John Morrissey
American boxer and politician (1831-1878)
ジョン・モリッシー
- Born
- 12 February 1831, Templemore
- Died
- 1 May 1878, Troy
- Citizenship
- United States
- Sport
- boxing
- Occupation
- politician, boxer
John Morrissey (February 12, 1831 – May 1, 1878), also known as Old Smoke, was an Irish American politician, bare-knuckle boxing champion, and criminal.
He became a bare-knuckle boxer, challenging Yankee Sullivan, who was then recognized as the American boxing champion. Though Sullivan beat Morrissey up, the referee declared Morrissey the winner due to him not partaking in the onlooker brawl that happened near the end of the match. He became a professional gambler, owning gambling houses in New York City in the 1850s and 1860s. He emerged as a powerful politician and a U.S. Congressman from New York, between 1867 and 1871, backed by Tammany Hall. However, he later fell out with the Tammany Hall political machine and became Democratic State Senator for New York between 1876 and 1878, running as an anti-Tammany candidate. He represented the 4th District from 1876 to 1877 and the 7th District in 1878.
Awards and honours
- International Boxing Hall of Fame 1996
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q3049844 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.