Francis Klaus (December 30, 1887February 8, 1948) was an American boxer from 1904 to 1918. Known as the Braddock Bearcat, Klaus claimed the vacant World Middleweight Championship in 1913 and was elected to the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame in 1974.
Gifted with a strong punch, he lost exceptionally few fights in his nine-year career, and was knocked out only once. Nat Fleischer ranked Klaus sixth as the All-Time Middleweight. His manager was George Engel.
Early life and career Frank Klaus was born on December 30, 1887, to German-American parents in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. He worked as a young man at the Westinghouse Machine Shop, and also mined coal with his father.
He started boxing training early and after winning an amateur tournament at East Pittsburgh's Wilmerding Athletic Club was recognized to have boxing promise by local boxing mentor George Engel."Klaus Ranks High in Fistic Realm", Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sporting Section pg. 3, 10 December 1911 He began his amateur career as early as 1904, and in February 1905 had three round wins on points in Pittsburgh against Frank Walton, and James Harris."Klaus Burial Slated Thursday", Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pg. 18, 9 February 1948
On October 18, 1911, Klaus defeated the great contender Leo Houck in a newspaper win by both the Philadelphia Item and the Philadelphia Record. During his career, the Pennsylvania-born middleweight fought some of the greatest welter, middle, and light heavyweights of his era, including Jack Dillon, Battling Levinsky, Mike Gibbons, Harry Greb, and Al McCoy.
Claiming and defending the World Middleweight Title
Klaus claimed the World Middleweight Title a few years after it became vacant upon the death of Stanley Ketchel in October 1910. Several contenders competed for the title. Accounts vary as to when Klaus was officially champion, but Klaus himself first claimed the title after defeating Sailor Ed Petrosky in a 20-round points decision in San Francisco on February 22, 1912. His victories over Jack Dillon, and later fellow claimant Georges Carpentier and former champion Billy Papke in France, cemented his claim to the title. He was officially recognized as champion by sanctioning bodies on March 5, 1913.
In his historic title bout against Georges Carpentier on June 24, 1912, in Dieppe, France, Klaus won on a nineteenth round disqualification when Carpentier's manager entered the ring to protest his boxer being elbowed repeatedly by Klaus. Carpentier's manager tried to pull his fighter from the ring by his waist, but the boxer's second had already thrown in the towel."Championship Fight is Ended by a Row", New York Times, New York, New York, pg. 7, 25 June 1912
On September 9, 1912, Klaus defeated Marcel Moreau in Savoie, France as the result of a low blow foul in the fourth of fifteen rounds. Moureau had held the French Middleweight Title in May 1908.
Defeating Billy Papke for the Middleweight Title
In a title fight that led to world title recognition, Klaus defeated American Billy Papke at the Cirque du Paris on March 5, 1913, in a fifteenth-round disqualification. The referee stopped the fight in the fifteenth as a result of Papke continually ignoring his requests to fight cleanly. Klaus was winning by a significant margin. Papke had been warned throughout the fight for flagrant violations of boxing rules. Klaus received a gold belt for the victory."Klaus Wins in Foul Over Papke", Pittsburgh Post, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sporting News Section page 1, 6 March 1913
In another important win that cemented his claim to the title, Klaus defeated contender Eddie McGoorty on May 24, 1913, in a six-round bout in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Gazette gave Klaus five of the six rounds.
On July 1, 1913, Klaus had an important win where he was awarded a third-round TKO against Jimmy Gardner in Boston. Gardner had contended for the World Welterweight Championship earlier in his career. Gardner put up a great defense until the end of the second round, when Klaus threw some hard punches over the defenses of Gardner. After Klaus continued to connect with hard blows, a second of Gardner's jumped into the ring in the middle of the third round to end the fight."Gardner is Stopped By Frank Klaus", Pittsburgh Post, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pg. 10, 2 July 1913 Klaus had faced Gardner on at least three previous occasions.
Losing the World Middleweight Title to George Chip During a title fight on 11 October 1913, George Chip baffled the crowd when he knocked out Klaus with a strong right hook to the jaw. The knockout came near the end of the sixth and final round. Prior to the knockout, in the first five rounds, Chip never threatened to take the lead. The fight occurred at the old Pittsburgh City Hall at Market Square . It was the first loss by knockout in Klaus's career. The extra weight Klaus was carrying in his midsection led many reporters to believe he had not trained adequately for the bout, and had underestimated the ability of his opponent.Guy, Richard, "Frank Claus is Stopped By George Chip", The Gazette Times, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, sec. 3 pg. 2, 12 October 1913Gibson, Florent, "Klaus Put Out By George Chip", Pittsburgh Sunday Post, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sporting News Section pg. 1, 12 October 1913
In a return non-title match on December 23, 1913, Chip defeated Klaus again. In the fifth round of six, the referee stopped the fight resulting in a technical knockout after Chip knocked Klaus to the mat for a second time. In what most considered a decisive win, the Scranton Truth wrote that Chip was the master of Klaus in every way, and clearly deserved the title he had taken from him two months earlier."Scranton Now Has a Champion", Scranton Truth, Scranton, Pennsylvania, pg. 8, 24 December 1913
Retirement from boxing and death Klaus retired from boxing at age 26 shortly after his second loss to George Chip.
Klaus died February 8, 1948, at his home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania after a severe heart attack. He was survived by his widow, two sons and three daughters.
Professional boxing record All information in this section is derived from BoxRec, unless otherwise stated.
Official record
All newspaper decisions are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes96Loss32–6–2 George ChipTKO5 (6)Dec 23, 1913 95Loss32–5–2 George ChipTKO6 (6)Oct 11, 1913 94Draw32–4–2 Eddie McGoortyNWS10Sep 29, 1913 93Win32–4–2 Jimmy GardnerTKO3 (12)Jul 1, 1913 92Loss31–4–2 Jack DillonNWS10May 29, 1913 91Win31–4–2 Eddie McGoortyNWS6May 24, 1913 90Win31–4–2 Billy PapkeDQ15 (20)Mar 5, 1913 89Win30–4–2 Pietro BoineDQ3 (?)Sep 16, 1912 88Win29–4–2 Marcel MoreauDQ4 (15)Sep 9, 1912 87Win28–4–2 Georges CarpentierDQ19 (20)Jun 24, 1912 86Win27–4–2 Jack DillonNWS10May 3, 1912 85Win27–4–2 Jack DillonPTS20Mar 23, 1912 84Win26–4–2 Sailor Ed PetroskeyPTS20Feb 22, 1912 83Win25–4–2 George Knockout BrownNWS6Jan 29, 1912 82Win25–4–2 Jimmy HowardNWS6Jan 15, 1912 81Draw25–4–2 Jack DillonNWS6Dec 6, 1911 80Win25–4–2 Leo HouckNWS6Oct 18, 1911 79Win25–4–2 Tommy SullivanKO2 (12)Oct 12, 1911 78Win24–4–2 Cyclone Johnny ThompsonNWS10Aug 17, 1911 77Win24–4–2 Vic HansenKO8 (20)Jul 1, 1911 76Win23–4–2 Montana Dan SullivanKO3 (20)Jun 15, 1911 75Win22–4–2 Bill MacKinnonNWS6May 6, 1911 74Win22–4–2 Jimmy GardnerNWS6Apr 11, 1911 73Win22–4–2 Montana Jack SullivanTKO3 (10)Mar 28, 1911 72Win21–4–2 Leo HouckPTS12Feb 14, 1911 71Win20–4–2 Willie LewisTKO6 (10)Feb 7, 1911 70Draw19–4–2 Jimmy GardnerPTS12Jan 31, 1911 69Win19–4–1 Billy BergerNWS6Jan 11, 1911 68Loss19–4–1 Hugo KellyPTS12Dec 20, 1910 67Win19–3–1 Jack AbbottTKO5 (6)Dec 15, 1910 66Loss18–3–1 Jimmy GardnerPTS12Nov 29, 1910 65Loss18–2–1 Leo HouckNWS6Oct 29, 1910 64Win18–2–1 Frank MantellNWS6Sep 28, 1910 63Win18–2–1 Jimmy GardnerPTS12Apr 12, 1910 62Win17–2–1 Frank MantellKO9 (12)Mar 29, 1910 61Win16–2–1 Stanley KetchelNWS6Mar 23, 1910 60Win16–2–1 Jack "Twin" SullivanPTS12Jan 18, 1910 59Win15–2–1 Billy BergerNWS6Jan 7, 1910 58Win15–2–1 Porky Dan FlynnPTS12Dec 21, 1909 57Loss14–2–1 Joe ThomasNWS6Dec 18, 1909 56Draw14–2–1 Harry LewisNWS6Nov 27, 1909 55Win14–2–1 Billy PapkeNWS6Nov 11, 1909 54Win14–2–1 Jack RowanKO2 (6)Oct 26, 1909 53Win13–2–1 Hugh McGannDQ3 (6)Sep 17, 1909 52Loss12–2–1 Hugo KellyNWS6Jun 25, 1909 51Win12–2–1 Jack FitzgeraldNWS6May 31, 1909 50Win12–2–1 Harry MansfieldTKO1 (6)May 15, 1909 49Loss11–2–1 Jim SmithDQ2 (6)May 15, 1909 48Win11–1–1 Harry LewisDQ6 (6)Apr 24, 1909 47Win10–1–1 Harry MansfieldNWS6Apr 5, 1909 46Win10–1–1 Jack WilliamsTKO2 (6)Mar 18, 1909 45Win9–1–1 Cy FlynnTKO3 (6)Mar 4, 1909 44Win8–1–1 Harry MansfieldNWS6Feb 18, 1909 43Win8–1–1 Pat CarneyKO1 (6)Feb 11, 1909 42Win7–1–1 Jim DonovanNWS6Feb 8, 1909 41Win7–1–1 Tommy CrawfordTKO1 (6)Jan 15, 1909 40Win6–1–1 Tommy LynchNWS6Dec 23, 1908 39Win6–1–1 Paul MooreNWS6Dec 22, 1908 38Win6–1–1 Billy ClarkKO2 (6)Nov 28, 1908 37Win5–1–1 Jack FitzgeraldNWS6Nov 16, 1908 36Win5–1–1 Kid WilliamsKO5 (6)Oct 30, 1908 35Win4–1–1 Jim DonovanNWS6Oct 24, 1908 34Win4–1–1 Johnny CarrollNWS6Sep 25, 1908 33Loss4–1–1 Jack RobinsonNWS6Sep 16, 1908 32Draw4–1–1 Billy ClarkNWS6Sep 12, 1908 31Win4–1–1 Jack RobinsonNWS6Sep 11, 1908 30Win4–1–1 Dutch ZimmerKO3 (6)Sep 8, 1908 29Win3–1–1 Jim DonovanNWS6Aug 26, 1908 28Win3–1–1 Jack NelsonNWS6May 29, 1908 27Win3–1–1 Jack FitzgeraldNWS6May 7, 1908 26Win3–1–1 Cub WhiteNWS6May 4, 1908 25Draw3–1–1 Billy ClarkNWS6Mar 28, 1908 24Win3–1–1 Alex LairdKO2 (6)Mar 16, 1908 23Win2–1–1 Paul MooreNWS6Dec 10, 1907 22Loss2–1–1 Dick GivenNWS6Oct 28, 1907 21Win2–1–1 Andy DiamondKO1 (6)Sep 14, 1907 20Win1–1–1 Al MartinNWS6May 28, 1907 19Loss1–1–1 Paul MooreNWS6Jan 10, 1907 18Win1–1–1 Jock SimcoeNWS6Dec 20, 1906 17Draw1–1–1 Paul MooreNWS6Dec 11, 1906 16Win1–1–1 James FrazierNWS6Nov 12, 1906 15Win1–1–1 Tom BroderickTKO3 (6)Oct 29, 1906 14Win0–1–1 George DeckerNWS6Oct 9, 1906 13Draw0–1–1 George FraserPTS32 (?)Aug 25, 1906 12Draw0–1 Jack BruceNWS4May 8, 1906 11Win0–1 Ned ChernoffNWS4Mar 26, 1906 10Draw0–1 Mike WardNWS4Feb 27, 1906 9Win0–1 Dick GivenNWS4Jan 25, 1906 8Draw0–1 Frank DiamondNWS6Jan 24, 1906 7Win0–1 Jock SimcoeNWS6Dec 14, 1905 6Loss0–1 Elmer MorganKO4 (6)Jul 27, 1905 5Win0–0 Battling SimpsonNWS4Mar 27, 1905 4Draw0–0 John UlmNWS4Mar 27, 1905 3Loss0–0 Frank DiamondNWS4Mar 4, 1905 2Loss0–0 Frank DiamondNWS4Feb 25, 1905 1Draw0–0 Patsy HoganNWS4Feb 18, 1905
Unofficial record
Record with the inclusion of newspaper decision in the win/loss/draw column.