Joe Shears
Joseph Shears | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Died | November 25, 1957 |
| Nationality |  Canadian |
| Other names | Little Joe, Joey Shears |
| Occupation | Boxer |
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | |
Joseph "Joe" Shears (born 1892 - November 25, 1957), also known as Joe Schulman, was a former boxer.
Early History[edit]
When Joe Shulman was a year old, his family relocated from Poland to London, England.[1]
Shears was the fighting moniker of Joe Schulman, and it was taken on by his son Jerry and the rest of the family.[2]
Boxing career[edit]
Shears fought in England, Canada, and the United States before the First World War.
In 1908, he defeated George Jones in the first professional boxing match conducted in Belleville, Illinois.[3] He competed in a match at New Bedford's Sharpshooters Hall in 1913.[4]
When the First World War broke out in 1914, Shears enlisted as a member of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.[5] After sailing to England in 1916, "Little Joe" Shears became the bantamweight champion of the Allied forces in France and England.[6] In November 1916, English artist Laura Knight was commissioned to paint the physical training at Witley Camp in Surrey where the 156th Canadian Infantry Battalion was stationed.[7] Knight painted over 9 paintings which included a final large canvas, titled "Physical Training at Witley Camp" which featured Joe Shears.[8]
Shears escaped a German prison camp by crawling through a sewer.[9]
After the war, in 1919, he went back to boxing in Montreal.[10]
Personal life[edit]
Jerry, Phil, Max, Al, and Joe Jr. were his five sons, all of whom became amateur boxers by imitation.[11]
Death[edit]
Joseph Shears died on Monday, November 25, 1957.
Honors and awards[edit]
- Allied Forces Bantamweight Champion. (1916)
References[edit]
- ^ "The Unbelievably Tough Little Guy Passes - Newspapers.com™". newspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- ^ "Obituaries: Jerry Shears – Fighter Was A Champ Boxer And Broker - Newspapers.com™". newspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- ^ "Belleville IL Boxing Gyms | History Of Boxing In Belleville". legendaryboxingtraining.com. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- ^ "Joe Shears, Former Montrealer Proves Himself A Clipper - Newspapers.com™". newspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- ^ "The Sports Digest - The Montreal Star Elmer Ferguson - Newspapers.com™". newspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- ^ "Laura Knight: Joe Shears and a Sparring Partner | National Gallery of Canada". gallery.ca. Retrieved 2024-05-11.
- ^ "Artists at war: Dame Laura Knight". libraryblog.lbrut.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- ^ WILCOX, T. (2015). Laura and Harold Knight in the First World War. The Burlington Magazine, 157(1350), 602–609. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43858554
- ^ "Hard Rock Joe Shears Failing - Newspapers.com™". newspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- ^ "Joe Shears Won - Newspapers.com™". newspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- ^ "Scrappy Crew - Newspapers.com™". newspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-05-10.