The organisation of boxing in the USA was still haphazard. In many areas, like New York State, public bouts were still banned. Wily promoters got round this by forming private clubs, at which bouts were allowed. These were very popular, especially if the showmen could persuade their members that they were watching embryonic White Hopes in action. For those big men who could actually run up a winning streak of bouts, there were large purses to be fought for. Luther McCarty had started work in the family snake-oil business as a huckster, helping his father, the 21-stone self-styled White Eagle, touring the small towns of Nebraska to sell his cure-all potions by performing Native American dances to draw the crowds. It was an era of travelling salesmen in rural areas, peddling bottled nostrums that were claimed to be cure-alls. One of the most notorious was Dr B.J. Kendall’s addictive blackberry medicine for stomach ailments. It consisted of 122-proof whiskey reinforced with opium. These tent shows were often the only forms of entertainment to visit the remoter areas.
What do You think about The Great White Hopes (2013)?
