THE 100 GREATEST BOXERS OF ALL TIME #48: TOMMY LOUGHRAN
“THE PHANTOM OF PHILLY”
82 WINS (14 BY KO), 25 LOSSES, 10 DRAWS, 43 NO-DECISIONS
The World Light Heavyweight Champion 1927–1929
The Ring Fighter of the Year 1929, 1931
International Boxing Hall of Fame Inductee 1991
It was 1926, and heavyweight superstar Jack Dempsey was looking for sparring partners to help train for his defense against the swift, elusive, and skilled Gene Tunney. There was not a better approximation of Tunney in the sport than swift, elusive, and skilled Tommy Loughran, as Dempsey found out, much to his chagrin. Time and again, Loughran, a light heavyweight, made the heavyweight king look old and cumbersome in their workouts, giving the feared “Manassa Mauler” a boxing lesson, Tunney-style. Tommy made a fool out of Dempsey, just as he would so many other light heavyweight and heavyweights stars of his time.
Loughran was in part a good stand-in for the superb Tunney because he had shared a ring with the future champion four years earlier. Having turned pro as a middleweight (160 pounds) in 1919, Loughran went undefeated in his initial 43 fights, though many of these were no-decision bouts; one of those was an eight-rounder that the newspapers said Tunney deserved, having scored an early knockdown.
The up-and-coming Loughran also went to war on six occasions with Tunney’s great rival, the wildly aggressive future Hall of Famer Harry Greb, beating Greb in their October 11, 1923 encounter in Boston. Greb was the world's middleweight champion at the time, but both men weighed over the division limit. Said the Boston Globe, Loughran boxed “with confidence and coolness and usually stopped [Greb] in his tracks by stiff jolts to the face and stinging body punches.” In their six battles, Greb won two, Loughran one, one was a draw, and two were no-decision results.
Besides Greb, Tommy carried on several multi-fight rivalries with some of the greatest middleweights, light heavyweights, and heavyweights of the 1920s and 1930s. He battled Mike McTigue four times, Jeff Smith twice, Jack Delaney twice, Young Stribling three times, Pete Latzo twice, Jack Sharkey twice, Jimmy Delaney twice, Tony Marullo three times, Johnny Risko four times, Ernie Schaaf three times, Kingfish Levinsky twice, Steve Hamas twice, Arturo Godoy three times, and Al McCoy twice. All were either future Hall of Famers, champions, or top contenders. In all, he would fight an astonishing 30 fights against lineal world champions or Hall of Famers. Still, it should be noted that he never fought a single Black opponent, and there were several top-flight Black fighters he could have faced.
Like Tunney, Loughran possessed a quick and educated left jab, considered among the finest in the sport’s history. He threw it often and accurately, using it to fend off stronger and bigger opponents or maneuver them to where he wanted them in the ring. Unlike Tunney, he did not carry much punching power, scoring just 14 knockout wins in 126 bouts. Some fighters had a fragile, “china chin;” Tommy had a china right hand, and he had to be careful when throwing it. Ironically, his lack of hitting power added to his esteem in boxing. That he performed as well as he did against bigger men without any serious artillery to launch made his skills all the more impressive.
After years as an outstanding light heavyweight (175 pounds) contender, Loughran won the division’s world championship with a unanimous decision over Mike McTigue in Madison Square Garden in New York City, McTigue’s hometown, on October 7, 1927. He would defend the title six times in less than two years, half of those defenses coming against future Hall of Famers (Jimmy Slattery, Mickey Walker, and James Braddock). He never lost the title in the ring. Instead, he left the division and went after the heavyweight prize.
His speed baffled and frustrated the big men. After fifteen rounds with him, future heavyweight champ Braddock could only ask, “Has anybody seen Loughran? I was supposed to fight the guy tonight.” Similarly, young heavyweight knockout artist Max Baer could only throw up his hands in despair during his ten rounds with Loughran, because throwing them at the air was what he had been doing all night anyway. Afterward, Tommy was kind enough to give the youngster some formal boxing lessons, greatly improving Baer’s technique.
On March 1, 1934, Loughran challenged Italy’s Primo Carnera for the biggest prize in sports in Miami, Florida. Six inches taller than Loughran, Primo outweighed him by 84 pounds, the biggest weight disparity in the history of title fights. The mob-backed “Ambling Alp,” as the champion was known, employed a successful tactic of stomping on his challenger’s feet to cripple the slick-boxing Loughran’s movement and won a 15-round decision.
Tommy Loughran retired in 1937 at age 34. Nine of his 25 losses came in the last 3 years of his career. “The Phantom of Philly” was only knocked down four times in his 126-bout career, and only knocked out three times, a testament to his tremendous boxing ability.
Tommy Loughran’s Record vs. Hall of Famers & lineal world champions:
3/16/1922 — No-Decision 10 — Mike McTigue
7/10/1922 — No-Decision 8 — Harry Greb
8/24/1922 — No-Decision 8 — Gene Tunney
1/15/1923 — No-Decision 10 — Harry Greb
1/30/1923 — L 15 — Harry Greb
3/8/1923 — No-Decision 10 — Jeff Smith
6/18/1923 — No-Decision 8 — Jeff Smith
6/25/1923 — No-Decision 8 — Mike McTigue
8/2/1923 — No-Decision 12 — Mike McTigue
10/11/1923 — W 10 — Harry Greb
12/25/1923 — L 10 — Harry Greb
2/12/1924 — W 10 — Johnny Wilson
2/19/1924 — L 10 — Jack Delaney
6/26/1924 — L 10 — Young Stribling
10/13/1924 — D 10 — Harry Greb
3/28/1925 — L 10 — Young Stribling
7/16/1925 — D 10 — Jack Delaney
6/17/1926 — W 10 — Georges Carpentier
5/3/1927 — W 10 — Young Stribling
10/7/1927 — W 15 — Mike McTigue
12/12/1927 — W 15 — Jimmy Slattery
6/1/1928 — W 15 — Pete Latzo
7/16/1928 — W 10 — Pete Latzo
3/28/1929 — W 10 — Mickey Walker
7/18/1929 — W 15 — James Braddock
9/26/1929 — L (TKO) 3 — Jack Sharkey
2/6/1931 — W 10 — Max Baer
9/27/1933 — W 10 — Jack Sharkey
3/1/1934 — L 15 — Primo Carnera
