Young Barney Aaron

Abraham "Young Barney" Aaron in his later days as a referee, c. 1890 – 1900. Young Barney Aaron (June 27, 1836, in Aldgate, London, England – June 4, 1907, in Long Island, New York) was a bare-knuckle boxer.

The son of Hall of Fame boxer Barney Aaron, he emigrated to the United States around 1853, and began boxing in 1856. Aaron first became a U.S. Lightweight Champion in 1857 defeating Jim Moneghan, and retook the title in 1867 against Sam Collyer.

Boxing career

Young Barney Aaron was born on July 27, 1836, probably at Duke's Palace in the Aldgate section of London where his father was known to reside.

American Lightweight Champion, September 1857 On September 28, 1857, he defeated American Lightweight Champion Johnny Moneghan in Providence, RI. The fight lasted eighty rounds and took 3 hours and 20 minutes. With the victory he became the first Jewish fighter to win a ring championship in America. After his victory, he was given the title "Star of the West", after his father's ring name, "Star of the East".

Reclaiming American Lightweight Championship, 1867

He returned to the ring after a hiatus close to seven years around July 20, 1866, and lost a 47-round attempt to regain the title against French-born American pugilist Sam Collyer. Collyer was a Union Civil War Veteran and recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor while fighting for the 139th New York Volunteers. Fighting for an excruciating 2 hours and 5 minutes, both Aaron and Collyer were taken off on stretchers. However, Aaron defeated Collyer in the rematch on June 13, 1867, in a 68-round battle that lasted one hour and 55 minutes to regain the championship. The fight began at 8:50 am, with around 1500 in attendance and was fought outdoors in an Amphitheater on the banks of Aquia Creek in Northern Virginia. Young Barney won the choice of position and wisely took the side of the ring not facing the sun. By the end of the bout, Collyer's eyes were closed causing his seconds to throw in the sponge. The bare-knuckled boxing was desperate and brutal and both boxers were down in various rounds. His bouts with Collyer were considered among his most memorable and significant.

He won newspaper headlines in July 1874 for foiling two pickpockets trying to steal from the Rev. Henry Thorpe, whom they jostled as the elderly clergyman was "riding downtown on a Fourth Avenue [street] car." Aaron applied some of his celebrated "scientific boxing" technique, knocking both thieves down into the street, after first having retrieved the reverend's gold watch, which he returned.

Relatives His father was British pugilist Barney Aaron.

Hall of Fame

He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2007.