Herbert Slade Explained

Herbert Augustus Slade (10 January 1851 – 6 April 1913), also known as "Maori" Slade, the Big Maori,[1] the Maori Mauler or the Australian Giant,[2] [3] was a New Zealand boxer of Irish and Māori descent, who fought John L. Sullivan for the heavyweight championship of the world in 1883.[4] This occurred at Madison Square Garden, New York, on 6 August 1883. Sullivan won in the third round.[5] [6] On 3 July 1896, long after his retirement, Slade was heavily beaten in a ten-round fight with Charley Lange.[7] On other occasions, he reportedly had the better of Sullivan in saloon scuffles.[8] [9]

A bare-knuckle fighter,[10] Slade is considered New Zealand’s first international sports personality, and has been inducted into the Māori Sports Hall of Fame.[11]

Born at Kaikino, near Awanui in the Northland region of New Zealand, in 1851, he was one of eight children of James Slade, an Irish whaler, and Te Paea Rupu "Sophia" Kopiri, a Māori woman of the Ngāpuhi tribe.[11]

Given the issues of racial discrimination in the United States, it was unusual for a brown person to be allowed to fight for the championship. Indeed, it was the first such match featuring a non-white contender.[12]

Former champion boxer Jem Mace was Slade's discoverer and exhibition partner.[13] [14] Henry J. Rice was Slade's manager.[15]

Slade later went on an exhibition tour across the United States with Sullivan.[16] [17] The press called Slade "one of the cleverest sparrers who ever entered a ring."[18]

In 1886, Slade gave a sparring exhibition with Duncan McDonald at the Opera House in Salt Lake City, Utah to the benefit of the Olympic Club.[19] [20] Slade and McDonald were also arrested [21] and taken to court[22] [23] for boxing.[24] [25] In 1887, both Slade and McDonald were found guilty of "prize fighting" and sentenced to 30 days in the state penitentiary.[26] But as Slade and McDonald were well-liked citizens, the Governor immediately pardoned and released them.[27]

While on a boxing exhibition tour and staying overnight at the Swasey Mansion in Mona, Utah, Slade accepted an engagement as the personal bodyguard of the wealthy rancher and bank owner Rodney Swasey. Slade lived on the Swasey ranch at the base of the Rocky Mountains in Mona, Utah.[28] Slade and a cowboy, John W. Bascom, from the neighboring Bascom Ranch, gave sparring exhibitions in the area.[29]

By 1891, Slade had retired from the boxing ring[30] and was manager, director, boxing trainer[31] and in house celebrity[32] [33] of Colonel Ed Kelley's Elks Gymnasium[34] and Bijou Saloon in Salt Lake City.[35] [36] But there were rumors in the press and finally an announcement of Slade coming out of retirement to fight Charley Lange at the Elks gym.[37] [38] [39] In June 1891, Slade gave a sparring exhibition in Provo, Utah with George LaBlanche and then prepared for a ten-round match with Lange in the Electric Light Hall in Salt Lake City.[37] [38]

Slade lost to Lange and then announced his retirement back to the ranch.[40] [41] Having second thoughts, Slade challenged Lange for a 25-round rematch in just six weeks.[42] He again entered the ring in a ten-round glove fight in Logan with Jim Williams.[2] [3] [43] Slade later became Williams personal trainer and helped him become the champion of Utah.[31] [44] [45] Slade gave sparring exhibitions at Turner's Hall, the Electric Light Hall and other venues.[46] [47] Slade married his boss's daughter Estelle Armenta Swasey in 1892.[48] Five children came from that union. Slade and his wife lived for a while in Salt Lake City where he opened a boxing school[49] and also the mining town of Eureka, Utah where he was a boxing referee[50] and started an athletic club.[51] [52] [53] Slade was a referee in a boxing match held at the Provo Opera House in 1898.[54] Slade was a part owner of the Last Chance gold mine in Little Cottonwood Canyon in the Wasatch Mountains east of Salt Lake City.[55] [56] [57]

In 1909, Slade was appointed to serve as two-year term as Deputy Sheriff at Knight's Smelter in Tintic, Utah.[58] [59] Also that year, former world champion boxer John L. Sullivan, who had announced his final world tour of boxing, stopped at Slade's Eureka residence to convince him to join the tour.[60] [61] [62] [63]

Slade died in Mona, Utah in 1913 and is buried in the Mona Cemetery.[64] [65]

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Salt Lake Herald-Republican | 1895-05-19 | the Wheel.
  2. News: Pugilists Coming . Logan Journal . 8 . 1891-09-12 . 2020-05-27 . J. Willard Marriott Library.
  3. News: Glove Contest . Logan Journal . 8 . 1891-09-16 . 2020-05-27 . J. Willard Marriott Library.
  4. Web site: Salt Lake Times | 1892-04-30 | A Finishing Touch.
  5. Web site: Salt Lake Telegram | 1919-09-04 | with the Boxers.
  6. Web site: Salt Lake Herald-Republican | 1906-01-14 | Reveries of a Referee.
  7. Web site: Salt Lake Telegram | 1905-07-11 | Ring Contests in Zion Back in the Long Ago.
  8. Web site: Salt Lake Times | 1891-02-06 | the Maori in Town.
  9. Web site: Ogden Daily Standard | 1908-02-24 | Fighters Defeated in Street Fights.
  10. Web site: Salt Lake Herald-Republican | 1884-09-28 | Sports and Pastimes.
  11. Web site: Herbert Augustus Slade - 1851-1920 . Te Whare Mātāpuna Te Ao Māori - Maori Sports Hall of Fame . 1 March 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130209092219/http://maorisportsawards.co.nz/halloffame/hall_tane_slade.htm . 9 February 2013 .
  12. News: Hall of Fame for Maori boxer . New Zealand Herald . Yvonne . Tahana . 3 December 2011 . 1 March 2012.
  13. https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=7176327&q=%22herbert+slade%22&rows=50 Personal
  14. https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=10602031&q=%22herbert+slade%22&rows=50 The Bruisers' Bail
  15. https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=10571914&q=%22herbert+slade%22&rows=50 The Fight Off
  16. Sullivan, John L. The Referee Doesn't Know. Salt Lake Tribune 24 September 1905
  17. Web site: Salt Lake Telegram | 1907-08-23 | How Sullivan Found the Mark.
  18. Web site: Salt Lake Tribune | 1889-07-07 | Meeting of Gladiators.
  19. Web site: Salt Lake Herald-Republican | 1886-08-31 | an Olympic Club Entertainment.
  20. Web site: Deseret News | 1886-09-22 | the Slugging Match.
  21. Web site: Salt Lake Democrat | 1886-09-21 | Local Jots.
  22. Web site: Salt Lake Democrat | 1886-10-26 | the Sluggers Indicted.
  23. Web site: Salt Lake Democrat | 1886-10-30 | an Interesting Day.
  24. Web site: Salt Lake Herald-Republican | 1887-01-27 | the Long List.
  25. Web site: Salt Lake Democrat | 1887-04-20 | Before Judge Zane.
  26. Web site: Salt Lake Democrat | 1887-04-23 | Local Jots.
  27. Web site: Salt Lake Democrat | 1887-04-30 | Local Jots.
  28. Web site: Salt Lake Tribune | 1891-02-07 | Personal Mention.
  29. Web site: Salt Lake Times | 1890-06-06 | Local Brevities.
  30. Web site: Salt Lake Times | 1891-03-24 | the Maori Retires.
  31. News: La Plata the Cry . Salt Lake Times . 3 . 1891-08-24 . 2020-05-27 . J. Willard Marriott Library.
  32. Web site: Salt Lake Times | 1891-02-28 | the World of Sport.
  33. Web site: Salt Lake Times | 1891-02-28 |.
  34. Web site: Salt Lake Times | 1891-02-23 |.
  35. Web site: Salt Lake Times | 1891-02-09 | Brevities.
  36. Web site: Salt Lake Times | 1891-02-13 |.
  37. News: The Slade-Lange Contest . The Salt Lake Herald-Republican . 2 . 1891-06-28 . 2020-05-27 . J. Willard Marriott Library.
  38. News: The Giants On Deck . Salt Lake Times . 6 . 1891-07-02 . 2020-05-27 . J. Willard Marriott Library.
  39. Web site: Salt Lake Herald-Republican | 1891-06-07 | the Sporting World.
  40. Web site: Salt Lake Herald-Republican | 1891-07-04 | Back to the Farm.
  41. Web site: Salt Lake Times | 1891-07-04 | the Captain's Left.
  42. Web site: Salt Lake Times | 1891-07-06 | Slade to Lange.
  43. Web site: Logan Journal | 1891-09-23 | Local Points.
  44. Web site: Salt Lake Herald-Republican | 1891-09-02 | the Great Battle.
  45. Web site: Salt Lake Herald-Republican | 1892-04-02 | Jim Williams Wins.
  46. Web site: Salt Lake Herald-Republican | 1891-08-30 | O'Brien's Benefit.
  47. Web site: Salt Lake Times | 1892-01-02 | World of Sport.
  48. Web site: Salt Lake Times | 1892-07-30 | Herbert Slade Married.
  49. Web site: Salt Lake Herald-Republican | 1893-03-07 | Sporting Notes.
  50. Web site: Salt Lake Herald-Republican | 1899-05-17 | Thomas Bests M'hugh.
  51. Web site: Salt Lake Tribune | 1898-10-28 | "Mormon Cyclone" Wins.
  52. Web site: Washington County News | 1898-11-12 | Utah News.
  53. Web site: Ephraim Enterprise | 1898-11-16 | Utah News.
  54. Web site: Salt Lake Herald-Republican | 1898-12-20 | the William-Been Contest.
  55. Web site: Salt Lake Herald-Republican | 1895-02-26 | Some Good Assays.
  56. Web site: Salt Lake Herald-Republican | 1895-03-11 | News of Gold City.
  57. Web site: Salt Lake Tribune | 1904-02-28 | at Jefferson Shaft in Little Cottonwood.
  58. Web site: Eureka Reporter | 1909-01-08 | Deputy Sheriffs Appointed.
  59. Web site: Salt Lake Tribune | 1909-01-09 | Notes of Eureka.
  60. Web site: Salt Lake Herald-Republican | 1909-01-15 | Sullivan Will Tour the World.
  61. Web site: Salt Lake Telegram | 1909-01-19 | John L.'S Last Round is to be Tour of World.
  62. Web site: Eureka Reporter | 1909-01-22 | John L. Wants Herbert Slade to Join Him.
  63. Web site: Salt Lake Tribune | 1909-02-08 | Hegewisch is Too Slow for Nelson.
  64. Web site: Eureka Reporter | 1913-04-18 | Brief Local Items of This Week.
  65. Web site: Herbert Augustus Slade (1851–1913) . Find-a-grave . 2 April 2014.

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