Eddie Nichols
Eddie Nichols (1905-1955) was an amateur welterweight in the 1920's. He was born in San Antonio, Texas and moved to Chicago in 1923. His first boxing lesson came from the black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson (who in turn became a good fighter thanks to legendary middleweight boxer Joe Chojnski, they even trained in jail together after being arrested). At the time, in late 19th, early 20th century many states in the United States did not allow fights between mixed races and boxing was illegal in general! In Chicago, some boxing fans fondly remember him as a good trainer. He was the owner of Nichol's Gym where many famous boxers trained (including Bob Satterfield, Sonny Liston when he was starting out, Bob Baker & others. Babker was Rrocky marciano's final logical challenger to be; Rocky could have earned 50-0 record, at the time Baker had best record of 45-5, unlike others he won 13 straight fights aka Baker's Dozen. Others were Satterfield & Cavichi.
Nichols died on Christmas Eve December 24 1955, in his sleep. Family had hard time accepting his death during Christmas & holidays as they already planned special party in his honor, it had to be canceled. His funeral took place on Monday January 2 1956.
