This is Harold "Honeyboy" Hughes. He was a relative of mine, on my mother's side. A K.O. sensation among the featherweights, I see. Family lore has it that he was fairly well known in upstate New York and Vermont, where he plied his trade in the 1930s. Years after his death a mention of his name in that area would often find an old fight fan that remembered him fondly. I've heard that some of the people who knew him best didn't have overwhelmingly positive memories of old Honeyboy. He looks like he was a tough little fighter and I sure wouldn't want to have had to square off against him.
This poster is obviously aimed at the trade more than the fans, which is kind of interesting. I love the language of the thing. I especially love the list of "his battles." A lot of Kids, along with Mickey, Frankie, Charlie, Willie, Tiger, and Joe. But my favorite name is right at the top. K.O. Bunny.
What a great fighter name! K.O. Bunny. Can you picture what this guy would look like? Maybe a buffed up Bugs wearing trunks and a mean look? And who would want to get knocked out by a guy named K.O. Bunny? I mean the K.O. part, sure, but the Bunny? Who would admit to getting knocked out by a Bunny?
It's times like this I wish I could draw. I'd love to come up with an image for K.O. Bunny. Man. And I wonder what the Honeyboy-Bunny fight was like.
One of these days I'll have to make up a story about that. For now, you just need to know that Honeyboy Hughes is a fighter. He is not an alibi artist. And don't you forget it.
No comments:
Post a Comment