Gentleman Jim Corbett

 

James John Corbett, "Gentleman Jim"

A boxing immortal, the late James J. Corbett won the heavyweight boxing title in 1892 when he knocked out the famed John L. Sullivan in New Orleans after 21 rounds. Known as "Gentleman Jim," San Francisco-born Corbett weighed just 178 pounds to Sullivan’s 212. A representative of San Francisco’s Olympic Club, Corbett was the first champion under the Marquis of Queensbury rules. He was also the first national sports champion from west of the Mississippi River. Enshrined in the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1983.