Boxing had a banner year in 1944, attracting more fans and producing greater gates than previous years. Mike Jacobs saw gross receipts grow from $1,135,228 in 1943 to $1,400,000 in 1944. Needless to say, the top income-producing boxer for the year was Beau Jack. His three fights in March alone attracted 56,622 spectators and receipts of $332,579.1
The year would end in spectacular fashion for the “Georgia Windmill.” When The Ring magazine released its annual ratings on December 27, Beau was declared the Fighter of the Year from over 4,381 active professional boxers. Nat Fleischer, owner, and editor of The Ring, praised Beau’s impact on boxing during 1944.
Beau Jack, Dixie’s praying pugilist, did most to keep boxing interest alive during the year, Fleischer says, because he “certainly was the standout figure in New York.” For five bouts at Madison Square Garden as a civilian in 1944, he attracted gates totaling $460,610. This included the year’s largest gate of $132,823 for his brawl with welterweight Al Davis. In addition, after entering the Army, he donated his services for a non-title war-bond bout with Champion Bob Montgomery in August. Bond sales totaled $35,864,900.2
At the annual dinner of the New York Boxing Writers on Wednesday, January 24, 1945, Fleischer presented Private Jack with a medal of merit as the boxer of the year. Within the year, Beau had fought in Madison Square Garden six times, attracting 106,423 boxing fans, an average of 17,739 per bout.
Jack was also honored for making the most significant contribution to boxing during 1944 by a prominent group of Atlanta business and professional men and women at the Club Poinciana in Atlanta on Saturday, January 13, 1945. A telegram from the Atlanta Journal was read.
Beau Jack is a credit to boxing, to sportsmen, and to his race. May he never detour even the slightest from the honest, sincere road he has been trodding. Thousands of children the world over look to him as a model. God grant that he continue as an inspiration to them and as a token of clean sportsmanlike living for many, many years to come. As he swings incessantly in the ring may he continue to punch his way to success.3
Beau was a role model and a credit to sports around the world.
In early 1945, Jack received a pass from the Army to go home and see his brother, John Henry “JuJu Jack” fight at the Augusta Municipal Auditorium. Beau was enthusiastically introduced to the crowd and gave his younger brother a little advice. Apparently, the advice worked, as “JuJu” won a decision over Battling Green. Beau also refereed a four-round match between Chuck Kinney and Bob Linardo.
World War II was coming to an end. Germany surrendered unconditionally on May 7, 1945. A couple of months later, the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, on August 9, the U.S. dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. World War II ended a couple of weeks later, on September 2, 1945, with General MacArthur accepting the formal, unconditional surrender of Japan.
On Thursday, September 28, 1945, after fifteen months of service, Jack was discharged from the Army. One of his instructors remarked, “Beau Jack is sincere and takes all of his instructions in dead earnest. There is no wonder he was champ.”4 Commenting on his fast learning, Beau emphasized that he took his education on like he did his fighting. “You can just about lick anything you train hard enough for. I learned this as a fighter…. I prepare and train for my lessons like I would for a ring fight.”5 Jack was serious about training whether it was for fighting or learning.
1. “Three Champions Crowned, Attendance Hits New Peak During Banner Boxing Year,” Star-Gazette, December 28, 1944, 18.
2. Jack Cuddy, “Beau Jack Selected as ‘Boxer of the Year.’” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, December 28, 1944, 19. the Ring, February 1945 (Vol. XXIII, No. 1), 3.
3. “Honor Beau Jack at Fete in Atlanta,” Pittsburgh Courier, January 20, 1945, 12.
4. Roy Graham, “Graham’s Sportsographs,” Florence Morning News, January 14, 1945, 6.
5. Ibid.