Charles "Kid" McCoy (October 13, 1872 – April 18, 1940), born Norman Selby, was an American boxer and early Hollywood actor. He claimed the vacant world middleweight title when he scored an upset victory over Tommy Ryan by 15th-round knockout.
Overview
Born in Moscow, Rush County, Indiana, McCoy would eventually weigh 160 pounds (73 kg), stand 5 feet 11 inches (180 cm), and go on to a record 81 wins (55 by KO, with 6 losses, 9 no decision, and 6 disqualifications). McCoy was noted for his "corkscrew punch" – a blow delivered with a twisting of the wrist.[i] According to McCoy, he learned the punch one evening while resting in someone's barn after a day of riding the rails. He was of Scottish and English ancestry. He noticed a cat strike at a ball of string and imitated its actions. Whether true or not, McCoy was known as a fast, "scientific" fighter who would cut his opponents with sharp blows. He reportedly would wrap his knuckles in mounds of friction tape, to better cut his opponents faces. He was listed # 1 Light Heavyweight of all time in Fifty Years At Ringside, published in 1958. He was also regarded as a formidable puncher, and was included in Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.
Boxing career
Tommy Ryan was knocked out by Kid McCoy in the 15th round on March 2, 1896. This bout forms part of the lore of the McCoy legend. McCoy served as a sparring partner for Ryan, and absorbed many beatings at the hands of his employer. Ryan was notorious for showing little mercy to his sparring partners.
As a result, McCoy hated Ryan, and sought revenge. It is alleged that McCoy, who appeared thin, pale and frail, persuaded Ryan that he was seriously ill before their fight. McCoy, who was famed as a trickster, purportedly rubbed flour on his face so as to appear deathly ill. Ryan is said to have fallen for the ruse, failed to train properly and was not in top condition for the bout. Whether true or not, McCoy scored an upset win over Ryan in a fight billed for the American and World 154lbs Middleweight Title.
Another one of McCoy's tactics was demonstrated while McCoy was on a tour of Australia and some other Pacific Islands. To supplement his income, he would take on all comers. In one unidentified port, McCoy, who scarcely weighed 160 pounds (73 kg), agreed to box a huge native reputed to weigh in excess of 250 pounds (110 kg). McCoy watched him train and noted the man fought in his bare feet. When the fight began, McCoy's corner threw handfuls of tacks into the ring, causing the bare-footed challenger to drop his guard and raise up one foot. As soon as he did so, McCoy lowered the boom on his distracted adversary.
Although slight of build, McCoy captured the world middleweight championship by defeating Dan Creedon. McCoy never defended the title, choosing to abandon the crown to enable him to pursue the world heavyweight championship. Despite his handicap in size, McCoy battled the best heavyweights of his era, and defeated Joe Choynski and Peter Maher. He was defeated by Tom Sharkey and Jim Corbett. The Corbett fight was the subject of controversy, as the ending was suspect and Corbett's estranged wife claimed the bout was fixed.
It has been incorrectly asserted the expression "The Real McCoy" originally referred to Kid McCoy. One origin involves a local tough who bumped into McCoy and laughed when he was told the fellow he was annoying was Kid McCoy. He then challenged McCoy to fight, and upon reviving from being knocked out allegedly remarked "Oh my God, that was the real McCoy".
However, it is believed that the first publication of the phrase with this spelling occurred in James S. Bond's 1881 dime novel, The Rise and Fall of the "Union club": or, Boy life in Canada, wherein a character utters, "By jingo! yes; so it will be It's the 'real McCoy,' as Jim Hicks says."[1] Skeptics point out that Kid McCoy was only nine years old when this was published.[2][ii]
Personal life
McCoy was married ten times, performed in theater, and went west to California during the birth of the movie industry in Los Angeles. He appeared in films, including a scene fighting Wallace Reid in the 1922 film, The World's Champion.[3] McCoy was also friends with several movie stars of the day, including Charles Chaplin and director D. W. Griffith, who directed the 1919 silent film, Broken Blossoms, Selby's second film as actor.
McCoy after his arrest for the murder of Teresa Mors
Legal Issues
By the early 1920s McCoy was poor, addicted to alcohol and out of the movie industry. At this time he was involved in a romance with a wealthy married woman, Teresa Mors. Mors's divorce from her husband was acrimonious and dragged on until she was killed by a single gunshot to the head on August 12, 1924, in the apartment she shared with McCoy at 2819 Leeward (Unit 212).[4]
The next morning, a reportedly disheveled McCoy robbed and held several people captive at Mrs. Mors' antique shop, and shot one man in the leg after he tried to escape. He also forced at least six other men to remove their trousers, and took their money. McCoy was apprehended and charged with the murder of Mrs. Mors. His trial took place in downtown Los Angeles. McCoy claimed Mrs. Mors committed suicide, while the prosecution claimed he murdered her for financial gain. The jury was split between first degree murder and acquittal. As a compromise verdict, McCoy was convicted of manslaughter.[5]
Charlott Piehler, married Selby July 31, 1895, in Middleton, Ohio. Selby was then known as Charles "Kid" Young. In a suit filed by Piehler in Hamilton County, Ohio, a divorce decree – rendered by default due to Selby's failure to show-up in court – was awarded February 21, 1898, in favor of Piehler.
Julia Crosselman (née Julia Ella Woodruff; 1874–1952); Julia's other husbands include (a) George A. Wheelock (1858–1922), whom she married February 1912 in Jersey City, (b) Ralph Thompson, and (c) Crosselman.
1901–1901:
Julia Crosselman; re-married Selby January 7, 1901, in Boston.
1902–1903:
Julia Crosselman; re-married Selby April 11, 1902, in Hoboken, New Jersey; divorced June 9, 1903.
Indiola Arnold (née Indiola Alice Arnold; 1885–1978), married Selby December 14, 1903, in New York; she was a showgirl; she divorced Selby April 5, 1905, in Providence, Rhode Island.
1905–1910:
Lillian Ellis (aka Lillian Estelle Earle); widow of Edward C. Ellis (1877–1904), Lillian married Selby October 19, 1905, in Manhattan. When they married Lillian's net worth was estimated to be from $5 to $7 million (the latter, adjusted for inflation, is approximately equivalent to $237,377,778 in 2023). Lillian was a close friend of Julia, Selby's former wife. Earle and Selby divorced December 1910.
1911–1917:
Edna Fernanda Valentine (maiden; 1886–1950) married Selby October 27, 1911, in Gaston County, North Carolina. Her marriage to Selby was her second of three.
1920–1920:
Dagmar Dahlgren(aka Carmen M. Crowder; 1880–1951) married Selby April 22, 1920, in Los Angeles County[6] They reportedly lived together only 3 days. Their divorce was finalized September 4, 1920.
1922:
Jacqueline McDowell almost married Selby in 1922. But, after embarking by train from Baltimore to meet him in Los Angeles, she thought better of it and got off in Detroit and telegraphed that she was not going any further.
1924:
Selby, in Los Angeles County, was tried for murder, but convicted of manslaughter, for the death of his lover, Teresa Moers (née Theresa Weinstein; 1893–1924), who was married to Albert Abraham Moers. She died of a gunshot wound to the head on August 12, 1924 – in an apartment she shared with McCoy.
1937–1940:
Sue Cobb Cowley (née Susan Ethel Cobb; 1892–1970) married Selby (her 4th) in 1937 and filed two marriage certificates: (i) one in Rush County, Indiana, on August 2, 1937, and (ii) one in Detroit on August 28, 1937
Extended family
Norman Selby was one of six siblings and third oldest. One of his four sisters, Grace Esther Selby (maiden; 1885–1916) was, from 1901 to 1908, married to Charles Thomas Henshall (1862–1928). Norman was an uncle to their daughter, actress Barbara Jo Allen (1906–1974).
Death and legacy
McCoy took his own life in Detroit on April 18, 1940. Even his death was enigmatic.[7]
He committed suicide at the Hotel Tuller in Detroit[8] by an overdose of sleeping pills,[9] leaving a note behind. It read, among other things
Everything in my possession, I want to go to my dear wife, Sue E. Selby ... To all my dear friends ... best of luck ... sorry I could not endure this world's madness.
In an apparent last attempt to drop his professional moniker, the note was pointedly signed as, "Norman Selby."[10]
British professional wrestler Mark Boothman (the son of wrestler Phil "King Ben" Boothman) adopted the "Kid McCoy" name and won the British Lightweight Championship in 1987, holding it for three years.[11]
^The corkscrew punch, in boxing, is a blow delivered with a twisting of the wrist. Kid McCoy is often credited for inventing it. It was believed, in McCoy's era, that the technique added power to a punch and sometimes cut the skin of opponents. In that era, boxers had much less hand protection. Other boxers known for using the technique include Harry Harris (1880–1959). Muhammed Ali (1942–2016) used a similar technique, but different enough to claim he invented it.
^The etymology of the expression, "the real McCoy," has also been attributed to Elijah McCoy (1844–1929), a Canadian-born African-American inventor and engineer.
^"Cupid, Love's Referee, Counts Nine on Kid McCoy, But He's Not Out, Yet!" (Press Publishing Co.), by Marguerite Mooers Marshall (1887–1964), Billings Gazette, August 22, 1920, p. 2 (2nd ed.) (accessible viaNewspapers.com, subscription required)
^Casselman, William Gordon (2006). "The Real McCoy". Bill Casselman’s Canadian Word of the Day. Archived from the original on April 27, 2011. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
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