Thomas "Bucky" Lawless was born on March 3,1908, in Auburn, New York.
25 Facts About Thomas Lawless
1.
2.
Thomas Lawless's parents were Martin J Lawless and Francis T Lawless.
3.
Thomas Lawless's father was born in Ireland, emigrated to the US in 1882, and worked for the New York Central Railroad, while his mother was born in Ontario, Canada, and emigrated to the US in 1889.
4.
Thomas Lawless was nicknamed "Bucky" by his friends soon after he began grade school at Holy Family School in Auburn.
5.
Thomas Lawless dropped out of junior high school to learn boxing.
6.
Thomas Lawless won 14 consecutive matches between September 1925 and May 1926, which included winning the Champion Lightweight of Central New York title from Sailor Pacilio on April 12,1926, at the Syracuse Arena in Syracuse, NY.
7.
The Auburn Citizen, reporting on the fight, declared that favoritism was shown to Brady by the judges and that Thomas Lawless had been robbed of his title.
8.
Thomas Lawless lost by points in a rematch against Brady on July 16,1926, at Star Park in Syracuse.
9.
Deputy State Commissioner Hodges responded that he would not interfere and that Thomas Lawless would be able to fight Brady.
10.
Thomas Lawless won the Welterweight Title of Central New York on October 14,1927, when he defeated Billy Leonard at the Syracuse Arena in six rounds.
11.
Thomas Lawless first appeared in the rankings in the 15 October 1927 edition of Collyer's Eye.
12.
Thomas Lawless was among 122 boxers listed in this edition and they were rated with scores between 109 and 300.
13.
Thomas Lawless had victories over two of the fighters who had higher ratings than him and a draw with one fighter with a higher rating.
14.
Thomas Lawless lost only one bout in 1927 against a fighter with a higher rating than him.
15.
Thomas Lawless fought seven World Welterweight Boxing Champions during his career, but never held the title himself.
16.
Thomas Lawless won decisions over Joe Dundee, Tommy Freeman, and two over Young Jack Thompson.
17.
Thomas Lawless won this match, and although Thompson was the World Welterweight Champion at the time, Thomas Lawless was forced to come into the match overweight so that Thompson's title was not at risk.
18.
Thomas Lawless fought American Middleweight Champion Gorilla Jones six times between 1928 and 1931, defeating him in four of these matches.
19.
Thomas Lawless moved from Auburn, NY, to Syracuse, NY in early 1930.
20.
Thomas Lawless married Norma Lila Conlin of Potsdam, NY on March 20,1930, in Syracuse.
21.
The Syracuse Journal wrote an article about the newlywed couple's home life in their apartment at The James, and featured four large at-home photographs with captions, such as Thomas Lawless serving coffee, washing dishes, and listening to the new radio with his wife.
22.
Thomas Lawless was honored by his home city of Auburn, NY on May 13,1931.
23.
Thomas Lawless sat in an elevated position on his roadster and a parade of three cars abreast escorted him through Fulton Street, Genesee Street, State Street, and Dill Street where the parade ended at the Auburn Fraternal Order of the Eagles.
24.
Thomas Lawless stayed active in Auburn local events; for example, he acted as master of ceremonies during a bowling match held in Auburn at the Roman Alleys on March 10,1940, in which ex-fighters competed against ex-ball players.
25.
Thomas Lawless died after a long illness at age 58 on June 19,1966.