Joe Gans was light­weight box­ing world cham­pion from 1902 to 1908.

Known as the “old Mas­ter,” Gans is regarded as pound-for-pound one of the great­est box­ers that ever lived. He is the first native-born African-American to win a world box­ing title.

Born in 1874, Gans began is box­ing career in Bal­ti­more in 1891. Known for his sci­en­tific and ana­lyt­i­cal approach to box­ing, Gans stud­ied his oppo­nents’ style, their strengths and weak­nesses, and then devel­oped a dev­as­tat­ing counter-attack. Gans was said to deliver a punch as strong as a mule’s kick with pin-point accuracy.

Near the peak of his career and fame, Gans devel­oped tuber­cu­lo­sis and died in 1910.

Here is a Joe Gans trib­ute video that was posted to YouTube:

Here is Gans’ 1907 fight with Kid Herman:

Vis­it­ing Joe Gans’ Grave

Gans is buried at Mt. Auburn Ceme­tery, 2630 Water­view Avenue. GPS: N 39° 15.644′, W 076° 38.337′

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