Van Court, DeWitt – The Making of Champions in California

Description

Van Court, DeWitt ‘The Making of Champions in California’ 1926 1st edition. 160-pages. INSCRIBED by the “Sister of the Van Court Boys To Kal Fieberling A Coming Champion I Hope.” Maroon-colored card covers with gold title. Illustrated. Interesting boxing history. Good condition with some wear to lower portion of the spine.

The Making of Champions in California by DeWitt C. Van Court (assisted by Walter V. Dobbs) is a 160-page historical memoir and boxing guide published in Los Angeles by the Press of the Premier Printing Company. Written by one of the absolute pillars of early West Coast pugilism, this highly sought-after volume details fifty years of California’s foundational boxing history.

Book Details:
• Author: DeWitt Carroll Van Court (Veteran Los Angeles Times boxing columnist and boxing instructor emeritus of the Los Angeles Athletic Club)
• Publisher: Press of the Premier Printing Company, Los Angeles
• Publication Year: 1926 (First Edition)
• Format: Quarto (4to). Certain deluxe variants or early presentation copies were bound in soft limp leather or flexible faux-leather cloth covers with gilt titles stamped on the front.
• Length: 160-pages

Content & Overview:
• Fifty Years of California Fistiana: Van Court spent his entire life embedded in the early California prize ring. He leverages that experience to deliver a first-hand look back at the state’s transformation from a raw, frontier fighting territory into a premier breeding ground for world champions.
• The Golden State Heavyweights: A primary focal point of the text is a dedicated chapter profiling California’s mythic heavyweight triad: James J. Corbett, James J. Jeffries (whom Van Court famously trained and mentored), and Joe Choynski.
• Controversial All-Time Rankings: At the time of its 1926 release, the book generated considerable buzz in sports columns because Van Court used his memoirs to rank the greatest heavyweights of all time. Having watched virtually every titan of the ring skip through the Golden State, he famously ranked contemporary king Jack Dempsey a poor seventh on his all-time list.
• Illustrations: The text functions as a vital visual archive of early 20th-century boxing, profusely illustrated with numerous rare archival photographs of pioneer fighters, training gyms, and historic California fight cards.