The 100th Anniversary of Jackie Fields's Debut

On February 5, 1925 Jackie Fields made his professional boxing debut at the Armory in Pasadena, California. The previous summer, the reigning Olympic champion had become the youngest boxer ever to win a gold medal at the Games, a record that will never be broken. By stepping through the ropes as a pro against Benny Pascal, Fields was breaking the rules.

After Fields beat his friend Joe Salas in the gold medal match at the 1924 Paris Olympics, he traveled first to his native Chicago before arriving in his adopted hometown of Los Angeles two weeks later. Fields heard chatter that Salas had been badmouthing him, accusing Fields of butting Salas in the final. A rematch was set up for September 18 at the Vernon Arena. Both boxers were paid $500 for the fight, far more than amateurs were typically allotted.

After a close three rounds, a spontaneously arranged fourth round was ordered. Fields won and thus held two wins over his now former-friend.

Jackie asked his coach and mentor, George Blake, if he could turn pro. Blake balked. He told Jackie that he felt the boy needed more seasoning before becoming a prizefighter. Plus, Blake would be busy managing the burgeoning career of Fidel LaBarba, the Olympic gold medalist in the flyweight division. LaBarba was a fellow Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) member and two and a half years older than Fields.

“I couldn’t get mad about his concentrating on LaBarba," Fields said later. "He was a great little fighter."

So Fields continued to fight in amateur bouts and the occasional smoker that fall. He was scheduled to take on Salas in a third fight on December 18, but a major change threw a wrench into those plans.

On December 10, Joe Salas had his pro debut. Afterwards, Jackie again asked Blake if he could turn pro. After all, he had beaten Salas twice and now Salas was a pro. "You’ll have to have more time to bring you along," Blake replied. "I’m too busy, anyway, with Salas and LaBarba."

A distraught Fields later admitted, "It broke my heart, and I went home and cried."

Fields split with the LAAC and fought a couple of more times as an amateur. In December, he played a supporting role in a silent film called Battling Bunyon. But Fields needed to make more money. His father's restaurant had turned sour and so had his old man's health.

Jackie's father Morris was dying of tuberculosis. The family had moved from Chicago to Los Angeles in 1921 because warmer, drier climates were seen as beneficial for sufferers of TB. Jackie's older brother Max had gone back to Chicago, so it was up to Jackie to make money for his rather large family.

In mid-January, just as Jackie's idol Benny Leonard was retiring, the young Olympic champ signed with William "Gig" Rooney, a well-known figure within L.A.'s boxing circles. Rooney said he would move the youngster slowly, have him fight only every two or three months. Other managers felt Rooney was babying Jackie.

Jackie was, after all, just a babe. The minimum age for a boxer to fight in the state of California was 18. Jackie was famous for winning the gold medal at the sprightly age of 16 and would only turn 17 on February 9, four days after his pro debut. That debut was scheduled for six rounds, an amount that was an impossibility in California just weeks earlier.

On January 1, 1925 California enacted a law that essentially legalized boxing in the state. The law ended the the so-called four-round era and allowed decisions in fights up to ten rounds. The new law coincided nicely with the start of Jackie's professional boxing career.

Fields's opponent, Benny Pascal, was an 18 year old hard-hitter from Philadelphia. The tough two-and-half year pro was entering his 50th fight in the paid ranks. Making $150 for the fight, Fields comfortably outboxed Pascal over the first four rounds. The pink-cheeked debutant knocked down his veteran foe in the fifth and finished the final round strong.

Jackie Fields, the youngest ever Olympic gold medalist boxer and a future two-time welterweight world champion, was 1-0.

Note: I'd like to announce that I've been working on a biography of Jackie Fields for the past two and half years, doing a ton of research and a lot of writing in that time. I still have a ways to go and would love to hear from anyone who met or knew Jackie Fields. Please email me at JewishBoxing at yahoo dot come. Thank you in advance!