Philadelphia Jack O'Brien

Joseph Francis Hagan (better known as Philadelphia Jack O'Brien) born James Francis Hagan or Hagen, and also identified in some sources as Joseph Francis Hagan, (January 17, 1878 – November 12, 1942) was an American professional boxer who held the world light heavyweight title in 1905 after defeating Bob Fitzsimmons. Active from the 1890s to the early 1910s, he competed across the middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight divisions, and fought leading boxers of his era including Bob Fitzsimmons, Tommy Burns, Stanley Ketchel, Jack Johnson, and Sam Langford.

Nat Fleischer, founder and editor of The Ring Magazine, ranked O'Brien as the No. 2 All-Time Light Heavyweight, and famed boxing promoter Charley Rose ranked him as the No. 3 All-Time Light Heavyweight.

O'Brien was inducted into the Ring Magazine hall of fame in 1968, the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1987, and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1994.

Biography O'Brien in fighting pose Born in Philadelphia to Irish parents Thomas Hagan and Mary Ryan. Hagan was the older brother to Young Jack O'Brien and the cousin of heavyweight boxer Jack Rowan.

Coinciding with his sixtieth birthday in early 1938, he was profiled in a 5000-word article in The New Yorker by A J Liebling.

O'Brien turned pro in the 1890s. He stood 5-10½ and weighed between 152 and 165 pounds. A. J. Liebling later wrote that O'Brien's footwork was among the most spectacular of his generation. His best punches were a left jab and a hard overhand right, and he was a good defensive fighter who blocked punches well and counterpunched accurately. Liebling reported that by 1900 he weighed 155 pounds, but with many good men fighting at this weight their talents were at a discount. O'Brien conceived the idea of going to England where, he heard, the competition was softer. He knocked out Dido Plum, the British middleweight champion, in six rounds, and George Crisp, the heavyweight titleholder, in eleven.

O'Brien returned to Philadelphia in May 1902 and on December 20, 1905, won the world light heavyweight championship with a 13-round RTD over Bob Fitzsimmons in San Francisco, California, but abandoned the title without ever defending it. He challenged world heavyweight champion Tommy Burns on November 28, 1906, in Los Angeles, and got a 20-round draw. The referee was former world champion James J. Jeffries. O'Brien challenged Burns again in Los Angeles on May 8, 1907, and this time Burns won the 20-round decision. He fought the fearsome middleweight champion Stanley Ketchel in a 10-round No Decision on March 26, 1909, in which O'Brien was saved by the bell at the end of the 10th round. He fought heavyweight champion Jack Johnson in a six-round No Decision on May 19, but on June 9 he faced Ketchel again and was beaten in three rounds.

Hagan managed a gym on the seventh and top floors of the Rosemont building at 1658 Broadway, New York City, in the late 1920s/early 1930s. World middleweight champion Harry Greb trained at O'Brien's gym, and the only existing films of Greb in action are workouts and sparring with O'Brien.

O'Brien was also the chief second to Jack Dempsey at the 1926 Dempsey-Tunney bout in Philadelphia.

Like many American professional boxers of his era, O'Brien fought numerous newspaper-decision and no-decision bouts, which complicates modern summaries of his record. He retired from boxing in 1910. O'Brien's record is reported differently depending on whether newspaper decisions are included. Under modern record-keeping conventions, newspaper decisions are usually treated as no-decision bouts and are not counted in the official win-loss-draw totals. When those newspaper decisions are included, O'Brien's record is commonly given as 147 wins, 16 losses, 24 draws, and 5 no contests.

Death He died on November 12, 1942.

In popular culture Philadelphia Jack O'Brien is a featured character in The Killings of Stanley Ketchel (2005), a novel by James Carlos Blake.

Professional boxing record All information in this section is derived from BoxRec, unless otherwise stated.

Official record

All newspaper decisions are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column.

Unofficial record

Record with the inclusion of newspaper decisions in the win/loss/draw column.