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Luther McCarthy’s “Betsy” by Mark Hatmaker


[Excerpted from the upcoming book Boxing Like the Champs, Round Two.]


Due to his untimely death few recall the man that was Luther McCarthy. 
Let’s rectify that.
First, his name. 21st-Century sources list his name as Luther McCarty with no “h” following the letter “t.” Every single one of my resources from 1911 to1931 have the spelling as McCarthy. These sources being closer to the time this fine boxer walked the planet, I’ll stick with them.
Born in Hitchcock County, Nebraska March 20th, 1892, he was called “Luck” by his family. Raised on a ranch he came up in the cowboy lifestyle and could ride and rope well. During his brief career he would appear on the vaudeville stage and regale the audience with his lariat abilities. 
His Nebraska origins, and cowboy skills led to the ring names of “The Cowboy” or “The Fighting Cowboy.”
McCarthy was a big powerful man, well over six feet tall, some sources have him as tall as 6’4”. He possessed an 80” reach and used that to great effect whipping jabs with equal facility to an opponent’s body and face.
McCarthy was active during the unfortunate days of rampant and vicious racism, in particular to our story, the days of the almost feral hunt for a “Great White Hope” to dethrone the dominant and perceived pariah, Jack Johnson.
McCarthy was a natural contender for this “Hope Hunt.” 
On New Year’s Day 1913, McCarthy fought Al Palzer for the despicably named World White Heavyweight Champion.
McCarthy picks up the manufactured title. He defends it successfully against challenger Fireman Flynn in April of that year, and two weeks later [two weeks!!!!?] beats the very tough Frank Moran [also covered in these pages.]
On May 24th, 1913, he takes a “stay busy” fight with a Canadian boxer by name of Arthur Pelkey. No one considered Pelkey a dangerous challenge to McCarthy.
In the first round after what appeared to be a light punch to the heart, McCarthy drops to the canvas. He was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
A coroner’s jury absolved Pelkey and boxing of the death and attributed it to a bad tumble from a horse a few weeks before the fight and surmised that the shot to the heart triggered an underlying injury from that fall.
There is a particularly poignant photo taken of McCarthy on the canvas with light streaming from above. I do not include it as we are here to celebrate McCarthy’s life and accomplishments and not lay mildly curious eyes on his lifeless form.



McCarthy was known for his power, his calm demeanor in the ring, his good use of that long jab, a dynamite left hook to the body and… “Betsy.”
What was “Betsy”? 
Betsy was his long whipping rear uppercut. 
Mighty fine fighter Carl Morris had never been on the canvas before his bout with McCarthy. Journalist George Lemmer reports that “Betsy” lifted Morris off his feet before dumping him to unfamiliar canvas territory.
Most of his KOs or major damage was the result of this unusual uppercut.
So, was Betsy simply a good strong uppercut thrown by a powerful man?
Yes, and….it was a bit more than that.
Six Rounds to Throwing Betsy
Round One

·        Get in front of your mirror and envision an opponent in your usual rear uppercut range.

·        Now, take one slide-step rearward out of your usual comfortable range.

·        Throw your uppercut from this extended position; the angle of your forearm and upper arm will have to open up to allow you to strike at this distance.

·        Watch the mirror as the punch swings down and then up.


Round Two

·        Stay on that mirror but turn your profile to the mirror so you can get a better handle on how soon to begin this opening loop or swing.


Round Three

·        Take Betsy to the heavy bag or pads.

·        Throw a few feelers with your standard rear uppercut, then take that sliding step back.

·        The bag will really reveal where and when you need to open up that elbow angle.

·        You’ll want to concentrate on turning the rear hip just a bit rearward, then as the hip uncoils whip that rear arm down throwing in an almost upward arcing swing rather than a proper uppercut.

·        Just before impact use an aggressive snap from your biceps and front deltoid to whip this swing into the target.


Round Four

·        Put your head on the bag and bang a standard inside rear uppercut.

·        Then slide step back and slam a Betsy.

·        Slide back into the inside position and work these two in an alternating manner.


Round Five

·        Let’s put Betsy into combination now, we’ll use one of McCarthy’s own.

·        Jab/Rear Straight/Lead Hook/Betsy

·        Your aim is to fire them all from a just outside position.


Round Six

·        One more McCarthy combination to make Betsy feel at home.

·        Lead with a Rear Straight follow it with a Lead Hook and add Betsy as the vicious cherry on top.


Fate and circumstances being what they are we will never know how McCarthy might have fared against Johnson or any other fighter for that matter, but we do know that many of the skills and accomplishment of his short life are well worth study by students of martial endeavor.
[For techniques, tactics, and strategies of Rough and Tumble Combat, Old-School Boxing, Mean-Ass Wrestling, Street-Ready Frontier Scrapping & Indigenous Ability culled from the historical record see the RAW Subscription Service.]

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