I haven't thought much about boxing lately, even though I did box in the Golden Gloves when I was twelve. Yes, I won a trophy and at that time they only gave them to the winners, not like today when we have to make all children happy with a trophy for just participating. That's a whole different matter that we may discuss later, but today it is about making money with boxing memorabilia.
Boxing has really fallen on hard times lately with the anti violence movement that has swept this country and boxing was caught in the whirlwind. Don't get me wrong. I am totally against violence but I consider boxing a sport or at least it was at one time. Just maybe it is time for this country to get tough again before we lose it all. There where many great fighters that gave this country a patriotic zeal like nothing else has for a long time. As a kid, Rocky Marciano, Joe Louis and Sugar Raye Robinson were my heroes. When they would lose, it was worse on me than when my father gave me a spanking. (I have to admit those spankings were just a few and even then not nearly as many as I deserved.)
To me, great boxing memorabilia is still a sleeping giant and if, in this depressed state, you are able to obtain items that were owned or used by the great fighters of yesteryears, you can't make a mistake. But what should you be on the search for? Let’s start with original fight posters lying in someone’s old trunk that you might purchase for a few dollars. To the true collector, and there are some, they might be worth thousands. Boy, would I love to have a robe worn by Marciano, perhaps the toughest man to ever live. Trunks, shoes, signed gloves, programs with signatures and then there are the old boxing cards. All of these items can bring many hundreds and even thousands of dollars.
This brings me back to where these items might be found. The spring cleaning season is right around the corner and we know how women are about spring cleaning, don't we? This will be the time to visit as many garage and house sales as you can and be sure to visit the basement and garage of every sale you attend. It is most likely that this is where you will find the material you're looking for. It may be sitting in the corner of a basement in a cardboard box that is 40 years old with a price tag of $5.00 on the whole box. But when you get that box home, there may be $10,000 worth of boxing memorabilia inside, which was at one time the husband’s collection, Whoops.
Even with the slower markets, there are still some rather expensive boxing items changing hands. Here are just a few: signed photograph of James J. Jefferies selling for $15,000, Jack Johnson vs Burns 1908 program $7,500, 1938 Churchman set of boxing cards $7,000 and almost any signed Muhammad Ali or, as I know him, Cassius Clay boxing glove will bring $3,500. Just a little side note, my son Joshua and I were attending an event in downtown Chicago and I ran into this old friend who had traveled with Ali. He asked if Joshua would like to met Ali. Ali was receiving treatments there and my friend took us to a room where we met with Ali alone. I couldn't believe it but Ali spent maybe 15 minutes with us and Josh was mesmerized the whole time. I may have been just a little excited myself.
Talking about boxing brings back good memories of my father because he often took me to matches and honestly, until I started writing this blog, I had forgotten that, so thank you for the opportunity to remember. God Bless.
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