Author Clay Moyle (left) and Boone “Boom Boom” Kirkman
A few years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Seattle’s best known heavyweight boxer Boone “Boom Boom” Kirkman when a mutual friend invited the two of us and our wives to a dinner party. Boone fought professionally from 1966 to 1978. During that time he compiled an impressive record of 36 victories against only six losses while fighting some of the top heavyweights in boxing, including Eddie Machen, George Foreman, Jimmy Ellis, Ken Norton and Ron Lyle.
During my initial meeting with Boone, I learned that like myself, he’d tackled the race up the Columbia Tower on more than one occasion and that he was an avid hiker. He’s also done a fair amount of mountain climbing since he left the ring and his resume in that regard includes eight successful trips up Mt. Rainier, three up Mt. St. Helens (before it blew it’s top), as well as others, including Mt. Baker and Mt. Adams.
But, at some point his climbing aspirations became a little more modest and he began focusing on local hikes nearer his Renton home such as Mt. Si and Cougar Mountain. He told me that he’s climbed Mt. Si over 200 times now since he started keeping track. It helps him keep in shape and he enjoys the fresh air and solitude.
When he recently phoned me and asked if I would be interested in joining him on a hike up the Wilderness Peak Loop Trail on Cougar Mountain I didn’t hesitate to say yes. I knew it would be a good opportunity to do a bit of cross training and more importantly give me an opportunity to hear some great stories concerning his ring experiences.
Although he is now 68 years old, Boone maintains a pretty steady pace when he’s hiking so if you get carried away with too much conversation you’ll quickly find yourself running short of breath. About halfway up the trail Boone led me up a much less traveled and decidedly steeper path he told me was known as “Jim’s Way” and we really started gaining altitude in a hurry.
But, as I expected, the hike was thoroughly entertaining as Boone told me stories of his fights with George Foreman (the first a contest in New York’s Madison Square Garden and the second a short exhibition that took place in Toronto in 1975), sparring sessions with Joe Frazier in his Philadelphia gym, how he hooked up with the wily old trainer and promoter Jack Hurley and many other fascinating tales.
I couldn’t help but shake my head when he shared a story about running away as a 14-year old and getting picked up by authorities in Las Vegas, Nevada. His poor mother hopped an airplane more than once to retrieve her adventurous son. But, in that particular case, she figured that since they were in Las
Vegas they might as well take in a couple of shows, so Boone ended up seeing both Jimmy Durante and Jerry Lewis before they returned to Seattle.
At one point, we discussed the topic of concussions. Any time I read about the concern over football players and concussions I can’t help wondering how much more frequently boxers must suffer them.
Over the years, I’ve read numerous stories about fighters who have taken blows during a fight and clearly suffered a concussion and yet continued to fight. In many cases, those fighters would have no recollection at all of a number of the rounds of the fight upon its conclusion.
For example, Jack Dempsey, who went on to become one of the greatest heavyweight champions in history fought “Gunboat” Smith in San Francisco in 1917 during his climb toward the title. In the second round, Smith landed a vicious shot on Dempsey’s chin and Jack had no recollection whatsoever of what happened after that.
While riding a ferry back to Oakland with his manager Jack “Doc” Kearns, Dempsey was crestfallen and apologized to Kearns for his performance.
“Smith was too tough for me, that’s all. But I hope this isn’t the end of the road for us,” Dempsey said.
“You were great, absolutely great,” Kearns replied.
“What did he hit me with in the second round?” Dempsey asked.
“He hit you with a right hand kid. I thought it’d kill you. But, instead you nearly killed him. Beating Gunboat makes you, don’t you understand that?”
“Who beat Gunboat?” Dempsey asked incredulously.
“You did. You won the fight. What’s the matter, you punchy?” Kearns said.
Poor Dempsey had no recollection of anything that had occurred after that second round and was unaware he’d ended up winning the fight by a decision.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read about occurrences like that in fights. It was really quite common, though I imagine it may have been even more so back in the days when fights were of a longer duration and the men had so many more fights than professional fighters do today.
Hall of Fame fighters like the legendary Harry Greb and Sam Langford would fight as often as 20-30 times a year in the early 1900s and it wasn’t uncommon for fighters to enter into contests only days apart from one another.
Nowadays 30-40 fights would represent a career for most professional fighters. That’s probably for the best.
Boxing is a tough way to make a living and as much of a fan as I am of the sport I certainly wouldn’t want to see my own son become a boxer. It exacts too big a toll of many of its participants.
The moment I brought up the topic of concussions, Boone stopped in his tracks, turned and laid a hand on my shoulder and said “dementia.”
I knew in an instant it was a big concern of his, the possibility that he might one day face the same thing as a result of all the blows he’d taken during his own boxing career.
He mentioned a number of past local fighters he’d known who’d ultimately ended up suffering from dementia, men such as Harry “Kid” Matthews, Al Hostak and a number of others.
Boone told me about visiting with an older fighter at a boxer’s reunion on one occasion and how the aging warrior had sadly remarked that in all likelihood he’d have no recollection of their meeting the following day.
Hopefully, Boone won’t suffer a similar fate.
Two days after our hike, I received a midday phone call from Boone. He was calling from the top of Mt. Si. The view was terrific he said and he sounded as though he didn’t have a care in the world.