McCluskey Brothers reached great heights in fight game
Published Friday December 19th, 2008
The sport of boxing has produced a number of famous families over the years. The Durelles, Hiltons and Hafeys are just a few that have reached great heights in the fight game. Another family who gave all they could to the sport of champions are the McCluskeys of P.E.I. Several members of that family would go a long way as fighters, while one would be considered one of the best trainers in Canadian ring history and another would make his mark as a true builder of the sport by being known as "Canada's Foremost Boxing Authority" as a writer.
The oldest of the McCluskey brothers, Tom, was born on May 23, 1924. He would get his start as a boxer in October of 1937 and before he retired as an active fighter, the five-foot, seven-and-a-half-inch "Young" Tom McCluskey would remain undefeated in a total of 35 bouts while fighting between 130 and 145 pounds. At only 24 years of age. Tom was forced to retire because of a skull fracture suffered while serving with the Canadian Navy in the Second World War.
After being forced to quit fighting, Tom would go on to make his mark as a top-rated trainer, who produced more Canadian champions than any other trainer in Canadian ring history. He also coached a number of boxers to Maritime Titles during his time handling fighters. His brothers Ace and Cobey would both win Maritime Middle-Weight Crowns in the Pro ranks. Another of his boxers, Harry "Kid" Poulton, would lay claim to the Maritime Welter-Weight Title during his career. Tom would also be the man behind the success of future Canadian champs Richard "Kid" Howard (light-weight), Blair Richardson (middle-weight), Buddy Daye (light-weight), Les Spraque (junior welterweight), Dave Downey (middle-weight) and Les Gillis (light-weight).
He would also manage and train Trevor Berbick, who several years later would win the World Heavy-Weight Title.
Tom's most amazing accomplishment as a trainer was the job he did with Halifax's Ralph Hollett. In a little over two years, he took Hollett from being a kick-boxer to his winning the Canadian Middle-Weight Championships. On top of his outstanding work as a trainer, Tom was also a top cut man and was always in demand to work the corner of top rated fighters. In 1982, the Canadian Boxing Federation named Tom as its "Trainer Of The Year."
The next of the brothers to climb through the ropes would be Bernard. Born in Charlottetown on Sept. 3, 1926, "Ace"(as he would be known during his fighting days) would start out fighting as an 11-year-old amateur and would fight for a total of 22 years before retiring in 1959.
During his pro career, he would fight a total of 127 fights. The south-paw "Ace" would fight all over Canada, the U.S. and the West Indies. The square-jawed McCluskey was an all-action crowd pleaser. He would score over 50 KOs during his career and only be stopped three times.
Two of the toughest fights he ever had were against Yvon Durelle (who stopped "Ace" in five rounds on Oct. 12, 1949) and Roger Whynott, who "Ace" held to a 10-round draw in 1947 in front of over 4,000 fans at the old Charlottetown Forum. "Ace" would also be the first Island-born fighters to ever fight in the famed Madison Square Gardens.
"Cobey" was born on Dec. 19, 1930, also in the Island capital. Getting his start in 1944 as a 14-year-old amateur, he would fight until retiring in 1961. "Cobey," whose real name was Louis, would have a total of 75 Pro fights to go along with his 35 Amateur bouts. He fought in such places as New England, New York, Detroit, Chicago and New Orleans as well as fighting all over Canada. He fought as a Pro from the Welter-weights all the way up to the Heavy-weight division. "Cobey" would win the Maritime Middleweight title in 1950 with a 10-round decision over Yvon Durelle in a bout held in Springhill, N.S.
Then in August of 1954, he laid claim to the Eastern Canadian Middle-Weight Crown before losing to Lou Lawrence for the Canadian Title. Lacking the knock-out power that his brothers had, "Cobey" had a beautiful left jab and a chapping right hand. He is still remembered as the only Maritime born fighter good enough to beat the legendary Yvon Durelle twice. "Cobey," a hero of Maritime boxing, passed away on March 24, 2004, his love of boxing remaining strong to the end.
Wilf McCluskey was born on August 7, 1927, and would only fight a total of seven amateur fights (winning five) during a brief career. He would go on to give a lifetime to the sport as a referee, judge, time-keeper, ring second and ring announcer as well as a matchmaker and promoter. Wilf would come to be known as "The Walking Encyclopedia of Boxing."
He would spend countless hours researching the fight game, and in time, he'd put together over 500 scrapbooks about the sport. He would go on to write hundreds of boxing columns for The Guardian and Journal-Pioneer (two P.E.I. newspapers).
Some men do things for love and not money, and such was the case when it came to Wilf's boxing stories. His coverage of the sport is regarded as some of the best anywhere. For the hard work and dedication that Wilf put in over the years while recording boxing history, Wilf, along with his three brothers, was also inducted into the P.E.I. Sports Hall Of Fame on June 13, 1999.
I have had the pleasure of knowing Tom and Wilf over the years that I have been in the fight game, and it's because of men such as them that I too fell in love with the sport of champions.
Last Wednesday night's production of "And In This Comer," written by David Walsh and performed by the Heritage Players, was an outstanding tribute to the Fighting Fisherman, Yvon Durelle. Dec. 10 marked the 50th anniversary of the world championship bout of Yvon Durelle vs. Archie Moore, held on that date in Montreal in 1958. The standing ovation (lasting about five minutes) was a fitting ending to a wonderful evening. Durelle would have been proud!
Predictions
Results from last week's prediction for the Klitschko vs. Rahman bout — I picked Klitschko by KO and he won when the bout was stopped at 44 seconds of round 7.
Next week's prediction:
Dec. 20 — 12 rounds — Zurich, Switzerland — WBA Heavy-weight title — Nikolay Valuev(49-l) vs. Evander Holyfield
My pick: Valuev by KO.
Next week: Nicky Furlano
Don't forget: Keep your hands up and your chin tucked in.
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