by B. R. Bearden

30.01 - Most boxing fans with an interest in the history of the sport have heard the tales of the early days, when men fought bareknuckle in odd places. Sometimes they fought in barns, in remote country spots, or on barges anchored far enough off-shore to thwart authorities bent on stopping the fights. It was a quaint sport then, with make-shift rules and allowed such things as tripping and wrestling an opponent to the ground. Most such antics were gone by the dawn of the 20th Century and the coming of the gloved era, though it was still common to build an arena just to house a championship match during the reign of Jack Dempsey and afterwards sell off the lumber to builders.

But in 1954 a title bout was held which would have fit nicely in a much earlier era for all it’s lack of resemblance to "modern" boxing. It involved fighting barefoot, during a heavy rainstorm, with the wives of the champion and his trainer serving as seconds, in a massive arena built just for the event. Here’s the story:

In 1954 the bantamweight champion was 25 year old Jimmy Carruthers of Australia, a southpaw with a record of 18-0-0. He had won the Australian Bantamweight title in 1951, the British Commonwealth title in 1952, and was regarded by the National Boxing Association as the World Bantamweight Champion. Jimmy had beaten some good fighters in gaining those belts, including Vic Toweel twice in a row, who was 26-0-1 at the time of their first bout. He also beat Pappy Gault (43-7-1) and Bobby Sinn (24-3-4) in secession after Toweel, all in a period of about 16 months. In May of 1954 he was challenged by a fighter from Thailand named Chamroen Songkitrat, a young boxer who was enjoying a string of victories himself, including a win of his own over highly regarded Pappy Gault.

Songkitrat, 24 years old at the time of the bout, came from a background of Thai kickboxing, a sport designed to weed out the weak. In his very first pro fight he took on the Orient featherweight champion, Larry Bataan, and though he lost the 12 round match by decision, he had knocked the champion down. In his next fight he defeated the Orient lightweight champion Speedy Cabanella. It was only his second fight. After defeating several more top fighters, including Pappy Gault, he was considered a legitimate challenger for Carruthers’ title.

It was agreed the match would take place in Bangkok, Thailand, probably because the champion was to receive 175,000 Australian Pounds to which were attached those magic words "tax free". The Thai government requested Nat Fleischer of Ring magazine attend as a guest of Thailand. To make sure the fight would conform to championship regulations, Fleischer was appointed as official representative of both the National Boxing Association and the European Boxing Union. Jimmy Carruthers demanded the fight be a 12 round affair, rather than the usual 15 for a championship match and was granted a shorter fight. As it turned out, 12 rounds were enough to contend with in the conditions to come.

The fight would take place May the 2nd, 1954, in the National Stadium of Bangkok, which was built especially for the occasion. It would seat 60,000 spectators, but unfortunately was an open air venue. The people of Thailand flocked to the city to see their first challenge of a major boxing title and despite the horrendous weather, thousands had to be turned away from the sold-out event. Over 5 million ticals, (a quarter million dollars in U.S. currency) were paid out for tickets by those lucky enough to arrive in time.

It so happened that not only the people of Thailand gathered for the fight, but so did massive rain clouds. It rained non-stop for three days prior to the fight date, a steady downpour such as only Southeast Asia can produce. Nat Fleischer suggested the fight be postponed another day to see if the weather would break, but the Thai government disagreed. Thousands had poured into the city along with the rain and the city lacked accommodations for such crowds for any length of time. Besides, General Pichai, speaking for the Thailand government said, "The fight I think should be held regardless of the weather. Our people are accustomed to such storms."

Fleischer presented the question to both fighters and both decided they’d rather fight in the rain than postpone. Then came an unusual request from the champion Carruthers. He asked that they be allowed to fight bare foot, since the wet ring would be too slippery for shoes. His opponent readily agreed, especially since he was accustomed to fighting barefoot in kickboxing events. The sole judge of the even would be the referee, Bill Henneberry of Australia and the fight would go only 12 rounds. As an added oddity, it was declared that for his seconds Carruthers would be using his wife and the wife of his trainer, Bill McConnell. Fleischer, in his official capacity, agreed to all these conditions.

The rainstorm continued as fight time approached and gained in intensity by the hour. The government had slashed bus fares in half for the benefit of those traveling to the city for the fight and as a result many more than the arena could hold arrived to congest the flooded streets of Bangkok. Nat Fleischer related that it took more than an hour to cover the one mile from his government provided rooms to the arena by car. As more than 60,000 fans crowded into the arena they were drenched to the bone while thousands more stood dejectedly outside, refused egress by the physics of finite space. The rain was at times a deluge, spattering big fat drops onto the canvas that would serve as the field of combat, and had, as Fleschier said, "…made a lake out of the ring".

The ladies who would serve as seconds arrived with the champion carrying large umbrellas, but as soon as these were set aside, they were as soaked as the spectators. The bell sounded and the two combatants sloshed towards each other. In spots in the ring the water was an inch deep and despite their bare feet, the footing was treacherous at best. Carruthers missed with a right hand early on, slipped on the slick canvas, and slammed chin first down onto the ring floor, cutting his mouth. Songkitrat, though accustomed to barefoot combat, had his feet shoot out from under him in the second round and landed hard on his back. And it was just getting started.

Despite the unrelenting rain, the fight was well fought. The challenger scored repeatedly with hard body shots while the champion used his right jab to good effect. But any missed punch generally resulted in a scramble for balance. In the 10th round Songkitrat opened a deep cut over Carruthers’ right eye and the pelting rain spread the blood, making him appear more hurt than he might have been and causing the Thai onlookers to cheer wildly, expecting a victory from their fellow countryman.

In contrast to what fight fans consider normal, the fighters didn’t have water poured on their sweating heads between rounds; instead, the seconds used towels to dry them off as best they could. The women would climb the steps in their soggy white dresses (Mrs. McConnel wore a clear plastic raincoat) and towel off the champion, who sat on the lower ring rope rather than a stool. For brief moments the rain would relent, teasingly, then come slashing into the arena in slanting waves. The combatants splashed around like waterfowl at war.

As if the rain and slippery conditions weren’t enough of a challenge for both men, lights bulbs from the overhead rigging, shaken loose by the winds, would suddenly fall into the ring, shattering with loud pops and sending shards of glass across the soaked canvas. The fight would be halted while workers with brooms would climb into the ring to sweep the glass and water away. In the 11th round champion Carruthers cut his foot on the glass but the bout continued, a very close fight to that point. In the final round, the champion landed more often, and more effectively.

At the end, two tired fighters, resembling contestants after a 50 meter free style swim more than boxers, stood with equally wet referee Henneberry, who rendered his verdict; a decision victory for fellow Australian Carruthers. Boos rent the air and the situation might have turned ugly, but the defeated Songkitrat took the microphone and said:

"I am very proud to have been able to bring fame to my country by being the first Thai boxer to contend for the world bantamweight title, and I am personally satisfied that the decision was fair and beyond doubt. If I am not sorry, my friends and countrymen, why are you?"

And so it ended, a bizarre fight punctuated by extreme good sportsmanship. Carruthers was required to defend next against Frenchman Robert Cohen but terms could not be worked out to the satisfaction of the champion or his manager, Dr. Jim McGirr, who said, "We offered to have Jimmy fight the Frenchman but he seems to think he, not my Jimmy, is the champion. He wants even more than Jimmy can get out of the fight. If he turns down my offer now, I shall shunt him to the sidelines."

Terms could not be reached and Carruthers announced his retirement. It was decided the three top men most entitled to a chance at the belt were Robert Cohen, Chameroen Songkitrat, and Raul Macias of Mexico. Cohen and Songkitrat fought for the title, with Cohen taking the 15 round decision. But the Frenchman balked at giving Macias a match and was stripped of the belt by the NBA. Again the title stood vacant. In a third and final attempt at the bantamweight championship, Songkitrat lost via TKO11 to Macias. He fought once more, was KO’d in 9 by Billy Peacock, and left the sport of boxing.

Carruthers fight with Songkitrat had been the first, and only time, that a championship match had been fought barefoot in the gloved era of the sport. The ex-champion tried to make a comeback 7 years after his rain swept battle with Songkitrat, lost 4 of 6 fights, and retired for good.