22 Facts About Kid Lavigne

George Henry "Kid" Lavigne was boxing's first widely recognized World Lightweight champion, winning the vacant title on June 1,1896.

Kid Lavigne was born in Bay City, Michigan to French-Canadian parents, Jean Baptiste Lavigne and Marie Agnes Dufort, who immigrated to the area from St Polycarpe, Quebec in 1868.

Kid Lavigne began his amateur boxing career by taking on the best bare-knuckle fighters of the logging camps.

Kid Lavigne had his professional debut as a 16-year-old, fighting under the Marquess of Queensberry rules with gloved fists and timed rounds against Morris McNally.

The Kid Lavigne managed to get a draw in this eight-round contest and a year later another draw over 20 rounds.

Kid Lavigne never regained consciousness and died the next morning at 7:00 am.

At first Kid Lavigne was arrested for the death of Bowen but was later found to be innocent of any wrongdoing as a coroner's inquest ruled that Bowen's death was the result of hitting his head on the floor of the ring.

Kid Lavigne found it more difficult to get matches in his own weight class and was finally matched with Barbados Joe Walcott, the "Barbados Demon".

Kid Lavigne stunned Burge with his relentless pressure and hard hitting, knocking him down repeatedly in the 16th and 17th rounds before the referee called a halt and awarded the fight to Lavigne by technical knockout.

Kid Lavigne was now the first undisputed lightweight champion of the world under Marquess of Queensberry rules.

Kid Lavigne successfully defended his title six times, including a rematch with Joe Walcott where he punished Walcott through 12 rounds.

In March 1899 Kid Lavigne fought briskly for 10 rounds getting the best of Smith.

Kid Lavigne finally lost the title in a 20-round decision to Frank Erne in July 1899.

Kid Lavigne was beaten again that year by a nineteenth-round knockout from George "Elbows" McFadden.

Kid Lavigne fought on sparingly over the next few years, but his addiction to alcohol and his lack of proper training took its toll.

Kid Lavigne returned to the states and opened a saloon in Detroit, "Kid Lavigne's Triangle Cafe".

Kid Lavigne continued to believe he could make a comeback and fought a few exhibitions.

Kid Lavigne worked at Ford until his death of a heart attack at his home at 111 LaBelle Avenue on March 9,1928, and is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Saginaw.

Kid Lavigne was 58 years of age, and like many boxers of his era, had a life somewhat shorter than average.

Kid Lavigne was inducted into the Ring Hall of Fame in 1959, the Michigan Boxing Hall of Fame in 1965, the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998, the Bay County Sports Hall of Fame in 1998, and the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.

Writer Lauren D Chouinard, a cousin of Kid Lavigne's, wrote a biography of the Kid titled Muscle and Mayhem: The Saginaw Kid and the Fistic World of the 1890s.

Writer Robert E Howard wrote a poem eulogizing Kid Lavigne called "Kid Lavigne is Dead".