Once upon a time in America, boxing and horse racing were two of the most popular sports, eclipsed only by baseball. Both sports have declined in importance. Horse racing was outrun by legalized gambling as casinos sprouted like mushrooms and mega-payout lotteries became water cooler talk. Boxing’s dive has been similarly steep with few television broadcasts and today’s heavyweight champion disputed among four rival sanctioning bodies. Gone are the days when Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, and Mike Tyson were household names.
Back in the early 1900s, even towns like Black Diamond had their local boxing heroes. In this photo Sheriff Bob Hodge, left, Harry Gwin, and a kneeling trainer surround Mighty Jimmy Sullivan who didn’t weigh 100 pounds soaking wet. Bob Hodge at 6 foot 4 inches and over 200 pounds towered above his tiny friend. This was probably a publicity shot taken in a photo parlor.
Robert “Bob” Hodge was himself a prizefighter. Hodge was so popular that when he boxed in Seattle, special trains were added for locals who wanted to see him fight. Born in Scotland in 1875, Hodge came to the U.S. at age 14, settling in Black Diamond where he worked in the coal mines. In 1903 he was appointed as deputy sheriff, a position he held until elected King County Sheriff in 1908, then reelected in 1910. That year Hodge was embroiled in controversy and accused of neglecting to enforce laws against slot machines.
In 1912, Hodge ran for governor on the Bull Moose Progressive party, finishing third with 24% of the vote in a race where the Democratic and Republican candidates each received about 30%, while a socialist and prohibitionist split the remaining 14%. Hodge was killed in 1923 as foreman of a road-building crew after a small blast exploded prematurely. He was working near Cow Canyon about 50 miles north of Redmond, Oregon on a highway project, now known as U.S. Route 97.
Many men of Irish descent became boxers. Jimmy Sullivan’s namesake, John L. Sullivan is recognized as the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing reigning from 1882 until 1892. One day in 1899, a “friendly match” was staged between Big Bob Hodge and Mighty Jimmy Sullivan. Due to beer spilled in the ring, Hodge slipped and fell about the same time Sullivan managed to land a punch. Jimmy was conned into thinking that he knocked Bob down and afterward boasted around town, “I’ll lick any man in the world – and Canada, too!”
Jimmy Sullivan was reported to have moved north from Nortonville, California where the Black Diamond Coal Mining Company was originally based. After coal was discovered near Jones Lake in 1882, the company relocated operations to south King County. Known as the town drunk, one habit followed Jimmy from Nortonville and was repeated in Black Diamond. After leaving a saloon, Sullivan headed back home following the railroad tracks. Invariably Jimmy ended up lost, and townsfolks would soon hear Sullivan hollering, “Man lost! Man lost! And a damn good one, too! Five dollars to anybody that can find me!”
This photo comes courtesy of the Black Diamond History Museum with photo enhancements by Boomer Burnham, a Tahoma High School photography instructor whose website is: BoomersPhotography.com
