Billy Papke vs Stanley Ketchel III

The middleweight championship changed hands for the second time in less than 3 months when Stanley Ketchel knocked out Billy Papke in the 11th round at the Mission Street Arena, Colma, on November 26, 1908. Scheduled for 20 rounds, their third meeting ended with Papke counted out after 2 knockdowns in the deciding round. Ketchel thereby became the first middleweight champion to regain the title. He had beaten Papke over 10 rounds in Milwaukee in June, only to lose the championship to him on a stoppage in the 12th round at Vernon on September 7.

Papke entered the Thanksgiving Day contest as the betting favourite, with contemporary quotations ranging from 10-6½ to 10-7. Promoter James W. Coffroth had expected receipts of about $30,000, but the gate brought little more than $18,000. The champion’s recent victory gave substantial grounds for confidence in him; the return nevertheless developed into a markedly different contest, with Ketchel establishing the initiative immediately.

In the opening round, Ketchel drove Papke towards the ropes and hurt him with a right to the body. He followed with punches to the head and body, stepping aside to find further openings. By the 4th, Papke’s nose was bleeding, and he was repeatedly clinching, while Ketchel worked with uppercuts and short body punches. Their close fighting carried both men through the ropes onto the press seats in the 5th before they resumed. Papke bloodied Ketchel’s nose in the 6th, but finished the round unsteadily.

After another good round for Ketchel in the 7th, Papke became more active in the 8th and 9th. His improvement briefly encouraged those expecting the challenger’s exertions to tell against him. Papke went to the floor following a body blow in the 9th, although it was not counted as a knockdown. In the 10th he tried light punches downstairs followed by heavier blows at the head; Ketchel answered with a rally before the bell.

The finish came in the 11th. A left hook to the jaw put Papke down, and although he regained his feet, Ketchel followed with rights and lefts to the head and body that sent him down again. This time he failed to rise before referee Jack Welsh completed the count. The contemporary report described Ketchel as having held the advantage from the beginning, despite Papke’s attempts to recover during the later rounds. There was no need for a decision: Ketchel had recovered the championship by knockout.

Papke afterwards disputed the count, saying he had intended to rise at 9. Welsh maintained that the full count had been given and that Papke was plainly dazed. The protest did not alter the result. In the third contest of their rivalry, Ketchel had reversed the September defeat through sustained pressure, damaging body work and a decisive attack when the champion finally gave ground.

I wouldn’t pretend to read the finer points of this fight without film or fuller contemporary accounts. Ketchel had beaten Papke, then Papke stopped him to take the championship. Coming straight back and knocking Papke out in the 11th tells me plenty about Ketchel’s resolve. Papke had already proved he could beat him, so this was no comfortable return. Both men could punch, and both accepted hard opposition. That’s what made the rivalry attractive. I’d leave the character judgements there; a result tells us more about a fighter than it does about the whole man.