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 The Swift Rise and Fall of Battling Siki
 By Thomas Gerbasi
(September 7, 2004)
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With only 28 years on this planet, the short life of Baye Phal is one that nonetheless produced a wealth of experiences that those three times his age could have never imagined. But it wasn’t all good, and even though Phal, more commonly known as Battling Siki, did have his share of living the high life during his brief reign atop the light heavyweight division, ultimately it was fast living that proved to be his undoing.
Siki, a wild swinging brawler with a crude style (think Ricardo Mayorga), has not gone down in boxing annals as a great fighter, but his story is one the most intriguing ones in the sport’s history. And in a deeper sense, his treatment by the media of that era points to how far we have come in terms of racial matters. Oh, we’re not where we could be in the fight game, as there are still pockets of underlying racism throughout the boxing business, but compare some of the statements made about Siki in the national press to media coverage today, and you’ll see the difference immediately.
Born in Senegal in 1897, Siki (born Baye Phal) moved to France as a youngster, where it was rumored that an actress had taken a liking to him and thus moved him in with her. In any event, Siki soon changed his first name from Baye to Louis, and by age of 15 began a career as a prizefighter, where he put together an unimpressive early record of 8-6-2 before enlisting in the French army during World War I, thus putting his boxing career on hold until he returned in 1919.
During the war, his bravery in battle earned him both the Croix De Guerre and the Medaille Militaire.
Siki resumed his boxing career in 1919 and won 43 of 46 fights in the ensuing four years, drawing twice, and losing only a 15 round decision to Tom Berry in Rotterdam. The light heavyweight champion at that time was Georges Carpentier, and with the call rising for the French hero to return to home soil to defend his title for the first time in three years, the search went up for a “safe” opponent to make a triumphant return for Carpentier.
Siki was deemed safe enough for Carpentier, especially when a deal went down for the Sengalese immigrant to go down after a few rounds of entertaining the local folks. Carpentier was dismissive of Siki, writing later in his autobiography, Carpentier by Himself:
"Siki was a fantastic creature whose eccentricities kept the reporters busy and his I.Q. was about that of a child of five.”
And while it’s almost certain that a deal was made, Carpentier stated that Siki was afraid of him and that he made the deal to take him out in the later rounds only to please the fans by giving them a few rounds of action, and that he could have stopped Siki whenever he chose to.
"In the end his manager, a man named Hellers, succeeded in persuading him by telling him that the fight would really be a sort of exhibition bout:” wrote Carpentier. “After a few rounds of shop-window sparring Siki would go down for the count gently by a fake right from me.”
On September 24, 1922 at the brand new Buffalo Velodrome in Paris, France, Siki entered the ring in a rose colored robe and became the first black fighter in seven years to fight for a boxing championship. He wasn’t going to go away as easily as Carpentier expected him to either. In a life full of doing things his own way, he was going to turn the tables on the boxing establishment.
In front of 40,000 fans, Siki followed the script early on, being dropped in the first and third rounds by the champion. Some reports suggest that Siki was going to take a dive in the fight, but that after being knocked hard to the canvas in the third that he decided to take his pound of flesh from Carpentier.
These suggestions may have some root in reality since Siki, after being knocked down for the second time, rose from the floor and sent Carpentier sprawling late in the same round. The fight was as good as over at that point. As the New York Times’ Edwin James wrote, “From the beginning of the fourth round, everything was Siki’s.”
Carpentier took a thorough beating over the next two rounds, bloodied and bruised by headshots, and weakened by a steady body attack.
In the sixth, James wrote, “Siki knocked Carpentier all over the arena, hitting him with everything except the ring posts. A right to the jaw and a left to the body sent the champion up against the ropes in his own corner, whence he slid to the floor dead.”
Yet referee Arthur Bernstein claimed that the challenger had tripped the French hero, and he disqualified Siki at 1:10 of the sixth round. The French crowd roared its disapproval, and the three judges at ringside, fearing a riot, reversed the decision twenty minutes later, rightfully naming Battling Siki the new light heavyweight champion of the world.
Proclaimed James, “Tonight France has her Jack Johnson.”
In many ways, Siki resembled the legendary heavyweight champion, not in ring talent or style, but in his way of living life to the fullest - regardless of the consequences attached. He was also, by all accounts, an intelligent young man, something that was lost on the national press here and abroad.
Immediately after the fight, Siki challenged heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey to a fight. And there would be no shortage of offers for the new champion's services, with prospective bouts with Harry Greb, Harry Wills, and Johnny Wilson all rumored in the press. Strangely enough, Siki’s manager may have considered bouts with Greb and Wills more dangerous than one with Dempsey, requesting 1.1 million francs (tax-free) for those bouts as opposed to 1 million francs for a Dempsey fight.
Carpentier's manager, Francois Descamps, would not let the defeat die though, and he appealed Siki's win on September 26, claiming that his man had been fouled, an appeal that was denied two days later. For his part, Carpentier wanted revenge.
"I am not retiring from the ring,” said the former champion. "I shall resume training as soon as I have recovered, and if Battling Siki, as I hope he will, decides to meet me again you can be sure the bout will not go six rounds.”
Siki was on to bigger and better things though, or so he thought. Just two days after his victory, the fight was shown to the local press ten times. Siki showed up during the third airing of the film after stopping traffic for more than an hour. He also told the Associated Press that he was putting his partying lifestyle to the side.
"I am through with absinthe from now on,” he said. "I am a champion now, and I must behave like a champion.”
Yet even that admission couldn’t save him from ridicule and racism, some of which was so bizarre it defies description. Here’s just one example in its entirety – not from some outlet like the supermarket tabloid Weekly World News, but from the New York Times – September 27, 1922 edition.
Siki Would Give Half His Winnings to Become White
Special Cable to The New York Times
PARIS, Sept. 26 – Siki got 100,000 francs for beating
Carpentier. According to the Intransigeant, he is ready to give half of it
to become white. The inky black Senegalese has a white wife, whom he
married in Paris last year. Beside the Siki story the Intransigeant
publishes a story from San Diego telling how a Californian Negro, Boudon
Badou, got white in spots and eventually entirely quit being a black man.
The Californian’s change is credited to a mixed parentage and so his
example gives little hope to Battling Siki.
The day before, the headline in the Times sports section read “Siki is a Gorilla, Says His Manager.” And according to Hellers, "Siki has something in him which is not human. A long time ago I used to think that if one could find an intelligent Gorilla and teach him to box, one would have the world's champion. Well that's what I found in Siki. There's much of the monkey about him."
How such cruelty made it into the press is amazing in and of itself. That some of it came from Siki’s own manager is even more astounding.
But for all his bluster, such statements dug at Siki, who responded: "A lot of newspaper people have written that I have a jungle style of fighting - that I am a chimpanzee who has been taught to wear gloves. This kind of thing hurts me. I was never anywhere but in a big city in all my life. I've never even seen a jungle."
Siki went on with his life though, and drowned whatever sorrows he had in his new found celebrity. He walked the streets of France with a pet lion on a leash, and he was also known to fire pistols in the air to enduce his two Great Danes to do tricks. He was also fond of drinking, flashy clothes, and white women (both of Siki's wives were white).
Not surprisingly, this lifestyle would wreck havoc on his boxing career. He finally signed for his American debut, a November 30, 1922 match against a tough black fighter from Baltimore, Kid Norfolk. The fight would be held at Madison Square Garden. But it wouldn't happen until a year later.
In the interim, Siki traveled to Dublin, Ireland to take on Mike McTigue on St. Patrick's Day, 1923. Fighting an Irishman in Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day pretty much meant that Siki would have to knock McTigue out to get a draw, and needless to say, Siki lost a 20 round decision and the title to Mc Tigue. Observers do state that McTigue deserved to win and was not the recipient of a hometown decision.
Three months later, Siki lost again, this time being disqualified against Emile Morelle. This defeat cost Siki the light heavyweight crowns of Europe and France. The ex-champ rebounded with two knockout wins in France, and finally, on November 20, 1923, Siki made his American debut against Kid Norfolk and dropped a 15 round decision. A month later he lost another decision - this one to Jack Taylor, who would later defeat Max Schmeling.
Forgotten as a serious contender, Siki kept fighting, usually against non-descript foes. His last chance to get back in the title picture came on March 13, 1925 against Paul Berlenbach, but he lost in the tenth round.
His defeats in the ring didn’t hinder his partying though, and he seemed to revel in the attention, claiming that he trained on "liquor and late hours", and that his only sparring used to be in street brawls, of which he had plenty. Siki was also arrested for pulling a knife on a policeman and slashing his uniform (he was fined $5) and of being “dangerous” when drunk. France didn’t even want him back, saying they wouldn’t receive him when US immigration tried to deport him.
But the fast lane caught up to him on December 15, 1925. Just a short distance away from a club that he attempted to wreck a couple of months earlier, getting stabbed for his trouble, Siki was shot twice in the back and killed.
According to reports, Siki left his home on 42nd Street early in the evening on that Tuesday, telling his wife Lillian that he was going out "with the boys". Around 2:30 am, after a bout of heavy drinking, a policeman spotted Siki, who was a bit unsteady on his feet. After assuring the officer that he was on his way home, Siki staggered away. Four hours later, the same officer found a man lying face down on the ground. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that the man was Siki.
A .32 pistol was found across the street from the murder scene, but the killer was never captured. According to Lillian Phal, her husband had been threatened by a man named Jimmy over a debt of $20. But we will never know.
Battling Siki was remembered by his wife as "a good boy, he was just mischievous. He would never harm anybody."
Carpentier, the victim of Siki's greatest triumph said, "It seems a pity that an athlete of such magnificent gifts should have met with this end. The time has passed when boxers can indulge in drinking and carousing and be champions. I only hope poor Siki's fate will be a lesson to aspiring pugilists."
Siki's wake was held in Harlem, and 400 to 500 people viewed the former champion. His funeral took place at the Abyssinian Baptist Church, and the service was presided over by the Reverend Adam Clayton Powell.
According to Rev. Powell "No man ever came out of Africa who had a more dramatic life or had a more tragic ending. A lack of proper preparation or a noble purpose were the two dreadful mistakes of his life. Our civilization is perhaps more to blame for these mistakes than he was."
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E-Mail Thomas Gerbasi at tgerbasi@mindspring.com
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