BABES IN PUNCHLAND: The Story of Forgotten Lightweight Great—Babe Daniels
By Jake Wegner.
Minnesota has had so many great gladiators of the prize ring during the 19th and 20th centuries that it is sometimes easy to gloss over the multitudes while focusing only on names such as: Gibbons, O’Dowd, Petrolle, and the Flanagan’s. But when the old boxing railbirds die off, so do the stories they told and carried with them. The oral tradition of Minnesota boxing greats is only as good as the ones telling and keeping them alive, and sometimes when that trail goes cold, we need to go back and look a little closer. Gone are the days when we could learn so freely of past fistic greats, whose stories were on the lips of so many down at the local gym or café. For with the loss of the storyteller, is the loss of the stories themselves; and with it, our unrecorded history. What’s left behind are just the names and incomplete records of the men whose surnames laced the pages of the Sports section. But in those piles of yellowing Depression-era newspapers and crinkly microfilm, lay bits and pieces of the life and times of past greats our state was privileged to have produced. One such little scrapper is that of 1930’s Lightweight, Babe Daniels.
Ervin Danielsen was born on September 14, 1914 in Minneapolis to Einar and Petra Danielsen. His parents managed Dania Hall in Minneapolis and lived upstairs in the building. Boxing was in the blood of this Danish family, as Ervin’s 1st cousin, Dick Daniels, had already made quite a name for himself in the pro game, and was regarded as one of the top upcoming fistic talents in the country. Young Ervin, whose family had already dubbed him “Babe” from an early age due to his baby-face looks, followed his older cousin’s career avidly, and asked Dick to teach him how to box so he too, could make a name for himself in the pugilistic ranks. Like Dick, Babe trimmed his fighting name down to “Daniels”, though both kept their legal last name outside of the ring. He couldn’t have asked for a better mentor and sparring partner, as he began working out with Dick as often as Dick would allow, and when he wasn’t in the ring with him, he was at the infamous Pott’s Gymnasium, watching Dick work out and taking direction from “The Grand Old Man of the Ring” as he was called, Jimmie Potts himself.
In 1929, Babe entered the amateur ranks and was managed by his father. It did not take long for the 5’ 6” Featherweight scrapper to get noticed. He aced his first seven matches, winning two of them by knockout before suffering his first defeat at the hands of the much more experienced, Jackie Liebgott. He would avenge that loss to Liebgott later that same year, as well as licked some highly regarded fighters such as: Johnny Fairchild, Bud Glover, Jack Cross, and the power-punching Axel Kegler. So good was Daniels, that he won the entire Northwest Golden Gloves Featherweight title in his inaugural 1929-30 season, becoming the first person to ever win the Featherweight crown in the Northwest Golden Gloves. The Golden Gloves was the talk of sporting cities across the country, as the Northwest Golden Gloves (today called the Upper Midwest) was newly formed that season and no small amount of attention was given to boxing by both the Minneapolis and St. Paul papers. This garnered Daniels a lot of newspaper print; since just a rookie in the amateurs, he had captured the title and garnered a noteworthy record of 25 wins, 2 losses, and 1 draw. To most everyone’s amazement, the freshly turned 16 year-old with the fast hands and baby face looks, declared that he was leaving the simon-pure ranks after just one year and turning his sights on a professional career. The Danielsen clan would now have two professional fighters for people to read about.
Babe turned pro on October 16, 1930 in the grand prize ring of Minnesota—The Minneapolis Auditorium. He was just 16 and still in high school at Roosevelt High. Babe would be the curtain-raiser for a star-studded card that featured future headliners: Art Lasky, Charley Retzlaff, Jackie Sharkey, and Britt Gorman, but the Main Event driving ticket sales was cousin Dick, who was fighting former Light Heavyweight champion, Tommy Loughran. Babe was to face former amateur standout, Johnny DeOtis. It would not be a light match for a pro debut, as DeOtis was rabbit quick, and possessed ring savvy. These were the days of newspaper decisions in Minnesota, as the state was not allowing “official decisions” by judges and referees quite yet, at least not on a regular basis, unless by knockout or disqualification. At the end of four fast rounds, all the local papers wrote that young Babe got the better of DeOtis, thus earning him the newspaper decision victory, as they were called then. Next came fights against former Golden Glove rivals, Lou Gans and Jackie Liebgott, with Daniels besting both of them. This was followed by a nice win over Walt Hobat, before dropping a close decision to Verne Butler in January of 31’. Daniels was controlling the action and out-boxing Butler until a clash of heads in the 2nd round caused blood to run freely down into Daniels’ eyes, greatly affecting his vision; and enough to allow Butler to outland him in the last few rounds and take the decision. The gash took several stitches to close, and kept Babe out of the ring for two months.
By 1931, Babe had grown into the Lightweight division, and his second pro season would prove to be the most frustrating in his career, as he managed to pick up a few wins and draws, but suffered a few losses; two of which were to local boy, Johnny Early. Early was able to back Babe up in each contest and win with high-volume punches and busy in-fighting. This was a skill that the sharp boxing youngster had not yet mastered, and he struggled greatly when it came to in-fighting and being backed up. As a result, Early had his number and the Press wrote deflating articles about Babe’s skills and called him “one-dimensional”. Babe was a superb counter-puncher, who preferred defense first and jabbing at his foe and waiting on his opponent to make a move before countering. This style made for some uninteresting bouts, and the ones with Early were no exception, as Early would not allow Daniels to fight his style.
After these two losses to Early, Babe tried to avenge the losses by fighting Johnny again in March of 32’, but once again fell short. Daniels vowed these losses would make him a better fighter, and he was right. He worked with various sparring partners in efforts to learn how to prevent opponents from cutting the ring off on him, as well as some of the tricks of in-fighting. The results of his dedication spoke for themselves, as over the course of his next six fights, Babe won 5 matches and earned one draw; restoring his stock in the eyes of the public and setting up a big fight with another local comer, Johnny Stanton.
Johnny Stanton had a good record, and was every bit as talented as Babe, and despite the fight being for just six rounds, it was garnering all sorts of predictions and created quite a rivalry between the two youngsters, and was even taking away attention from the Main Event bout between Jackie Sharkey and Wayne Short. Newspapers polled the old-timers as to whom they thought would win and the experts were divided, as were the boxing scribes. One thing they could all agree on was that Babe needed to change his style and be much more offensive-minded than in his previous bouts, or Stanton would tear him up.
Around this time, Babe had begun training with some of Jack Hurley’s stable of fighters, and Hurley, who trained and managed the careers of fistic greats such as: Charley Retzlaff, Angelo Puglisi, Russie LeRoy, Al Van Ryan, and the great Billy Petrolle, was one of the best trainers and managers of his era. By this time, only Puglisi, Retzlaff, and Petrolle remained, as the others had retired, but each fighter was liberal in their praise of Hurley’s role in not only managing their careers, but refining their talents as well. Hurley noticed Daniels’ potential immediately and began talking to him about entering into a managerial contract with him. Daniels knew Jack had all the connections and agreed, and Babe’s career took flight almost overnight—and his boxing skills climbed to another level as well. Babe liked his work with the Hurley stable and was splitting time between Potts’ Gym in Minneapolis and the Silver Spray Gym in Duluth. Now working out with one of the top 3 Lightweights in the world in Petrolle, Babe focused on becoming more offensive-minded. The results were noticeable almost immediately, as he out-boxed and out-punched Stanton from corner to post throughout their 6 round engagement, and it wasn’t even close—and Stanton was a very good fighter. Daniels’ harshest critic, legendary Minneapolis Tribune sports editor, Dick Cullum; even began writing Babe’s praises and cited his big win over Stanton as a turning point in Babe’s career, and tagged him as the best young boxer to watch. He was not alone in his opinion of the baby-faced youth. Bright things lay ahead for the young Dane, and the port city was glad to lay claim to him.
After the big win over Stanton, Babe knocked out fellow Duluth fighter, Sammy Gallop in 3 brutal rounds, followed by another big victory over Eddie Black in June of 33’. Black was a former amateur stud, but Babe not only out-boxed him, he out-slugged him as well, showing off his new style for the crowd. From here on out, Babe’s level of competition began to increase heavily. He scored a few more quick wins, including one over Kid Rippatoe, setting up another local showdown, this time with tough guy, Wayne Short.
Wayne Short was a crowd-pleaser, but a slow starter. He often lost the first half of his matches trying to get his stuff working before putting on exciting late surges. As a result, he lost a few fights that he perhaps could have won had he got busy earlier. But he carried a good left hook and a savage body attack that had slowed down many a fighter, and had proved it by beating men such as: Billy McCabe, Jimmy Josephs, Gus “Kid” Lehr, and Spud Murphy. It was a good match-up, but one that saw Babe at his best, as he dominated the St. Paul fighter throughout the majority of the contest, even staving off the late surge that Short put on. Babe was now 18-6-2, and picking up steam. His next bout against Tommy Corbett would be his biggest test yet.
Tommy Corbett was a tough Italian fighter. His real name was Romeo Buzello. He held notable wins over men like Glen “Kid” Lehr and former world title challenger, Babe Herman. He had seen all styles and beat most of them, and was credited as being a formidable opponent for young Babe to conquer. Yet Daniels showed the poise of seasoned pro, and dominated Corbett and nearly knocked him out on several occasions during the bout, having the tough Italian on the canvas three different times, but his excitement and zeal for the KO caused him to throw caution to the wind and lose his head, leading to wild punches and needless clinches by his opponent. Nevertheless, Daniels’ stock continued to rise after the victory.
Daniels then faced another crafty veteran in Henry Falegano. Falegano was past his best days when he met Daniels, yet he was still performing at a high level; beating and securing draws with many top guys, and would prove to be no pushover for Babe. They met in the Main Event in Minneapolis in November of 33’, and it took every bit of Babe’s athleticism and skill to pull out the victory, which he was able to do.
Daniels finished off 1933 with another win over Eddie Black, stopping him on a TKO in the 3rd followed by another respectable win over Prince Saunders. Saunders had faced some of the best fighters of his era in Mike Dundee, Eddie Shea, and Babe Herman; yet Daniels frustrated him to the point where he practically gave up and was disqualified for stalling by the referee. He then embarked the new year with four quick wins inside of two months, before facing the feared Frank Knauer. Knauer was from Eagle River, Wisconsin but had made Duluth his home for some time, and had an impressive record including a knockout victory over Dick Demaray. The fight would be the Main Event at the old Shubert Theater in Minneapolis, and it would prove to be a good win for Babe, as he outclassed Frank in nearly every stanza to take the victory. Babe was now 26-6-2, and had won 10 straight fights. His stock was hot, and both he and Hurley knew it, and Babe decided to move to Duluth to be with the Hurley stable. Hurley kept Babe active, as he rattled off nine more victories to round out the 1934 campaign, ending the year at 35-6-2, and his name was now a nationally-known contender, with Petrolle’s retirement in early 34’ and King Tut’s recent move out to California, Daniels was the premier Lightweight to watch for in the Midwest.
1935 started off right where 34’ left off, as Babe continued his winning streak, beating Caddy Casey out in Fargo, followed by a Main Event fight up in Canada later that month against Frank Kamecki. Babe bedazzled the Canadian sportswriters, and boxed the ears off of Kamecki, while dropping him three times in the 10-round affair. Babe then knocked out Stan Christy in three short rounds, followed up with yet another victory over old rival, Kid Rippatoe in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Hurley then lined up a big fight out in Montana against Billy Vaughn. It was to be the Main Event and set for 10 rounds. Vaughn had just recently lost a close fight to the legendary Holman Williams and was no pushover. He gave Babe all he could handle that night, and the best Babe could do was a draw. Shortly thereafter, Hurley entered into negotiations for Babe to fight in the Main Event in Chicago Stadium against another top lightweight contender, Leonard Del Genio. Del Genio was a tough Italian from New York who had recently beaten Lew Feldman in Madison Square Garden, and was garnering a lot of attention. The fight was big news and made headlines in every large paper in the country, “Del Genio and Daniels sign for 10 Round Go!” Two weeks before the fight, Daniels reportedly injured his right hand in a sparring session, but went on with the bout. But the injury, coupled with an near-perfect performance from Del Genio, was too much for Babe, as he succumbed in the 6th round and lost via technical knockout, the first such time in his career. The loss was nothing to be ashamed of, as Del Genio went on to beat Hall of Famers, Wes Ramey and Sammy Angott among others.
After the loss, Babe bounced back with a KO of his own over Phil Rivers in Fargo in June of 35’. He fought two months later in Eveleth in northern Minnesota and KO’d the Deuce of Spades in the opening round. He signed for a fight down in Sioux City, Iowa against the talented Freddie Chynoweth. Chynoweth was a good boxer, and had built a solid reputation, but Babe was the favorite, and did not disappoint the 1,800 in attendance at the Riverview Park Arena, taking the 8-round decision. Daniels didn’t know it, but the Chynoweth victory would be his last, as he then signed for another tough bout, this time in Montana in the Main Event against Kid Dennis. Dennis had been in with very good competition before, but had a bit of luck in beating Babe in their fight. The first round was fought on even terms, but in the second, when both boxers were fighting against the ropes, Babe fell through them and onto the floor, smacking his head and shoulder and was unable to continue the match, giving Dennis credit as winning by technical knockout.
Daniels later returned to Duluth for a return go with Chynoweth, but he was not himself. His shoulder, still ailing from the Montana bout, failed him in the match, and he dropped the decision to Chynoweth. This was the end of the line for young Babe, not because his skills had left him, but rather because his desire for the sport had eroded. With the Great Depression still raging on, and seeing that his boxing earnings were not what he had dreamed they could be, he set his sights on the business world and left the prize ring at the spry age of 21. For nearly six years he’d ruled the Midwest’s Lightweights as the counter-punching Babe Daniels, amassing a final record of 42 wins, 9 losses, and 3 draws, with 11 wins coming by knockout. His 23 fight winning streak is the 2nd longest of the 1930’s in Minnesota, behind only the great Jack Gibbons. As Ervin Danielsen, he moved back to Minneapolis and helped Jimmie Potts train young boxers at the Potts Gym, and even got licensed as corner man and chief second. One of the young lightweights he helped get started, would go on to make a name for himself just as Babe had done—St. Paul’s Harvey Woods.
In 1937, Babe married his sweetheart, Hope McDaniel and the couple had a daughter a few years later. He worked for IBM in the auditor’s office, and was frequently seen at both Golden Glove events as well as professional fights cards, and numbered many among his friends. One that still remembers him, Bill Kaehn, had this to say, “I remember Babe Daniels well. He was a great guy and a heck of a little fighter. We had a lot of good little guys back in that era, and Babe was one of them.” His daughter, Sharon, recalls more of the man than the fighter, “Dad was so very good at so many things, boxing was just one of them. He was a very good artist and liked to paint. He painted murals and other things and was really quite good.”
Decades later in the 1960’s, sports writer, Bill Hengen, caught up with Ervin for a short interview about his boxing days and asked what’s lacking in the Golden Gloves from producing the pro talent it used to. Danielsen replied, “The amateur program is a wonderful thing. But the boxers need to be taught more fundamentals. A good fighter can’t make mistakes. He has to slip punches, counter-punch; and to do that his feet have to be in the right place at the right time. Footwork—that is the secret of boxing. It all combines into coordination. And that is what a fighter must have.”
Babe later traded the snow and cold of Minnesota for the sun and warmth of California, where he remained the last few years of his life. “My mother had family out in California and they had got dad a job working for Spalding out there and that is why they moved out west,” said Sharon. Sadly, while trimming tree branches in the summer of 69’, he suffered a heart attack at passed away at the young age of 54. With his death, the boxing community lost a great boxer and friend, and news trickled back to Minnesota that the talented little lightweight who lit up both amateur and professional rings was gone. Sure, we still see his name in small print in the Upper Midwest Golden Gloves annual program; listing out past champions, but Babe Daniels was more than just a name in a program. He was more than just the first man to win the Featherweight crown in the Northwest Golden Gloves. And he was more than just the great Dick Daniels’ cousin…Just ask the bevy of opponents whose records (and faces) suffered at the fast hands of the shifty little Dane. For them, he was simply too much more.