Tiger Flowers

Tiger Flowers
Statistics
Real name	Theodore Flowers
Nickname(s)	Georgia Deacon
Rated at	Middleweight
Nationality	USA
Born	(1895-08-05)August 5, 1895 Camilla, Georgia
Died	November 16, 1927(1927-11-16) (aged 32) New York City, New York
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	161
Wins	136
Wins by KO	56
Losses	15
Draws	8
No contests	2

Theodore "Tiger" Flowers (August 5, 1895 – November 16, 1927) was the first African-American middleweight boxing champion, defeating Harry Greb to claim the title in 1926. Nicknamed the "Georgia Deacon", he was a devoutly religious man who would recite a passage from Psalm 144 before every bout.^[1] The International Boxing Research Organization rated Flowers as the #12 ranked middleweight of all-time, while boxing historian Bert Sugar placed him 68th in his Top 100 Fighters catalog.^[2][3] The Bleacher Report named him the #6 greatest southpaw in boxing history.^[4] He was inducted into the Ring Magazine Hall of Fame in 1971, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1976, the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990, and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1993.^[5]

Personal life

Theodore Flowers was married and had a daughter named Verna Lee Flowers.

Professional career

Flowers (left), posing with Mickey Walker before their 1926 title bout

Flowers began boxing professionally in 1918 at the age of 23 while working at a Philadelphia shipbuilding plant. During his career, Flowers would meet many high caliber fighters, including Sam Langford, Kid Norfolk, Jamaica Kid, and Mickey Walker. In 1924, Flowers was rated the number one contender for Harry Greb's middleweight title by Ring Magazine. Flowers earned a shot at Greb after losing a questionable decision to light heavyweight champion Mike McTigue.

World middleweight champion

On February 26, 1926, before a crowd of 16,311 at Madison Square Garden, Flowers dethroned Greb by unanimous decision, and would repeat the victory in August, although both results were considered questionable. Tiger's next bout came against Mickey Walker in Chicago. Flowers lost the bout but it was a controversial decision in the eyes of many, which would later be investigated by the Illinois Athletic Commission, but the decision would not be overturned.^[6]

Death

While trying to obtain a rematch with Walker, Flowers was hospitalized in November, 1927, to have surgery to remove scar tissue from around his eyes. Complications from the surgery resulted in his death on November 16, 1927, reminiscent of the circumstances that caused the death of Greb the year before. He was buried in Atlanta's Lincoln Cemetery.^[6]

Notable bouts

Result	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes[7]
Draw	Maxie Rosenbloom	PTS	10	1927-11-09	Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	Pete Latzo	UD	10	1927-09-30	Artillery Park, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Draw	Maxie Rosenbloom	PTS	10	1927-07-04	Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	Mickey Walker	PTS	10	1926-12-03	Chicago Coliseum, Chicago, Illinois	Lost World Middleweight Title.
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	Maxie Rosenbloom	DQ	10	1926-10-15	Mechanics Building, Boston, Massachusetts
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	Harry Greb	SD	15	1926-08-19	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Retained World Middleweight Title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	Harry Greb	PTS	15	1926-02-26	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Won World Middleweight Title.
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	Mike McTigue	SD	10	1925-12-23	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	Frank Moody	PTS	10	1925-12-10	Mechanics Building, Boston, Massachusetts
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	Jack Delaney	KO	4 (12)	1925-02-26	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	Jack Delaney	KO	2 (12)	1925-01-16	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	Johnny Wilson	TKO	3 (10)	1924-12-09	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	Harry Greb	NWS	10	1924-08-21	Legion Stadium, Fremont, Ohio	Newspaper Decision
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	Panama Joe Gans	NWS	12	1923-05-25	Toledo Coliseum, Toledo, Ohio	Newspaper Decision
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	Kid Norfolk	KO	1 (12)	1924-08-21	Springfield, Ohio	For World "Colored" Light Heavyweight Title.
Draw	Kid Norfolk	PTS	8	1922-07-04	Memphis, Tennessee
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	Sam Langford	KO	2 (10)	1922-06-05	Ponce de Leon Ballpark, Atlanta, Georgia
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	Kid Norfolk	KO	3 (10)	1922-01-30	Atlanta Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	Panama Joe Gans	KO	5 (15)	1921-12-15	Atlanta Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	Panama Joe Gans	KO	6 (15)	1921-08-08	Atlanta Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia

References

Further reading

• Andrew M. Kaye, "The Canonisation of Tiger Flowers: A Black Hero for the 1920s," Borderlines: Studies in American Culture 5, no. 2 (1998): 142-59.
• Andrew M. Kaye, The Pussycat of Prizefighting: Tiger Flowers and the Politics of Black Celebrity (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2004).
• Herman "Skip" Mason Jr., Black Atlanta in the Roaring Twenties (Dover, N.H.: Arcadia, 1997).

External links

• Professional boxing record for Tiger Flowers from BoxRec
• CyberBoxingZone Biography - Tiger Flowers
• IBHOF Bio - Tiger Flowers