Eddie Nichols
Eddie Nichols (1905-1955) was an amateur welterweight in the 1920's. He was born in San Antonio, Texas and moved to Chicago in 1923. His first boxing lesson came from the black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson (who in turn became a good fighter thanks to legendary middleweight boxer Joe Choynski, they even trained in jail after being arrested. At the time, in late 19th, early 20th century many states in the United States did not allow fights between mixed races and boxing was illegal in general)! In Chicago, some boxing fans fondly remember him as a good trainer. He was the owner of Nichols Gym where many famous boxers trained (including Bob Satterfield, Bob Baker (rocky marciano's final challenger, where Rocky could have been 50-0, at the time Baker had bext record of 45-5, won 13 straight fights aka Baker's Dozen), Sonny Liston when he was starting out). Nichols died on Christmas eve December 24 1955, in his sleep. Family had hard time accepting his death during Christmas, they already planned special party for him. His funeral took place on Monday January 2 1956.
