29 Facts About Gorilla Jones

William Landon Jones known as "Gorilla" Jones, was an American boxer who held the NBA Middleweight Boxing Championship of the World.

Gorilla Jones had 52 knockouts out of his 101 wins, with over 141 total fights.

Gorilla Jones was posthumously inducted into World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1994 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2009.

Gorilla Jones dropped out of school and eventually started boxing at age 18.

Gorilla Jones turned professional in 1923 with Stephen "Suey" Welch as manager and trained with Joe Stanley.

Gorilla Jones lost to Jewish boxer and reigning world welterweight champion Jackie Fields on October 21,1929, in San Francisco before a crowd of 10,000.

Gorilla Jones showed superior speed and took a strong points margin, despite a slow start in the first few rounds.

Gorilla Jones showed better speed and superior ring craft than his opponent.

Gorilla Jones had the advantage in three rounds, Chastain in only one, and one was even.

Gorilla Jones was able to coast through much of the eighth and ninth, though the tenth saw both boxers trying for a knockout.

Gorilla Jones won the National Boxing Association World Middleweight Title vacated by Mickey Walker with a technical knockout over Oddone Piazza on January 25,1932, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

When he arose, he tried to cover up when Gorilla Jones continued to pound at him, but the referee wisely stopped the bout.

On March 31,1932, Gorilla Jones defeated powerful hitter Chuck Burns in a third-round knockout in Akron, Ohio.

Gorilla Jones floored Burns three times in the third with a flock of lefts and rights, before sending him to the mat for the fourth and final time.

The first two rounds were slow as Gorilla Jones assessed his opponent, but he came out roaring in the third.

The New York Times wrote that Gorilla Jones was losing on points when he was disqualified after having been warned for holding and hitting low.

Gorilla Jones won the American Middleweight Championship in a seventh-round knockout against Sammy Slaughter on January 30,1933, in Cleveland.

Finally in the sixth, Gorilla Jones ended the bout with a right to the nose, and a hard right to the jaw, followed by a lighter side blow to the jaw that put Slaughter down for the count.

Steele was awarded all but one round from Gorilla Jones, who took only the second.

Gorilla Jones had previously lost to Steele on September 17,1935, in a ten-round unanimous decision in Seattle.

Gorilla Jones lost to former middleweight champion Babe Risko on May 10,1938, in a ten-round points decision in Akron, Ohio, before a modest crowd of 1,538.

Gorilla Jones was tagged repeatedly by Risko, a heavier boxer with a longer reach.

Gorilla Jones took quite a beating in the fifth, and performed his best in the seventh, though Risko had enough points to use his left jab for defense to coast a bit in the final two rounds.

Gorilla Jones was already beginning to have mild vision problems from cataracts.

Gorilla Jones performed some training duties from the mid- to late 1940s until the 1970s, working with Milo Savage, Johnny Wells, Irish Bob Murphy, and later with Suey Welch's boxer Gil King during the early 1970s.

Gorilla Jones suffered from failing eyesight in his later years from diabetes.

Gorilla Jones was among many boxers who attended the funeral of Feab S Williams.

Gorilla Jones died from arteriosclerosis and diabetes at his home near McArthur Park on January 4,1982, in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 75.

Gorilla Jones was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in East Los Angeles.