A Saracen was a reference to an Arab or Muslim, and the emblem of a Saracen's Head usually indicated a person had been on the crusades. It was a name given to several Medieval buildings in Northampton and a large number of subsequent English Pubs and hotels. Goss engaged in a series of exhibition bouts in America with John L. Sullivan before retiring in 1882 and was in Sullivan's corner when Sullivan won the title from Paddy Ryan. After he had coached and seconded John L. Sullivan in 1882, he opened his own "Saracen's Head", a Boston Sporting House and tavern at 22 Lagrange Street. On 24 March 1885, Goss died of Bright's disease, not uncommon to boxers, at his clubhouse, Saracen's Head in Boston, at the age of 47. In 2003, Goss was admitted to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the Pioneer category.