Joe Bowker (12 June 1881 – 31 October 1955) was a British boxer who was world bantamweight champion from 1904 to 1905. His defeat of Frankie Neil on 17 October in London for the world bantamweight title was acclaimed as the most remarkable event in the sport in 1904.
During his career, Bowker also won the European and British bantamweight titles, and the British featherweight title, holding the world bantamweight and British featherweight titles simultaneously from March to October 1905. In 51 professional fights, he compiled a career record of 40 wins, 8 losses and one draw with two no-decisions. Fourteen wins came by knockout.
He was regarded as a "wonderfully clever" fighter. More than 40 years after Bowker retired from the ring, British boxing historian Maurice Golesworthy wrote of him: "Indeed, there are many authorities who rate Joe Bowker as the most skillful boxer ever produced in this country. That may be an exaggeration, but it is safe to say that there have been few better."
Biography
Birth and early career
Born 12 June 1881 in Salford, England, Joseph Lord Bowker sharpened his skills in the boxing booths of England. At age 16 he joined Billy Hughes' boxing booth, defeating 60 opponents over the next four years. At the age of 20 he won a novice bantamweight competition among 64 entries at the National Sporting Club in London.
Chicago bantamweight Harry Harris, who traveled to London in 1902 to fight Pedlar Palmer for the world title, saw the young Bowker spar and was impressed with his style and poise. "He is built on the same lines as Joe Walcott," Harris said. "He has broad shoulders, a deep chest, and long, muscular arms. He is very quick but he did not impress me as being much of a puncher. As for cleverness, I think he knows more about the game than either (Billy) Plimmer or Palmer, and they were pretty gifted."
Winning and defending the British Bantamweight Championship
In a very short time Bowker was rated the best bantamweight in Britain. He defeated Harry Ware in London for the British bantamweight championship on 15 December 1902, and successfully defended his title four times, beating Andrew Tokell, Bill King, Alf Fellows, and Owen Moran. The defeat of Fellows from Chicago, on 9 November 1903 at the National Sporting Club in London, was by a ninth-round knockout.
Winning the World Bantamweight Championship in 1904
On 17 October 1904 in London, Bowker defeated Frankie Neil of San Francisco for the world bantamweight championship. A slight favorite at 11 to 10, Bowker was behind in the early rounds and almost beaten in the ninth. From that point to the end of the 20-round bout, Bowker "greatly improved and administered plenty of punishment."
Following the fight, Jim Neil, father of Frankie Neil, protested to the referee that he thought his son should at least have earned a draw with Bowker. "Your boy swung repeatedly and missed," the referee explained to the elder Neil. "Now, if you were shooting at a bird and missed(,) that would be one for the bird, wouldn't it?"
Winning the British Featherweight Title in March of 1905
In taking the world title from Neil, it was reported that Bowker was the "first foreigner" (non-American) to win a world boxing championship.
On 20 March 1905, in London, Bowker knocked out Thomas "Pedlar" Palmer in the twelfth round to capture the British featherweight title. Two months later, on 29 May, Bowker successfully defended his world bantamweight title with a 20-round decision over Pinky Evans of Yonkers, New York. In 1906, Bowker confessed to reporters that he was too heavy at 115 pounds to defend his title. He subsequently abandoned his world bantamweight title and moved up to the featherweight division.
Failure to meet Abe Attell, and fight with Jim Driscoll in May 1906
What promised to be Bowker's biggest fight never materialized. Abe Attell, world featherweight champion, had decided in February 1906 to travel to London to fight the reigning world bantamweight champ. The 15-round bout was to be held in May at the National Sporting Club. Attell's title would be on the line. The match between Attell and Bowker was billed as "one of the most important international events" ever staged in England. Another report later that year had Bowker traveling to Los Angeles to take on the winner of the Attel-Neil bout. Attel defeated Neil on points on 4 July, but the Bowker-Attel fight never materialized.