Benny Franklin: A Laborer in the Amusement Industry

A notable boxer from Baltimore, Benny Franklin made his mark as a promoter when boxing was at its zenith as a sport in the United States.

*****

Benjamin Harrison Franklin was born on February 6, 1887 to Jacob and Mary in Baltimore, Maryland.  At 13, Benny was out of school and working year round as an errand boy to help support the family, as his father, a salesman, was out of work for four months that year. Benny was 14 years old when he turned to professional boxing to make a living. The blue-eyed, brown-haired boy married Catherine Pugh when the couple was young, and they had their first child, Benny Jr., when they both were just 17 years old.

On December 15, 1902, Franklin, the 95-pound champion of Maryland, defeated Benny Riley (aka Reilly), who claimed to be the 95-pound champ of Pennsylvania in a ten-rounder in the Baltimore suburbs. The next day, boxing was banned in Baltimore. Mayor Thomas Hayes refused to issue permits in reaction to Joe Gans's pummeling of Charlie Sieger. Gans, a Baltimore native and the lightweight world champion, battered Sieger so thoroughly on route to a 14th round stoppage victory, Hayes decided to ban the sport because of its brutality.

When the new mayor, Robert McLane, brought the sport back in November of 1903, Franklin was one of the first to restart his career. Now 105 pounds, Franklin beat Riley in a rematch by decision in a 15-rounder.

To make up for lost time, Franklin had a busy December that year. On December 14, Benny beat Kid Whistler to the point that Whistler slunk out of the ropes in the third round to avoid any more punishment. The next week, Franklin was scheduled to fight twice on the same day at the Odeon Theater. In the afternoon, he beat George Kramer by decision in a three-rounder, but his fight that night against Jimmy French was called off when officials questioned the Odeon's legal status. Franklin had risen to the point that he was called out in the papers multiple times that month.

Franklin stepped up the competition in the spring of 1904. In March, he faced Kid Murphy, who was described as the paperweight world champion. The pair fought to a 25-round draw. In May, Franklin fought the experienced Jimmy Farren to a 15-round draw. Four days later, he faced Murphy again. Franklin was defensive in the rematch, but Murphy managed to put him down four times in the third round, bloody his nose in the fourth, and score two more knockdowns in the twelfth. Benny hung on to go the 15 round distance at the Eutaw Athletic Club in Baltimore.

In June, Benny was arrested for stealing five goats. He had advanced his brother-in-law Scott Pugh money to run a petting zoo, but Franklin complained Pugh wasn't paying him back, so finally he took the goats. Though the case went to court, the dispute was eventually concluded amicably.

After a few more fights, Franklin took on Farren once again in a grudge match. On September 5, the two fought an exciting scrap that ended when Franklin chucked Farren over the ropes and out of the ring in the thirteenth round. Farren wanted to continue, but referee Joe Barrett disqualified Franklin.

Franklin and Farren met for a third time a couple of fights later. On January 10, 1905, Franklin started strong, but Farren won the middle and later rounds to take the 15-round decision. The crowd disagreed with the verdict, and Baltimore fight fans continued to gripe about the decision for weeks. 

They met for a fourth time on February 21. Franklin suffered from pneumonia earlier in the month. In a scientific battle, Franklin outboxed Farren. But in the ninth round, Benny broke his right hand and with tears in his eyes quit after the round, arguing he could no longer defend himself. After the fight, his wife Catherine publicly wished he'd quit fighting and find a safer job. He didn't.

*****

Benny had a busy 1905 in the ring. After fighting consistently, he went on a tour, taking on all comers in Pennsylvania fairs in September. He had four fights in Carlisle the week of the 25th. He then fought Benny Riley to a draw in November.

Early in 1906, Franklin traveled to New York to fight there. He was active during his two-month stint, fighting the likes of Charley Goldman, the future trainer of undefeated heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano. While Maryland allowed referees to render official decisions, in New York any fight that didn't end conclusively was deemed a  "no-decision." Newspaper writers later wrote who they felt won the fights. Most of Franklin's fights in New York, not all of which are listed on BoxRec, were these newspaper decisions. During this trip, the New York writers either voted against the Baltimorean or slapped draws on him. Franklin had made his mark though. The National Police Gazette declared that Franklin had "earned an enviable reputation in New York."

Franklin fought in New Haven in June, a fifth round DQ victory before returning home to Baltimore. An injured wrist forced Franklin to cancel a fight in July and he remained on the sidelines for a few months. All the while, fighters, particularly Benny Riley, kept calling out Franklin in the papers. Franklin finally got back into the ring on November 29, 1906, Thanksgiving night, against the new paperweight champion Willie Schumacher.

The two were scheduled to meet in a 15-rounder at the Broadway Athletic Club in Baltimore, but Schumacher demanded the fight be shortened to six rounds on account of a small crowd. Many local fight fans didn't come out because word had spread that Franklin hadn't been training hard. The fight ended in an unspectacular draw.

*****

Franklin stayed in Baltimore throughout 1907. He beat novice foes, but lost to the well-regarded Young Britt twice. In May, Franklin was pulverized for two and half rounds by Britt, who knocked Franklin down seven times in the first round and nine more in the second. In December, Benny was ill before the rematch and given stimulants. He rushed out in the first round, trying to end the fight as quickly as possible. He took a beating in the second and appeared on the cusp of defeat in the third and fourth rounds, but amazingly came back to have a good fifth round. Franklin survived the sixth and final round but lost the decision.

On April 13, Young Britt signed to fight Riley and Franklin in separate three-round contests with ten minutes rest in between. The contract called for Britt to knockout both men or forfeit his purse. He beat Riley by decision before fighting evenly against Franklin.

In May, Franklin acted in a play about boxing called "The Wind-Up," which he wrote. Staged at the Gayety Theatre, Benny Riley was among Franklin's supporting actors. Though Franklin would fight for another six years, the 21 year old had already reached his peak as a pugilist.

The rest of Franklin's year wasn't particularly successful and by 1909, he began fighting in New York more regularly. Over the next three years, Franklin fought frequently and took on Jewish legends Harry Stone, Leach Cross, and Young Otto, losing newspaper decisions to each. He also had a pair of fights against Leach's brother Phil.

In the 1910 census, Franklin described himself as a laborer in the amusement industry, which was not only an apt label for most boxers, but a good snapshot of where his career was. His name had frequented the headlines of the sports pages in The Baltimore Sun early in his career, but by this point, the results of his fights were getting one line at the end of an article, and those results usually weren't very good. On September 12 that year, Young Kline beat a "hog fat" Franklin so badly, the police ordered the fight stopped in the fourth round.

Franklin's best result during the rest of his career came in a rematch against Young Otto on May 7, 1912. The New York Times gave nine of the ten rounds to Franklin with only the second even and declared that Otto, who was one of the biggest punches in history, was "in the has-been" ranks as a result of his performance. The Patterson Morning Call, however, deemed the fight a draw though the paper admitted, "Franklin... was fairly aggressive and forced the little fighting that was done."

His best years had been at 105 pounds, but Benny was campaigning thirty pounds heavier during the back half of his career. He fought into the first half of 1913 and had one last fight in 1915. Author Thomas Scharf claimed Franklin fought 187 times and lost only 7 of them. BoxRec lists Franklin's record as 46-41-19 including newspaper decisions with 15 KOs and he was stopped 10 times. A few of his fights aren't listed on BoxRec, so he surely fought in well over a hundred contests.*

*****

In the early morning hours of Saturday, June 6, 1914, criminals blasted their way into the Palace Pool Room and cracked the safe. They had been studying the movements of the owner of the pool room, Benny Franklin, for some time. The thieves made off with a king's ransom, $7.50, all in pennies.

Benny soon decided it was safer to get back into the amusement business. He had served as a second in the corner in fights dating back to 1904, but he decided to try his hand as a promoter. By 1917, Franklin no longer resembled the svelte fighter of the previous decade; he now was described as short and stout. From 1919-1922, Franklin's son Benny Jr., fought under the name Young Benny Franklin. A featherweight, he was a solid local fighter

The elder Franklin started and ran the Olympia Athletic Club around 1920. It was an auspicious time to become a promoter. Maryland had just created a boxing commission to properly regulate the sport. The Maryland boxing commission joined the National Boxing Association (NBA), which was a collection of state commissions determined to turn boxing into a respectable sport. It was a perfect storm to usher in the golden era of professional boxing, and Benny Franklin was poised to take advantage of the situation.

For a time, Franklin oversaw the career of a Jewish flyweight contender from Baltimore named Benny Schwartz, serving as his second, manager, and promoter. Franklin promoted Schwartz's 1923 title challenge against the great champion Pancho Villa in Baltimore.

The next year, Franklin tried to stage a middleweight world championship bout featuring the champ Harry Greb against Fay Keiser. Greb, however, refused to weigh in, so the title was not up for grabs. Greb also objected to the choice of referee, so Franklin stepped in to adjudicate the fight. Franklin announced that Keiser's manager offered him $3,000 to declare Keiser the winner by decision. Ultimately, Franklin waved off the contest in the twelfth in favor of Greb.

In 1923, Franklin read in the newspaper that Young Peter Jackson, a nineteen year pro from Baltimore, had died penniless and would be interned in a nameless grave. Franklin financed a proper burial for his fellow Baltimore pugilist.

By the mid 1920s, Franklin was the king of Baltimore boxing while his features had settled into that of a stereotypical promoter. Thinning hair clung to the sides of his cherubic face and above his expanding waistline. He promoted some of future welterweight champion Joe Dundee's fights and was present when Dundee signed to fight Jackie Fields for the undisputed welterweight championship in Detroit in 1929.

In April of 1929, Franklin got into a heated argument with mobster Ike Sapperstein. When Benny saw Sapperstein reach towards his hip, Franklin pulled out a pistol and shot four times, wounding Sapperstein. Sapperstein then fled the Olympia. Neither was willing to testify and no other witnesses came forward, so the case fizzled.

The next year, Franklin put on a benefit card for two impoverished former boxers: Kid Williams and Bob Garcia. He continued to stage fights in Baltimore through the early 1930s.

In 1936, Franklin became ill. Three months later on June 20, 1936, he died at the age of 49. Benjamin H. Franklin lived a colorful life. As a boxer, he was a contender and as a promoter, he was a local king at an auspicious time in boxing history.

Note
* Ron Schneck found and added quite a few of Franklin's fights to BoxRec since this article first appeared.

Sources

"Asked to 'Fix' Greb Bout." The New York Times. Apr. 1, 1924. Pg. 15.

"Battles are Not So Good." Baltimore Sun. Sep. 13, 1910. Pg. 13.

"Benjamin H. Franklin, Boxing Promoter and Former Fighter, Dies." Baltimore Sun. Jun 21, 1936. Pg. 3.

"Benny Franklin Fought a Draw." The Patterson Morning Call. May 8, 1912. Pg. 9.

"Benny Franklin Gives Up." Baltimore Sun. Feb. 22, 1905. Pg. 9.

"Britt Beats Franklin." Baltimore Sun. May 23, 1907. Pg. 10.

"Britt Defeats Franklin." Baltimore Sun. Dec. 5, 1907. Pg. 10.

"Farren on a Foul." Baltimore Sun. Sep. 6, 1904. Pg. 10.

"Franklin Beats Otto." The New York Times. May 8, 1912. Pg. 12.
"Gossip of Boxers." Baltimore Sun. Sept. 25, 1905. Pg. 8.

"In the Boxing Ring." The National Police Gazette. Jun. 23, 1906. Pg. 7.

"Murphy Wins Fight." Baltimore Sun. May 11, 1904. Pg. 9.

"No Decision Era" IBRO Journal 163. Pg. 52.

"Odeon Boxing Stops" Baltimore Sun. Dec. 22, 1903. Pg. 9.

"Ripples of the Ring." St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Nov. 30, 1906. Pg. 16.

"Safeblowers Get $7.50." Baltimore Sun. Jun. 7, 1914. Pg. 4.

Scharf, Thomas. Baltimore's Boxing Legacy. 2003.

"This is Benny Franklin." Baltimore Sun. May 3, 1908. Pg. 10.

"Trouble Over Five Goats." Baltimore Sun. Jun. 16, 1904. Pg. 7.

"Will Rebury Young Peter Jackson." Afro-American. Sept. 28, 1923. Pg. 14.

"Young Britt's Failure ." Baltimore Sun. Apr. 14, 1908. Pg. 10.