Billy Miske

Billy Miske, alias The Saint Paul Thunderbolt (April 12, 1894 – January 1, 1924), was a professional boxer from Saint Paul, Minnesota. During his tenure as a pugilist he had multiple-bout series with a plethora of all-time greats including Harry Greb, Jack Dempsey, Fred Fulton, Jack Dillon, Tommy Gibbons, Bill Brennan and Battling Levinsky, among others. Despite a career shortened by illness and an early death, statistical website BoxRec still lists Miske as the No. 26 ranked heavyweight of all time.

Professional boxing career

An American of German descent, Miske stood at 6'0" and over the course of his career weighed between 158 and 190 lbs. He was managed by John Pearl "J.P" Smith (1913–18) and Jack Reddy (1918–23).

Miske was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. He began his career as a middleweight. During his career, he competed successfully as a light-heavyweight and heavyweight, defeating many well-known fighters. On September 6, 1920, Miske lost to Jack Dempsey in the third round of a fight to decide the World Heavyweight Boxing title. It was the first heavyweight title match to be broadcast on radio, and it was the only time Billy Miske was ever knocked out.

Illness and death Miske fought his last bout against Bill Brennan, whom he met on November 7, 1923. At this point in his life, Miske knew he did not have much time left before his kidneys gave out (doctors had told him he had only months to live because of his Bright's Disease). Due to his family's economic situation, however, Miske decided he had to step into the ring one more time. His health prevented him from training for the fight. Amazingly, though, Miske knocked Brennan out in the fourth round. Miske died in St. Paul, Minnesota of kidney failure less than 2 months later on January 1, 1924.

Legacy Miske's enduring legacy is that of an underappreciated fighter. It is argued that Miske deserved, but never received, title matches against Jack Dillon, Battling Levinsky and Georges Carpentier. His three recorded losses are against Hall of Famers Jack Dempsey, Kid Norfolk and Tommy Gibbons, while his list of defeated opponents boasts some of the most storied names in boxing history. Miske's final professional record was 72-15-14 with 33 wins by knockout. On December 8, 2009, it was announced that Miske would be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2010. On September 28, 2012 Miske was inducted into the Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame.

Professional boxing record 103 Win 43–3–2 (55)

KO 4 (10) Nov 7, 1923

102 Win 42–3–2 (55)

KO 4 (10), Jan 12, 1923

101 Loss 41–3–2 (55)

UD 10 Dec 15, 1922

100 Win 41–2–2 (55)

TKO 3 (10) Nov 11, 1922

99 Win 40–2–2 (55)

DQ 10 (15), Oct 13, 1922

98 Draw 39–2–2 (55)

PTS 12 Sep 4, 1922

97 Win 39–2–1 (55)

KO 1 (10) Aug 25, 1922

96

38–2–1 (55)

NWS 12 Jul 10, 1922

95 Win 38–2–1 (54)

KO 1 (10), Jul 3, 1922

94 Win 37–2–1 (54)

KO 1 (12) Jun 23, 1922

93 Win 36–2–1 (54)

PTS 10 May 29, 1922

92 Win 35–2–1 (54)

PTS 15 Apr 27, 1922

91 Win 34–2–1 (54)

TKO 2 (12) Apr 10, 1922

90 Win 33–2–1 (54)

KO 2 (10), Mar 2, 1922

89 Win 32–2–1 (54)

DQ 6 (8) Feb 20, 1922

88 Win 31–2–1 (54)

TKO 13 (15) Jan 28, 1922

87

30–2–1 (54)

NWS 12 Jan 16, 1922

86 Win 30–2–1 (53)

TKO 4 (10) Nov 11, 1921

85

29–2–1 (53)

NWS 8 Jul 2, 1921

84

29–2–1 (52)

NWS 10 Jun 8, 1921

83 Win 29–2–1 (51)

KO 2 (10) May 9, 1921

82 Win 28–2–1 (51)

KO 4 (10) Mar 7, 1921

81 Win 27–2–1 (51)

PTS 10 Feb 9, 1921

80 Loss 26–2–1 (51)

KO 3 (10), Sep 6, 1920

79 Win 26–1–1 (51)

TKO 2 (10) Jun 11, 1920

78

25–1–1 (51)

NWS 12 Jul 7, 1919

77

25–1–1 (50)

NWS 8 Jun 25, 1919

76

25–1–1 (49)

NWS 10 Jun 19, 1919

75

25–1–1 (48)

NWS 10 Jun 9, 1919

74

25–1–1 (47)

NWS 10 Jun 6, 1919

73 Win 25–1–1 (46)

PTS 15 Apr 28, 1919

72

24–1–1 (46)

NWS 10 Mar 31, 1919

71

24–1–1 (45)

KO 4 (10) Mar 28, 1919

70

23–1–1 (45)

NWS 6 Jan 11, 1919

69 Win 23–1–1 (44)

TKO 10 (10) Dec 27, 1918

68 Win 22–1–1 (44)

KO 2 (15), Dec 16, 1918

67

21–1–1 (44)

NWS 6 Nov 28, 1918

66

21–1–1 (43)

NWS 6 Nov 18, 1918

65

21–1–1 (42)

NWS 10 Sep 21, 1918

64

21–1–1 (41)

NWS 4 Jul 16, 1918

63

21–1–1 (40)

NWS 8 Jul 15, 1918

62

21–1–1 (39)

NWS 8 Jul 12, 1918

61 Win 21–1–1 (38)

PTS 4 Jun 14, 1918

60 Draw 20–1–1 (38)

PTS 4 Jun 7, 1918

59 Win 20–1 (38)

TKO 2 (4) May 31, 1918

58

19–1 (38)

NWS 10 May 3, 1918

57 Win 19–1 (37)

PTS 10 Apr 12, 1918

56 Win 18–1 (37)

TKO 5 (12) Apr 8, 1918

55

17–1 (37)

NWS 10 Feb 27, 1918

54

17–1 (36)

NWS 10 Jan 18, 1918

53

17–1 (35)

NWS 10 Nov 13, 1917

52 Win 17–1 (34)

TKO 5 (12) Oct 30, 1917

51 Loss 16–1 (34)

PTS 12 Oct 16, 1917

50

16–0 (34)

NWS 10 Oct 2, 1917

49

16–0 (33)

NWS 10 Sep 28, 1917

48

16–0 (32)

NWS 10 Sep 18, 1917

47 Win 16–0 (31)

KO 1 (10) Jul 24, 1917

46

15–0 (31)

NWS 10 Feb 27, 1917

45

15–0 (30)

NWS 10 Jan 16, 1917

44

15–0 (29)

NWS 12 Jan 12, 1917

43

15–0 (28)

NWS 12 Jan 1, 1917

42

15–0 (27)

NWS 10 Dec 19, 1916

41

15–0 (26)

NWS 6 Nov 27, 1916

40

15–0 (25)

NWS 10 Nov 17, 1916

39 Win 15–0 (24)

KO 6 (10) Nov 9, 1916

38

14–0 (24)

NWS 10 Oct 30, 1916

37

14–0 (23)

NWS 10 Oct 12, 1916

36 Win 14–0 (22)

TKO 6 (10) Sep 21, 1916

35 Win 13–0 (22)

KO 10 (10) Aug 31, 1916

34 Win 12–0 (22)

KO 9 (10) Jun 22, 1916

33

11–0 (22)

NWS 10 Apr 14, 1916

32 Win 11–0 (21)

PTS 15 Feb 29, 1916

31

10–0 (21)

NWS 10 Jan 28, 1916

30 Win 10–0 (20)

KO 2 (10) Dec 28, 1915

29 Win 9–0 (20)

KO 8 (10) Dec 17, 1915

28

8–0 (20)

NWS 10 Dec 3, 1915

27

8–0 (19)

NWS 12 Nov 1, 1915

26 Win 8–0 (18)

KO 2 (10) Sep 10, 1915

25

7–0 (18)

NWS 10 Aug 24, 1915

24

7–0 (17)

NWS 10 Jul 12, 1915

23

7–0 (16)

NWS 10 Apr 28, 1915

22

7–0 (15)

NWS 10 Apr 6, 1915

21 Win 7–0 (14)

DQ 6 (10) Mar 23, 1915

20

6–0 (14)

NWS 8 Mar 16, 1915

19

6–0 (13)

NWS 6 Feb 25, 1915

18

6–0 (12)

NWS 6 Jan 16, 1915

17

6–0 (11)

NWS 6 Jan 12, 1915

16

6–0 (10)

NWS 6 Jan 9, 1915

15

6–0 (9)

NWS 6 Jan 1, 1915

14

6–0 (8)

NWS 10 Dec 10, 1914

13 Win 6–0 (7)

TKO 4 (10) Nov 23, 1914

12 Win 5–0 (7)

TKO 3 (6) Nov 14, 1914

11 Win 4–0 (7)

KO 2 (6) Jun 15, 1914

10

3–0 (7)

NWS 10 Jun 1, 1914

9

3–0 (6)

NWS 10 May 26, 1914

8

3–0 (5)

NWS 6 May 16, 1914

7

3–0 (4)

NWS 10 Mar 24, 1914

6

3–0 (3)

NWS 10 Feb 17, 1914

5

3–0 (2)

NWS 10 Sep 30, 1913

4 Win 3–0 (1)

TKO 2 (10) Jun 10, 1913

3

2–0 (1)

NWS 6 Apr 29, 1913

2 Win 2–0

KO 2 (6) Apr 7, 1913

1 Win 1–0

PTS 6 Mar 5, 1913