Eddie Nichols

Eddie Nichols (1905-1955) was an amateur welterweight in 1920's. He was born in San Antonio, Texas and moved to Chicago in 1923. His first boxing lesson came from the first black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson (who in turn became a good boxer thanks to legendary middleweight boxer Chojnski, they trained in jail after being arrested. At the time, in late 19th century, 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 fonldy remember him as a fine trainer. He was the owner of Nichols Gym where many famous boxers trained (Bob Satterfield, Bob Baker, Sonny Liston when he was starting out). He died on Christmas eve December 24, 1955, in his sleep.