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Nelson's first pro fight was against a member of a traveling circus - Wallace's Circus.
The real name of this fighter has never been revealed. Fight Fax lists him as Wallace Kid.
Nelson himself remembers his opponent's introduction as Wallace's Wonderful Unknown
and lists him as Wallace's Unknown. Two fights listed here are not included in the Fight Fax list: Against Dare Devil Tildon (or Tilden), September 3, 1903 and Billy Heck, November 10, 1901. These bouts are probably not accounted for in the official ring record published by The International Boxing Hall of Fame (The Boxing Register). His official record is 131 bouts. Including these two no-decision bouts gives a total of 133 bouts. The two fights are referred to by Nelson himself in his autobiography. Nelson listed two fights as no-decisions: George Brownfield, January 3 and Jack Robinson, April 5 - both in 1903. It seems likely that these bouts were actually exhibitions - so far I have listed them as such. The Boxing Register lists Nelson as having been knocked out three times in his ring career. Ad Wolgast, February 22, 1910, and Owen Moran, November 26, 1910, both registered stoppage wins against Nelson. He is also registered as having been stopped by Eddie Sterns, August 26, 1903. According to Nelson Sterns was awarded a decision by the referee after being knocked silly by the Dane. Nelson listed the bout as L-9 - not as a stoppage loss as in Fight Fax. Against Kid Ryan, March 17, 1902, Nelson is listed as having won a six-round decision by Fight Fax. Nelson lists the bout as a knockout win in the 5th round. Furthermore, Nelson lists the date as March 17, while Fight Fax has March 18. The fight against Mike Walsh, December 16, 1901 is registered as KO-5 in Fight Fax, but Nelson has it KO-6. |
