The short life of Frankie Campbell has become almost a footnote attached to the early boxing career of Max Baer. The two mens' names are forever linked together like ghost lovers in an ethereal endless waltz. Almost 80 years ago, in what was quite possibly one of the most savage battles never broadcast, the titanium fists of a Max Baer we have never witnessed on film, a brute who once pleasurably fought with the barely concealed savagery of a wild animal, took the life of Frankie Campbell. The massacre occurred on the 25th day of a warm August evening in 1930. The setting was a squared circle situated over home plate at Recreation Park in San Francisco, California. The bout was supposed to be an elimination tournament for the unofficial title of Pacific Coast Champion. It was to be a test of whether 26 year old Frankie Campbell had the ability that would allow him an eventual shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. Instead, it ended almost to the day, the six short years of Frankie's meteoric rise in professional boxing.

To date, little has been written about Frankie Campbell. Most boxing fans are familiar with the fight in which his life was ended, but know nothing about the first path, and then the second one, that brought him to that fateful Summer night in the first place. Let it be remembered however, that once upon a time, this forgotten man possessed perhaps the potential to don the crown and secure the belt of the Heavyweight Champion of the World onto his fine physique. Instead, this bright young fighter, who had the brass ring within his grasp, entered the grave entirely too soon.


From Italy to Little Italy:
Frankie Campbell was born Francisco Camilli, in April or May of 1904 in the town of Hibbing, Minnesota to Alezzio "Alex" Camilli and Albena "Eliza" Tassi. Alex Camilli was 23 years old when he emigrated to America from the town of Sasso Ferrato in the Province of Borgo Ancona, Italy, leaving behind his parents Bastiano and Catarina Bargotti Camilli. Alex arrived at the port of New York on May 21, 1899 aboard the S.S. La Touraine. Eliza Tassi was 5 years old when she and her Mother, Felicia Larini Tassi left a village near Rome, Italy for America. They arrived at the port of New York on June 24, 1889 aboard the S.S. La Bourgogne and made their way to MIchigan, where Eliza's Father, Achilles Tassi was a miner at Iron Mountain in Dickinson County.

Alex's brother Giovanni "Joseph" Camilli and his wife, Anetta Ferranti also lived at Iron Mountain. Alex moved in with his brother's family and promptly applied for his citizenship papers in Dickinson County. In what family members believe was an arranged marriage, Alex Camilli met and married Eliza Tassi in the first half of the year 1900. Francisco's brother Alberto was born at Iron Mountain in 1901, and their sister Laura was born in 1902. Alex's brother, Joseph and his wife, Anetta were bakers. They operated a bakery out of their home, in whatever town their home happened to be in. Family legend has it that Alex and Joseph delivered Eliza and Anetta's baked goods door to door by horse and wagon. The Camilli families spent a short time in the town of Coleraine, in Itasca County, Minnesota, before they moved to the town of Hibbing in Stuntz Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota. It was in Hibbing, Minnesota that Francisco Camilli drew his first breath, in the Spring of 1904.

The two Camilli families continued to live in Hibbing through 1906. Alex opened a mercantile business in town, and it is presumed brother Joseph continued to deliver his wife's baked goods. A natural disaster 3,000 miles away was the most likely reason Alex Camilli parted from his brother's family, uprooted Eliza, the children and her parents, and moved West to California. After being devastated by the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, the City of San Francisco, California was in desperate need of workers to rebuild. While there is no record that Alex acquired building skills in the Upper Midwest, it is possible the Camilli's homesteaded in the newly burgeoning towns where they settled in Michigan and Minnesota, and Alex learned the building trade by osmosis. Some time in 1906 or early 1907, Alex, Eliza, Albert, Laura and Francisco Camilli moved to San Francisco, where Alex entered the carpentry trade, specializing in home building. The youngest Camilli son, Adolph "Dolph" Camilli, who would later become a famous professional baseball player, was born on April 23, 1907 in San Francisco, and youngest daughter Florence was born in the City in 1911.

Bernal Heights neighborhood, with the San Francisco Bay in the background- circa 1928

Hard Times in the 'Hood:
Francisco "Frankie" Camilli grew up in Bernal Heights, south of the Mission District, in San Francisco, California. Prior to the Great 'Quake of 1906, Bernal Heights had remained largely undeveloped. As people from every corner of the globe swarmed into the area to obtain good paying jobs related to the rapid rebuilding of the City, the pastureland around the Bernal Heights Hilltop was developed for workers' homes, and a commercial corridor on Cortland Avenue filled in with shops. Bernal Heights quickly became an ethnically diverse neighborhood. It is possible that the first seeds of Frankie's future career were germinated out of racial tension. "All over America in the 1920s, kids from different backgrounds met on the streets and in schoolyards and hurled at each other the taunts and slurs they had learned from their elders. Tempers boiled over, fists flew, and if a boy didn't learn to fight back quickly, he was soon an outcast or an invalid...If a kid was strong and tough, there was little chance in those days to make a living out of football, or basketball, but there was at least the illusory prospect of earning money in a sport that could be practiced year round, perhaps in front of thousands of paying customers. There were no scholarships to win, no scouts to impress. All a boy needed was a few dollars to buy a license and a jockstrap and the ability to stand the sight of his own blood; he was in business for himself overnight."

But racial tension and success in defending himself were not the only challenges Frankie was exposed to at a young age that perhaps hardened his body and mind to a degree suitable for a future fighter. According to Camilli family memories, Frankie's Father Alex was a terrible drunk. With little inclination, Alex beat his wife and beat his children. One day, without a word to Frankie or Dolph, their Mother, Eliza took their 2 sisters and ran. When Frankie was 15, he walked in on Alex beating Dolph. Frankie hit Alex in the head, took Dolph, age 13, and they too fled the house. The brothers worked at a neighborhood grocery store, stocking shelves and tidying up. The owner let them sleep on cots in the storage room. They were told to help themselves to the food lining the shelves, but perhaps not wanting to impose and aware of their precarious position, they ate only canned beans. A year later, Frankie got a job as a taxi driver up North in Eureka, where his brother Albert lived. For reasons unclear, Dolph could not go with him. Dolph went to the Catholic church for help and was taken in. He slept on a cot at night and helped with the upkeep of the church until he was able to make his own way in the world. The brothers would not see their Mother and sisters again for almost three years. When Dolph was 17, a chance meeting with Eliza on the streets of Little Italy, where she was living with her daughters and her parents, re-established solid and loving contact, but the brothers never spoke to their Father again.

In 1929, Frankie told a reporter from the Los Angeles Times it was beatings by his Father and forced manual labor beginning at a young age that helped make him the fighter he became. Frankie stated that Alex brought his "Old World ideas on how children should be raised, over to America." As soon as he and his younger brother Dolph were old enough to handle a pick and shovel, Alex made them do a man's labor. "It was work, work, work all day until I felt as though I would drop." he remembered. "I and my brother Dolph both used to love to play ball and we’d sneak away from work for a game. Always we’d return to the inevitable beating my Father would give us. My Father was a big man and oh how he could hit ! Still, we loved athletics and we’d run away to play ball.” Alex's opinion that athletics was a waste of time seemed only to drive the brothers towards sports. Frankie thought Alex's beatings taught him how to take punishment in the same way he was able to take heavy punches in the ring. “I actually grew to hate my Father during those terrible days," said Frankie, “but I can see now where his treatment of me played no little part in the building up of my body. Our family moved to San Francisco when I was young, but I finally rebelled from my Father and ran away from home. I have been knocking around in the world ever since and had to learn to fight for myself in a section where only those who could and would fight got along.”


What's in a Name:
No Camilli family stories have been passed down that recall an exact reason why Frankie chose to take up the profession of boxing. His fighting ability from such an early age may have simply been what naturally led him to the ring. He was certainly physically suited to fight: he stood 5' 10" tall, weighed just under 170 pounds, and had been blessed with incredible strength of bone and extraordinary hand-eye coordination. When Francisco Camilli made the decision to enter the fistic wars at age 20, he adopted the name of Frankie Campbell. He did so for two reasons: to hide from his Mother the fact that he had taken up boxing, and to appeal to the vast population of Scots-Irish fight fans in San Francisco.

Bert Valerga, a tall stout fellow of Italian-Irish extraction, with ten children and a background in elevator construction, but absolutely no boxing knowledge, became Frankie's manager. Frankie Campbell initially fought as a light heavyweight, averaging around 168 pounds for his early bouts. His first professional fight was a 4-round preliminary held at National Hall in San Francisco on August 27, 1924. His opponent was Bobby Barrett. It was Barrett's first fight too. A line item in the newspaper reported simply that Frankie knocked Bobby flat in the first round. Barrett would never lace on a pair of boxing gloves again. Frankie repeated his first round knockouts in 4-round prelims against Jack Desmond and Jack LaVelle respectively, finished September with a TKO in the third to Harry Edwards, and in November, Frank Howard received a decisive pasting from Campbell's fists in the first round.

An early professional fight pose from 1925

Word of Frankie's lightning quick knockouts quickly began to attract interest at National Hall. Fans appreciated this new real slugger who waded in with both fists and hit with devastating force. Frankie's previous bouts had been against untried fighters with little or no ring experience, so he was next matched with Gunnar Isaacson. Gunnar was a sporadic puncher who occasionally was known to fall to the canvas without being hit. Gunnar nonetheless had 12 respectable wins under his belt. Gunnar hit the canvas under Frankie's real or imagined fists in the third round of their bout and failed to rise from the canvas. Frankie rounded out the year of 1924 with a win on points over southpaw Charley Martino.

Bert Valerga seemed to show his complete incompetence when he matched Frankie to fight fellow San Franciscan, Art Titus on January 8th at National Hall. At weigh-in before the fight, while Frankie was still more than 5 pounds under the 175 pound minimum for the heavyweight division, Titus tipped the scales at 208 pounds. Titus was a main-eventer known to "pack a deadly punch in either mitt" and had the reputation of "mixing things at all stages." The night of the bout, however, with a series of blistering blows that drew screams of encouragement from his growing fan base, Campbell connected a right uppercut to Art's chin that practically lifted him off the canvas. Titus went down like a felled tree in the first round. In early February, with 8 wins to his credit, Frankie entered the ring for his first 6-round bout in a semi-windup at National Hall against "Sailor" Joe Hughes. Hughes was a Sacramento slugger who was "rated as a real tough battler who has destroyed the hopes of a lot of boys who were endeavoring to climb over him to a chance at the big money." The bout was Frankie's on points, but even Sailor Hughes could feel the heels of Frankie's shoes on his shoulders.


A "Most Promising" Fighter:
In the middle of February, Frankie injured his right hand and it reflected in his next three fights. At the end of March, he barely won on points over Young Franklin in the curtain raiser for an evening at Recreation Park, which was capped by the main event, between Tommy Loughran and Young Stribling. In April, Frankie was matched with Racehorse Roberts. Racehorse was an old warhorse with a nice left jab who's prime was 5 years behind him. Roberts came up the ranks in the days when it was still illegal to decide a box fight on the Sabbath. He once sparred two rounds with Jack Dempsey at Doc Croll's camp on the beach at Alameda when the Manassa Mauler was training for his title fight with Georges Carpentier. Roberts put up a surprisingly game defense, but at the end of 8 rounds, Frankie was awarded the bout on points.

By June, with his hand well healed, Campbell touched gloves with George Barach. The press enthused that Frankie "knocked out George Barach in the eighth round after giving his man a fine beating." In July, Frankie's first 10-round fight was the main event at National Hall, against Jimmy Ross. Ross was handily dispatched in the fourth round. In a rematch at month's end against Racehorse Roberts, "in a ten round knockout that sports writers declared was delivered by Joe Gorman, the referee, and not Campbell, Gorman broke the pair from a clinch, using such force that Roberts could not get up from the floor where he was thrown, and then counted him out."

Despite the fiasco with the Roberts rematch, San Francisco and Oakland's sports editors now recognized Campbell as one of the most "promising light heavyweights" in the Bay City region and boxing fans agreed. Frankie's popularity required that his September main-eventer against St. Paul's Frankie Muskie, be held at the larger Dreamland Rink. Frankie's heavy punches wore down Muskie and he was awarded a win at the end of 10 rounds. Frankie's last bout of 1925 in November against Mickey Rockson of Los Angeles, was a nightmare in more ways than one. Rockson outfought and outwitted Campbell, handily winning the majority of the rounds. In the sixth, Frankie had Mickey wobbling from a stiff right to the head, but failed to follow up. Suddenly in the middle of the bout a portion of the bleachers gave way and seventeen fans were injured. The spectators' attention finally turned back to the battle, but at the end of the bout when the referee announced a draw decision, it brought a storm of boos from the fans who thought that Mickey deserved the decision.


The Bernal Heights Slugger:
Frankie rang in the year 1926 on a high note, after a decisive rematch with Frankie Muskie, at a New Year's Day main event at Dreamland. The Oakland Tribune reported that "Campbell scored a knock down that had Muskie staggering in the fifth and he took every round of the fight"...but "it was too one-sided to be a real fight." Frankie now had 15 wins and 1 draw under his belt. The press proclaimed him the 2nd best San Francisco draw after aspiring West Coast Champion, Joe Roche and began calling him "The Bernal Heights Slugger." Frankie's next bout would be his first against a top tier fighter and his first outside of San Francisco. Frankie travelled across the Bay to fight Britain's Middleweight Champion, Roland Todd at the Oakland Auditorium. While the gamblers were waging even money on the bout, local sports writers opined that Frankie was in over his head. "Todd has had scores of fights while Campbell is just a youngster who has been brought along very carefully"..."For a comparative novice Campbell has done quite well, knocking over a whole battalion of boxers in San Francisco. However he has never been put to the acid test so it remains to be seen just how good he is"..."There are plenty of better fighters than Todd in this country but he looks too experienced for the Campbell kind. They will probably send the youngster in to slug from the start and his chance to cop lies in his luck in crashing the Britisher on a vital spot."

Dreamland Rink in the Fillmore, San Francisco, CA - 1928

In the days leading up to the bout, the press cranked up the ballyhoo like a monkey on crack. Banner headlines declared "Counter-Puncher Meets Socker in Main Event." Reporters followed the pugilists through their workouts and reported that Todd "has had three bouts in this country and although he lost them all, he established himself as a genuine fighter. Todd had the temerity to meet Harry Greb, Dave Shade and Jack Sharkey in one-two-three order, and he was battling in every contest when the final gong sounded." Todd was born in London, England, the seventh child, but the only child, to live beyond infancy. He was also the great-great grandson of prominent 18th century bare knuckle pugilist, Jack Musters. Todd had the double burden of country and ancestry to uphold.

For the first time in print, the press informed fans that Frankie was actually Italian but fought with a Scots-Irish professional name. The news only increased his popularity as two huge ethnic groups in the City began to take a greater interest in him. His picture appeared prominently in the papers for the first time and his good looks began to attract fans of the female persuasion. He was reported to be "a big, strong kid with a good wallop" who "likes to tear in where the gloves are thickest" and "does his training without the usual harness around his head."

Campbell entered the ring on March 31st, weighing 168 pounds, while Todd was eight pounds lighter. Oakland Tribune sports editor Bob Shand was not pleased by the outcome. "A left-hand swat on the chin just as the final gong sounded got Roland Todd a draw with Frankie Campbell in the ten round main event at the Auditorium last night. Campbell had seven rounds all to himself, the second could be given to Todd while there was no little action in the fourth and fifth that they might be called even. It was Campbell's fight by a mile but Todd got in that crack just as the fight ended and Referee Al Wainwright got excited or something as Campbell's knees sagged and he threw both arms in the air, signifying a draw."..."The house was with Campbell, particularly the west side of the gallery which held several hundred San Franciscans who formed a rooting section for the Italian boy with the Scotch name. Todd had few friends so Wainwright cannot be accused of playing to the gallery. Al simply lost his noodle and judgment when Todd threw in that left hook. Had the punch been landed a few seconds sooner Campbell no doubt would have received the decision he was entitled to"..."It wasn't much of a fight any way you looked at it. Todd appeared punch drunk and dead on his feet while Campbell, the novice, showed a willingness to fight and plenty of heart but that was all. There is hope for Campbell but Todd is terrible. The fact that Todd went the limit with Greb, Slattery, Shade and that kind only goes to prove that the middleweight crop is awful"..."In ten rounds Todd landed three clean punches, a left followed by a right in the second round had Campbell in distress. Then the Britisher went back to mauling and did not land another clean punch until that wallop in the last second that got him the draw. Campbell was milling and threw plenty of gloves but he's too green to mingle in real fast company yet."


Life in the Fast Lane:
Frankie may not yet have been running in fast company inside a boxing ring, but as his celebrity status grew, there were other fast lanes to run in. Possessed of black wavy hair, light grey eyes, an easygoing charm, a muscular physique not found on your average joe, and a pocketful of cash, the ladies responded accordingly. Thus began one too many nights spent escorting a bevy of independent flappers to the bright lights of the City by the Bay. Frankie did not engage in another bout for almost two months. When he touched gloves with Chuck Wiggins, a veteran Indianapolis light heavyweight, on the 20th of May at the Oakland Auditorium, Frankie was disqualified on a foul in the eighth round of a scheduled ten round bout. "The referee stopped the fight after warning Campbell in the fourth and fifth rounds for low blows. It was a fairly even, fast fight, in which Wiggins took the first, second and fourth rounds and Campbell the third, fifth and sixth. The seventh was even." After a string of 17 wins, 8 by knockout, Frankie was shocked and utterly frustrated at his seemingly sudden downward spiral. It didn't occur to him that nights of wine, women and song and complete disregard for training had perhaps contributed to the situation.

In an innocuous ending to a post-fight article about the Wiggins disqualification in May of 1926, the sports pages announced that Frankie's bout with Wiggins was "scheduled to be his last ring appearance for the present." In a surprise move that shocked his legions of fans, Frankie quit the ring and announced he planned to get into a career in baseball. His brother Dolph had been doing quite well in the minor leagues for over a year, playing first baseman with the San Francisco Seals. Frankie tried out with the Mission Reds, a minor league team that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1926 through 1937. He didn't make the cut. Option-less, Frankie returned to the ring two more times in 1926. Both occasions ended poorly. In October he fought George Cook, an Australian heavyweight boxer at the Dreamland Rink. Cook made a grand stand finish and the bout was called a draw. Frankie gave away sixteen pounds, which was quite a bit considering it was his first appearance in the ring in a couple of months. He "tired after the sixth round and Cook had the best of four rounds. Both battlers had cuts over their left eyes when the bout ended." In December, Frankie fought Joe Woods, a Los Angeles heavyweight who was National Amateur Champion in 1925. Woods won on a TKO in the fifth round of a scheduled ten round bout at Dreamland. The papers reported that "a crushing right to the jaw sent Campbell to the canvas, and Referee Toby Irwin stopped the fight after the San Franciscan staggered to his feet and reeled against the ropes. Up until the time Campbell was dropped, the bout had been fairly even, with both fighters delivering an assortment of punches to face and mid-section." It was the first time Frankie had ever been knocked down in his two years of fighting. Frankie Campbell quietly hung up his gloves and did not enter a professional boxing ring for almost 16 months.

State Armory, Mission at 14th Street, San Francisco, CA - 1929

Second Verse, Worst Than the First:
Exactly how Frankie hooked up with the man who eventually helped him stage what was then a rare accomplishment in boxing, the successful comeback, is lost to history. Some stories suggest Carolle Edward "Cal" Working met Frankie as he was knocking around baseball fields. Others say Working knew Frankie when he was actively fighting, recognized his potential and induced him to return to the ring. Working was not in the business of managing fighters, but he had contacts in boxing, he liked Campbell, and offered to stake him and give him another chance. "I don't want any of your earnings." Working explained, "but I want you to train and follow my instructions, and there is to be no monkey business." Campbell had run out of any viable options, so he hung up his dancing shoes, bid the ladies adieu and got serious. It is unclear who Frankie's boxing instructor was in 1927 as he trained for his comeback. His final trainer, Tom Maloney, would not make an appearance for another year.

In early 1928, when Working decided Frankie was good to go, they went looking for a fight. It was made clear Frankie had to start over again. They settled for an injury prone palooka by the name of George "Buster" Trenkle of Venice Beach, CA who had a record of 6-6-0 and had come North trying to advance beyond semi-winders. George had had his jaw broken in a bout with Dusty Miller in July of 1927. Three days before a fight with Billy McGowan in December, Buster fell from a horse, sustaining a leg injury which it was felt contributed to his 2nd round loss by TKO. Buster wasn't much of a puncher but had a fair right cross and a very good left jab. He had also made a decent showing recently against Tony Fuente and Armand Emanuel. Despite his long absence, when Frankie touched gloves with Buster on March 24, 1928 in his old stomping grounds at National Hall, he was favored to win. Frankie did not disappoint the crowd. He laid Buster out cold on the canvas in the 5th round. The end of April, Frankie was matched in a headliner at National Hall against Ted Sluder, a young up and comer who was a favorite in Los Angeles. The fans had barely settled in their seats before Sluder kissed the canvas for good in the second round.

Flushed with success and feeling invincible, when Abe Martin, manager of Charles Belanger, proposed a 10-round match at the State Armory in San Francisco, to take place just 12 days later, Frankie's manager, Cal Working accepted. They couldn't have made a poorer decision. Three weeks earlier, Charles Belanger had won Canada's light-heavyweight championship from Harry Dillon in Winnipeg. But a chance to jump a few rungs up the ladder and the promise of a big payoff blinded the Campbell team to how outmatched the opponents were. The two touched gloves on May 7th. In the opening round, Frankie took a hard right to the jaw and hit the floor. He arose in a daze at the count of two. In the second round he managed to halt Belanger’s rushes momentarily, with a counter barrage to the body. In the fourth round Belanger whipped over half a dozen solid right-handers that had Frankie reeling. The Oakland Tribune's Bob Shand wrote that "Belanger's left was tangled up with Campbell's face in every round and right crosses shook up the San Francisco boy and kept him on his heels. For five rounds the Canadian elected to give the home town boy a hosing lesson and then he waded in for the kill. Shortly after the sixth round opened Charlie swished a right through the atmosphere and as usual Frankie's chin was in the direct path of the wallop. That was the beginning of the end. Campbell was groggy and when he failed to untrack himself Referee Bobby Johnson raised Belanger's arm. Now they say Campbell is 'through' and he probably is." Curiously, 2 years later Charley Belanger would tell a Canadian pressman "that Campbell fight was the toughest I've ever had. It was the only time I came close to being stopped and he nearly did the trick with a sock to my stomach in the fourth round. But I recovered and knocked him out."


Phoenix Rising:
Frankie's name dropped completely from the San Francisco Bay Area sports pages. In December of 1928 he knocked out Bud Doyle somewhere in San Francisco. In January of 1929 he knocked out an unknown, Willie Johnson in the second round, and in February an unknown, Willie Richards, also in the second, but the locations of both fights have been lost to time.

In late 1928 or early in 1929, Frankie met and married Elsie Ana McGuire. Elsie was a lovely, flame-haired Irish girl from the Glen Park region of San Francisco, an area Frankie had moved to upon his return from Eureka. Frankie didn't have anything remotely resembling security to offer Elsie. One can only speculate that it was her love and support which saw him through a time when he was surely at his lowest. During Frankie's respite from the fistic wars, Elsie became pregnant with their first child. She would give birth in December.

In late Spring of 1929, Frankie, Elsie and Cal moved to Working's home in Southern California. Cal Working finally admitted he wasn't accustomed to the angles of the fight racket. In 1929, he gave Tom "Greaseball" Maloney a piece of Campbell's contract and hired him as Frankie's boxing instructor and trainer. Maloney had been involved with the Pacific Coast fight scene since about the time Edison cranked up his first phonograph. He was just coming off several years management of Pacific Coaster Teddy O'Hara, a mediocre lightweight who had recently retired, 3 years after his fractured hands begged him to quit.

All throughout the late Spring and early Summer of 1929, Tom and Cal quite literally set about remolding their young charge in both body and mind. Except for Elsie, Frankie was removed from the influence of people and places he was familiar with. He began roadwork at 3 o'clock every morning, trained all day and was in bed by 9 o'clock in the evening. Maloney advised him to forget all he had ever learned about boxing, an easy thing to do for a socker whose main asset was an occasionally great right. Frankie was a straight up fighter who often left himself wide open, so Maloney showed him how to bob and weave and fight from a crouch, how to hit effectively with either hand. Tom showed him motion pictures of Jack Dempsey in action; master training by silver screen. He fine-tuned Frankie's training regimen. He altered his diet completely. Without steroids, and without human growth hormones, Frankie put on 15 solid pounds of muscle, without sacrificing speed, but gaining incredible brute strength in both fists.

Olympic Auditorium Los Angeles, CA - 1920s

Campbell was trained and conditioned for almost five grueling months before he was ever allowed to enter the ring against an opponent. When they felt Frankie was as finely tuned as a Stradivarius, Cal and Tom made the rounds of L.A. matchmakers, but failed to generate any interest. When they approached Hayden "Wad" Wadhams, matchmaker for the Olympic Auditorium and asked for a fight, he was amenable, but as expected, Frankie was once again down at the bottom of the ladder looking up.

On July 23, 1929, Frankie touched gloves in an eight-round semi-windup against local boy, Clyde Colvin. Colvin had a 16-10-3 record going into the bout. Colvin was down for nine in the first round, nine in the second and eight in the fourth. Paul Lowry of the L.A. Times reported that Colvin's "next trip to the canvas brought the intervention of Referee Steve Nyland. Campbell was too rough and tough to suit Colvin and he seemed to welcome an ending of the affair." Clyde Colvin never entered a professional boxing ring again.

As Frankie waited for his next fight to be arranged, Cal visited his contacts among the press and induced them to observe Frankie's daily workouts at the Manhattan Gymnasium. When boxing was legalized in California in1925, Jack Dempsey saw a bright future awaiting the game in L.A. He refurbished the old Western Athletic Club and re-opened it as the Manhattan. Jack's brother Bernie ran the Gym, located in the original Spring Arcade Building on Spring Street, between 5th and 6th streets, in downtown L.A.

When reporters arrived at the Manhattan to watch Frankie train, they were suitably impressed by his speed and strength, as well as the enthusiasm of the onlookers. The press observed in articles at the end of August that "frequenters of the Manhattan Gymnasium are going nuts over Frankie Campbell, the San Francisco boxing Adonis. Campbell’s gym work has been a revelation to the natives since" he arrived here. "He is to mess up George Blake’s Harry Beum at the Olympic next Tuesday night." Come Tuesday night, Harry Beum was knocked as cold as a motel bible in the second round. The day before Halloween, 1929 in the semi-windup to the Walker-Hudkins Middleweight title fight held at Wrigley Field, Frankie stopped Ed Herting, a fighter from Houston, Texas fighting his first professional ring battle, in the second round of their six-round bout. Campbell gave Herting such a bad beating he too never again set foot inside a boxing ring.

On the same night that Frankie kayoed Ed Herting at Wrigley's, a colorful young upstart fighting out of Oakland named Max Baer, with a record of 10-1-0, kayoed second-tier fighter from Honolulu, Alex Rowe, in the first of a scheduled six-round fight. Just a week later, Rowe travelled to Southern California where Frankie repeated the first round beating at Hollywood's American Legion Stadium, with a hard right cross followed by a left uppercut. The press failed to report how quickly Baer dispatched of his victim, but Frankie disposed of Rowe in 2:39, thus registering his sixth straight KO in as many fights since his second comeback. Former Champion Jim Jeffries who owned a bar in the Manhattan Gym's building and had watched Frankie's progress with interest, was in the audience that night. He got so excited by Frankie's abilities, he went back to his dressing room to congratulate him, something Jeff had never been known to do before.


A Ring Miracle:
Newspapers from as far away as Texas began to speak of the "New Heavy Battler Developing in the West" and the L.A. Times proclaimed its "hometown boy" to be "The Newest Heavyweight Sensation" who "hits with such devastating force that he is being hailed as a second Dempsey." Manager Tom Maloney heralded Frankie to the press as a "superman." It wasn't so much that Frankie had dispatched of much top-tier competition, it was the assured and devastating way in which he flattened all six of them. Campbell's defense was his offense.

Cal and Tom decided Frankie's next fight should serve to truly leave the ham and egg-ers behind and prove that he was more than just a local sensation. Frankie signed to box a mere eleven days later for a ten-round bout against Harry Dillon, a square jawed, black-Irishman who was the idol of Winnipeg, Canada fight fans. Dillon had hooked up with some of "the best boys of his heft" in America in the last few months and done well. Young Stribling didn’t stop him. Neither did Tuffy Griffiths or Leon Lomski. He had recently been on the losing end of the 7th of his 7 career battles with Charley Belanger, Canada's light-heavyweight champion, the same Belanger who had trounced Frankie so completely in the Spring of 1928. But the Dillon-Belanger battles had been considered especially brutal contests and Dillon had lost only one on a TKO. The rest were either draws or close on points. It was expected Harry would give Frankie the battle of his young life.

Bill Black, who had brought Dillon to LA, believed that much of Tom Maloney’s talk about Campbell being a superman was baloney. “I expect to see Dillon blow this new phenom up inside a few rounds and win by a kayo himself. " The local press came to the defense of their boy. "Campbell is probably in as good condition as Dempsey was the day he knocked out Jess Willard at Toledo. Few fighters get in as perfect form as the Italian has done. That is part of the answer why he is going over so good. He is not a youngster any more at 25. But he learned the lesson of trying to fight when out of shape. New management and a changed style seem to have wrought a ring miracle."

Frankie Campbell trains in Los Angeles, CA - 1929

Word came to the Campbell crew that Jack "Doc" Kearns, former manager of Jack Dempsey, and current manager of another phenom, Mickey Walker, would be sitting at ringside for the bout. Doc said if Campbell knocked Dillon out and looked impressive enough, he had Kearns' promise for a Walker-Campbell fight at Wrigley Field early the next year. Jim Jeffries, Tommy Ryan and even Georges Carpentier also planned to attend the fight.

On November 19, 1929 at the Olympic Auditorium, before a packed crowd and a gate of over $10,000, Frankie opened the first round by pushing Harry Dillon back on his heels with a hard straight right to the jaw. Harry responded with a right and left barrage to the head which sent Campbell reeling into the ropes. Frankie weathered the storm and swarmed Dillon with a series of rights and lefts of his own that staggered Dillon. In the final seconds of the first round, a lightning right hook to Dillon's chin crumpled him like an Autumn leaf. Dillon lay listening to the twittering birdies as Frankie's hand was raised in victory.

When Frankie next went down to the Manhattan to train, he was surprised and pleased to be greeted by the applause of adoring fans and fighters alike. Jack Dempsey showed up and took Frankie aside to give him some sage advice. "Young fellow, they tell me you can hit like a mule with either hand. That's all I had to get me to the top. Never mind about protecting yourself. Just go out there and punch and bring'em down. But if you can't take'em, get out of the racket."

The first week of December, Frankie touched gloves with Tony Stabenau of Buffalo, NY for a scheduled ten rounder at the Hollywood American Legion Stadium. Tony stood 6' 3" and weighed around 200 lbs. He had recently come West via Chicago in an attempt to change his luck. With a dismal record of 18-19-3, Stabenau's prior claims to fame consisted of handing Chet Shandel his first defeat, retreating from Battling Siki at a racially charged bout in Buffalo and battling two rounds against Georges Carpentier's character in the musical motion picture "Hold Everything" which was reviewed at its debut in 1930 as "a snappy and at times uproariously funny musical production in Technicolor." Rainbow hues, except those soon to appear on his face, were not in Tony's future, though he was about to see more stars than there are in heaven.

"Campbell had Stabenau groggy during most of the affair, the fans expecting a kayo in the first round, when a terrific left hand to the chin had Tony in a bad way. Stabenau managed to hang on until the gong. He took a nine count in the second round, barely managed to keep off the canvas in the third and the bell saved him in the fourth after he had again been on the floor for another nine count. Frankie switched his attack to Tony’s midsection in the fifth, then returned to the head in the sixth. Stabenau showed a remarkable ability to take the killer wallops, however."..."At the opening of the seventh, Campbell weaved right into Stabenau and put him down for another nine count with a left hook. When he regained his feet, another left hook, coupled with a right cross, laid Tony flat on his face," where he was counted out colder than a...well just about anything !

The Syracuse Herald in NY reported in an article titled "Bored Boxing World Seeks New Champion for Ring" that one "Pacific Coast boy who is being groomed for greater things is Frankie Campbell of L.A. He is highly regarded by Jack Dempsey himself to succeed him as a real fighting champion. Campbell has a style similar to the old master's. He punches hard with both fists from a crouch. He is serious about fighting and has rung up nine straight knockouts. Of course he has only recently passed the Tony Stabenau milestone of his pugilistic journey and may be quite a way off. But there is the possibility that he, like Dempsey, may gather a sudden momentum and breeze right through the heavyweights like a borer through an Iowa cornfield." Veteran sports writer, Bob Shand of the Oakland Tribune saw Campbell as "the biggest pugilistic 'shot' in Los Angeles" and stated that Cal Working had "offered Max Baer a nice purse to meet Campbell but, naturally, Max's managers could not see the match. Baer is going big but is still green and will be fed the Fuentes kind for some time yet."


If it Quacks Like a Duck:
The first week of the new decade in the year of 1930, in what was termed "the staging of the hottest heavyweight natural that has blossomed here in some time" the Olympics' Wad Wadhams offered Frankie 35 percent of the gate receipts to fight Les Kennedy. Kennedy, who held a record of 22-2-0 and boasted an impressive record over local and imported heavies, including Ernie Owens and K.O. Christner, would receive 20 percent. Frankie's manager Tom Maloney came back and demanded 37 1/2 percent or nothing. The Campbell crew reasoned that Frankie sold the auditorium out as a main eventer while Kennedy was considered just a fair attraction. They wanted Frankie to be paid for the popularity he had acquired. Declaring he couldn't give more than 55 percent of the gate, Wadhams abandoned the match.

Hollywood American Legion Stadium, Hollywood, CA - 1930

On the 10th, Oakland sent one of its proud sons, Jack Beasley, down to fight Frankie Campbell at the Legion in Hollywood. In front of a sold out crowd, Frankie put Beasley flat on his back after exactly 1 minute and 1 second of fighting in the first round. So, near the end of January, in an effort to smoke out whether Frankie could hold his own against some real competition, Wadhams offered him $6500 to fight Ernie Owens. Wadhams informed the press he had offered Campbell $6000 to meet Les Kennedy but claimed Frankie had ducked the bout, “so I’ve dug up something a little tougher for him. I’ll give him Ernie Owens and guarantee him three times as much money as he ever got in his life--$6500. Or, if he doesn’t like that line up he can take 40% of the gate receipts. Owens is willing to fight for next to nothing to get a crack at Campbell.” Campbell and his handlers refused the bout.

Wadham's frustration was somewhat merited and had begun to be shared by others. While Campbell's consecutive string of knockouts were impressive, and had established him as a real box office attraction, his fights had largely been against a bunch of "'dese, dem and dose' guys." The going had been so easy that even his own followers were howling for a tough match in which the Bay City Socker would be called upon to face an opponent who wouldn’t fold up under a punch. Cal and Tom took some heat for refusal of the Owens and Kennedy fights. Their strategy was that when the time was ripe, Campbell would fight both men. But they were of the oft mistaken belief that postponement of specific matches would make demand white hot and large gates a surety. Frankie seriously ran the risk that his manager's jockeying of fair opponents would take the edge off his work.

Campbell's handlers were not the only ones working this strategy. The majority of managers in the heavyweight division cherry-picked their fighter's opponents with an eye toward the almighty buck taking prime importance over giving the fans a thrill or truly testing their charge's abilities. When asked by Atlanta reporters whether he would ever return to the ring, Jack Dempsey, there to referee a wrestling match, pulled no punches in stating his opinions of the methods used by the current crop of heavyweights. “Anything might materialize if these birds don’t get to mixing it up a little more lively. Why I may have a pot shot at one or two of them yet.” Dempsey thought the boys were “ducking the issue. A champion should meet and beat them all or he shouldn't be champion. The heavyweights are spotting their matches instead of slamming their way through the division.”

With a limited field of local opponents to pick from, the Hollywood Legion's matchmaker Tom Gallery telegraphed Billy Gibson, manager of Paolino Uzcudun, in New York, asking terms for a proposed 10-round match between Uzcudun and Frankie at Wrigley Field on March 14. In the interim, Gallery arranged a bout for Campbell with Benny Ross. While Ross had been fighting almost exclusively in Buffalo, NY, he had met nationally known scrappers such as Young Stribling, Tommy Loughran and Jock Malone, and held his own. Campbell was now rated one of the hardest punchers ever developed in the region. Ross was expected to extend Frankie to the limit, and if Frankie won the bout he would be beating one of the best fighter he had met so far. Before a capacity crowd at the Legion, Campbell put Benny Ross down for the count of ten in an astonishing 2 minutes, 24 seconds of fighting in the first round of their scheduled 10 round bout. The crowd, which had been geared up for a long, bloody battle actually gave Frankie the razzberry for spoiling the fun.


Green Goods but Good Goods:
After the Ross win, Pacific Coast boxing circles declared "only three big fighters in this section of the country warranted even passing mention when talk turned to the topic of a potential successor to Gentleman Gene Tunney: Frankie Campbell, Les Kennedy and Albert Morro." On January 29th, San Francisco Bay Area promoter Lou Parente announced plans to hold an unofficial tournament to determine the best heavyweight on the Pacific Coast. The plan was part of a determined effort by the West to give serious encouragement to the idea that locations other than New York City could be profitable as a place to hold title fights. The idea was to have the Pacific Coast "champ" promoted as a serious contender for the world heavyweight championship. Ranked among the leading contenders to be considered in the elimination bouts were Jack Linkhorn, Les Kennedy, Max Baer and Frankie Campbell.

Dynamite Jackson, who first attracted attention when he boxed Tommy Loughran in a local L.A. gym and dropped the light-heavyweight champion to his knees, requested and was refused a match by Frankie's handlers' as "unsuitable." Jackson was instead signed to meet Les Kennedy.The press indicated "both fighters promise to make such a driving fight that boxing fans will demand that the winner meet Campbell."

Oakland Auditorium, Fallon Street, Oakland, CA - 1930

Meanwhile, up in Oakland, Frankie still retained a following from his National Hall and Dreamland Rink fight days. Oakland and San Francisco boxing fans had been reading about their transplanted "Bay City Socker" who was now "one of the reigning sensations among western heavyweights" down South. Fans lobbied for a fight with Frankie up North and promoter Lou Parente, as part of his elimination tournament, did not disappoint them. Frankie signed to meet Natie Brown at the Oakland Auditorium on March 5th. Natie Brown had fought his first professional bout 4 months earlier, and had lasted the full 6 rounds with none other than the first round "Knockout King" Max Baer. Since then, Brown had scored some sensational knockouts of his own in San Francisco.

Before he left L.A., a photo of Campbell with a smiling Jack Dempsey, his arm around Frankie's shoulders, appeared nationwide under the following caption "Green Goods but Good Goods. That's the official rating placed on the fistic value of Frankie Campbell by Jack Dempsey, who watched Campbell go through a very strenuous workout, stiffen two geezers in as many punches and prance and dance for the former heavyweight champ."

If the Bay region's sports scribes could have welcomed Frankie Campbell home with a rhinestone crown and a brass plated sceptre they would have. Instead they went into endless raptures of literary bombast in describing his fistic encounters. Writers expressed astonishment that Frankie could so effectively "weave and bob and throw punches like the old Manassa Mauler himself !" "He steps around like a lightweight and is extremely hard to hit. "

Recalling his early Bay region days, the Tribune noted that "Frankie no longer haunts the bright lights. He had one fling at that racket and hit the toboggan so fast that he skidded right out of the picture. He is back again, a bigger and better fighter, and he is going to sacrifice a lot of fun he might be having in order to accumulate a bank roll." After observing his workouts it was noted, "Certainly Campbell is a complete refutation of the old adage that they never come back. The San Francisco heavyweight has knocked out his last ten opponents, and has done so in such impressive style that he is the best drawing card in Los Angeles. Campbell and any kind of palooka will pack the Olympic Auditorium at five dollar tops and they turn them away from the Hollywood Legion stadium when Frankie is billed to appear.

"The rejuvenated youngster makes his first appearance here in several years," and "should surprise his old friends." During training, Frankie sprayed his sparring partner, Steve Brodie "with hooks and crosses and his weaving style had Brodie completely mystified. " In a dig at the antics of the merry Max Baer, who had begun his collection of automobiles and suits of clothing in earnest, Bob Shand at the Oakland Tribune wrote that Frankie "is a likeable kid, not addicted to fast motors or late hours and he is always willing to listen to his handlers. With that kind of a disposition he is apt to be near the top and copping important money when less tractable prospects are back in overalls."

The local San Mateo Times wrote that Jack Dempsey had stated he thinks "the lad has great possibilities, and is looked upon on the Pacific Coast today as a potential contender for the heavyweight crown"...The Times went on enthusiastically "he is fast, aggressive and has plenty of confidence. He can punch like a second Dempsey and has the legs to carry him through good tough battles with the best in the ring game. In other words, he reminds of the slashing, tearing, two-fisted human dynamo, Jack Dempsey, who battered his way to fame with defeat of Willard. If Campbell keeps on knocking’em stiff and climbs the heights to within reach of a chance at the crown, he’s certain to knock on the door of the championship."

Though the bout with Natie Brown was short and sweet, Frankie thrilled his hometown fans and garnered a few new ones. The morning after the fight, Bob Shand wrote that "encouraged by an organized rooting section from Glen Park, Frankie Campbell, the reconditioned heavyweight, last night knocked out Natie Brown in the second round of a ten-round bout at the Oakland Auditorium. Brown was no match for the San Francisco lad. In the first round, Campbell flattened his man with a left hook and made him stay down for a nine count. In the second round, Brown slipped and skidded off the canvas several times before Campbell nailed him with a right on the chin and the war was over. Brown, contrary to expectations, really tried to make a fight out of it in the first round, but after being punched to the canvas he lost much of his confidence." Russ Allen at the Hayward Review observed that "Brown was knocked so bow-legged he wanted to fight after the lights had been doused, the cash customers were half way home and the seconds were mopping his brow with a flock of towels. Natie stepped out in fine shape for the first rounds, pelting the wide open but weaving Campbell with rights and lefts and then he bumped into a left hook that dropped him for the nine count. After that he was cautious and the end was only a matter of time. Campbell certainly hits hard."


Just a Flash or a Fact:
Frankie, Cal and Tom returned in triumph to L.A. They had barely unpacked when Les Kennedy issued a challenge to Frankie. Les was matched to meet the hard-hitting Vigo Doman in a matter of days and proposed to fight Frankie as soon as feasible afterward. Only days later, Les fell seriously ill with the flu and his bout with Vigo was about to be called off. With visions of lost revenue dancing in his head, the Legion's Tom Gallery offered the bout to Frankie. A Campbell-Doman bout had potential. Vigo boasted 12 early round KO's to his credit and had given Frankie's old nemesis, Charley Belanger serious heart palpitations when they met. To the frustration of many, the Campbell crew once again declined. Dynamite Jackson continued hot on Campbell's trail, to no avail. In his last two starts, Jackson had headlined cards at the Olympic Arena, had whipped Les Kennedy, and had boxed Ernie Owens to a decision. But his manager, Wirt Ross reported that Campbell would not fight him. Then Wad Wadhams tried to pair off Campbell and Armand Emanuel at the Olympic. Emanuel decided he needed a warm-up fight before facing Frankie. He had just returned by ship from an unsuccessful Eastern bout with Jim Maloney at Boston Gardens, where Maloney had KO'd and sent Armand to Haymarket Relief Hospital. He was found to be suffering from contusions of the right side, an injury Emanuel claimed was evidence of a foul blow.

In the middle of March of 1930, an oddity occurred in Southern California: an extended period of rainy weather. The storm "quieted down local discussion about baseball, track and tennis temporarily, but souped up the fistic brethren. The latest is a proposed double main event between Johnny Lamar and Goldie Hess and Frankie Campbell and Lee Spiker." Frankie accepted the match with Spiker for March 25th at the Olympic. Lee Spiker, the L.A. Times reported, was "a big ex-Marine whose biggest purse to date is said to be $21 and a horse blanket"…"Spiker is a big, tough guy and fears nobody—not even Campbell and his dreaded knockout." Although Spiker had never fought outside the service, he claimed 25 KO's in 39 battles among fellow Marines and Sailors and held the fleet heavyweight title in the Orient.

Frankie Campbell trains in Los Angeles, CA - 1930

The night of the double main event, the Olympic was packed to the rafters. Hundreds of fans who had been turned away stood outside in the rain, clustered under umbrellas like black beetles around open car doors to listen to the radio broadcast of the affair. At the last moment, Frankie Campbell "claimed an old shoulder injury had recurred, leaving him in no condition for the ring" and refused to fight. Ernie Owens was substituted for Campbell, and knocked out Spiker in six rounds. Over the next few days the newspapers quoted Frankie as saying he had developed "a 'charleyhorse' shoulder," a claim not allowed by Dr. L.V. Mace, the Commission physician and also indicated that "Campbell was reported to have evaded the match at his managers’ behest because they 'fell' for trumped up stories of the newcomer’s prowess."

Frankie was indefinitely suspended by James Woods of the State Athletic Commission "for refusal to go through with his scheduled fight." Frankie would not have a chance to clear himself until the next meeting of the Commission, scheduled for some time in April, where, the press sneered, "He can present his reasons for a whitewash at that time." Then Tom Maloney informed the press that his fighter was ordered to a hospital for a sinus operation. That was a well-travelled charleyhorse ! Frankie would never again be matched with Lee Spiker, who would go on to lose all 6 of his professional fights before retiring. However, its feasible each may have acknowledged the other in passing months later, as Lee walked up, and Frankie walked down a boxing ring aisle. Lee Spiker lost on points to Hans Birkie in the six-round semi-windup to the Baer-Campbell fight.

During his suspension through the end of April, Frankie once again dropped out of the funny papers. When he reappeared at the Manhattan to resume training again, he had lost a few things and gained a few things. He tipped the scales at over 190 pounds. He was minus 5 teeth and his tonsils. Nothing was said about those pesky sinuses or his migrating charleyhorse. Most importantly to fight fans, Frankie had finally accepted a bout as the main event opener of the outdoor boxing season at Wrigley Field against Les Kennedy on May 12th. The fact that he was training for a fight certainly indicated he'd patched things up with the State Boxing Commission. The L.A. Times seemed relieved to have him back and tarried little on the reasons behind his absence. The paper reported that "looking refreshed after his layoff,"..."Frankie Campbell picked up his old Jack Dempsey style of weaving and hitting yesterday in his first boxing workout since he underwent two minor operations. The Manhattan gymnasium was packed. The Italian Dempsey worked with Frank Muskie and Mack House."..."He reeled Muskie about the ring, but took it easier with House. Tom Maloney announced that he had received a wire from Jack Dempsey at Rochester, stating he would be back in L.A. in time for the Wrigley Field show."

It was the opinion of the experts that while Kennedy was the better boxer and superior defensively, Campbell, the hard socker was favored to stop Les within four rounds. If the bout went ten rounds, Kennedy was considered a virtual cinch to win. Campbell, the papers said, "with his asset of a knockout punch, comes nearer being the answer to a successor for Dempsey than any youngster developed since the new ten-round law. While Campbell has been knocking out his men with machine-like regularity, many have come to doubt that he can take a punch as well as give one. Kennedy, Long Beach longshoreman, is just the man to find out whether Campbell is a flash or a fact. Kennedy, uncolorful and tough, has lost but one decision in two years of fighting in California."

When May 12th arrived, Frankie had slimmed down to a svelte 183 pounds, while Les carried a sturdier 194. For the first two rounds, Kennedy's hard rights to the head and body literally twirled Campbell in circles around the ring like a May Queen around the maypole. Kennedy closed Campbell’s right eye in the third round. The shocked fans who had motored down from San Francisco and the local L.A. crowds who had come to see Frankie dish out his thirteenth straight knockout, rose to their feet, and a great moan of disbelief poured from thousands of throats. Suddenly as if an errant bolt of lightning had streaked down from a distant storm, Frankie let loose a terrific right to Kennedy's head that caused his legs to accordion. As he folded up like a wet dishrag, a stiff blow to the short ribs hastened Kennedy's progress to the canvas. The count by the referee was merely a gesture.


A Tiger on his Tail:
While Frankie had established himself as the knockout king in Southern California, the L.A. papers had determinedly not looked too closely outside their own fistic sphere. Max Baer was clearing a path before him of his Northern California brethren like Moses parting the Red Sea. While Frankie had ducked Ernie Owens, Max Baer fought him twice and "well-nigh murdered him." In their first encounter, Baer knocked Owens down for the first time in his career, and then did so three more times for good measure. In their rematch, Baer knocked Owens down seven times and his manager Dutch Meyers was glad Owens finally stayed down. "I don't want to be a party to a murder. One more clout and Ernie might have passed out and it's easier to ship them live than dead to Los Angeles." Owens could only shake his head and say "That Baer ain't human." When Max met Jack Linkhorn, a terrific right to the chin, a straight right on the button and a booming right that "hit him like a bullet" knocked Linkhorn down three time in the first round as quickly as a tablecloth whipped from under a Thanksgiving spread. While Frankie packed them in at the Legion and the Olympic, Max's fights broke attendance records at the Oakland Auditorium and the Arcadia Pavilion. While Frankie was called "sensational" and "aggressive," Max was termed "dangerous" and "vicious."

In late May of 1930, reports from the Baer circles were that "Max was playing the big courses and getting along nicely but now he is peeweeing overtime. Time hangs heavily on the
big fighter's hands." As Max was posing for pictures one day a newsman noticed his hand was a bit shaky. "'I just can't keep that right hand still.'" explained Max. "'I have it 'cocked' all the time, and just want a chance to plant it where it will do the most good. I love to fight.'"..."The gong that sends him into battle is music to Baer's ears." the Oakland press bragged, "He would rather fight than eat." Max Baer hungered for his next victim and he had Frankie Campbell in the crosshairs.

Wad Wadhams stepped forward and offered Max $7500 to fight Frankie at the Olympic. Kay Owe of the L.A. Times reported Wad "hung up this attractive bait—sweet pickings in perilous times—for the match, but has had only one bite. This from Baer, and a full gobble. The mental giants composing the Campbell board of strategy are objecting to the match on the ground that Baer should not receive as much as Campbell because the latter has compiled his knockout record here. They are unwilling to concede that Baer"..."is as 'hot' as Campbell. Perhaps they object inwardly to Baer on the strength of his being more rugged and a far stiffer puncher than Les Kennedy, who was chopping Campbell to pieces when he suddenly ran into Frankie’s devastating right at the ball park the other night." For now, the Campbell menage was able to stave off Max Baer.

Recreation Park, San Francisco, CA - 1930

Frankie was instead matched to meet Tom Kirby of Boston. Per the Times, Kirby "has met a number of the best light-heavyweights in the East and has consistently given a good account of himself." The Campbell bout would be Kirby's first start in California, but he was a favorite in Boston. Kirby had gone the route with Young Stribling and met Light-Heavyweight Champion Tommy Loughran twice. Many felt Kirby had won over Loughran in their first bout. Kirby was a stablemate of Jim Maloney but the two shared a terrific rivalry, and never held punches in training. A few weeks earlier, during a workout at the Main Street Gym, Kirby had let lose with a stiff right that brought Maloney to his knees. When Maloney recovered, he picked Kirby up and threw him through the ropes into a row of chairs. Kirby had kayoed Jack Gagnon, the man who stopped Tuffy Griffiths, and had defeated Paul Swiderski, who had knocked Mickey Walker down three times. If Frankie could stop Tom Kirby, it would be a terrific boost for his reputation.

Campbell weighed 179 and Kirby 182 when they met at the Olympic on the 3rd of June. Reports of the fight state the first round "was just so-so, without a great deal of action as the two boxers attempted to locate weak spots. Campbell opened the second round by jarring Kirby, but the latter shot over a right to the jaw that floored Campbell. Campbell rose without a count, but was shaky and took considerably the worse of the exchanges during the remainder of the round. While Kirby failed to floor Campbell again, he rocked him back on his heels on several occasions, and missed a golden opportunity by not finishing the battle then and there. One hard hook completely closed Campbell’s right eye and he went to his corner in bad condition. Campbell recuperated swiftly, however, and was himself once more in the third round. He caught Kirby with sharp rights and lefts to the head and a right to the jaw floored Kirby for the count. Kirby’s seconds were unable to bring him to for several minutes." Frankie had won the bout, but just barely.


A Waste of Time:
Within days of the fight, Max Baer, through his manager, Ham Lorimer, officially challenged Frankie Campbell to fight for the championship of the Pacific Coast. Paul Lowry of the L.A. Times reported that Lou Parente, the Oakland promoter, he of the elimination tournaments, personally drove down to L.A. in an attempt to sign Frankie Campbell to fight Max Baer. Boxing was not drawing as well in the South as up North. Oakland bouts such as Baer's fight with Jack Linkorn, drew a gate of over $30,000, while fights in L.A., such as the Campbell-Kirby bout, drew around $7500. Ancil Hoffman, who would shortly become one of Max Baer's managers, but who was currently a top notch promoter in San Francisco, also drove South to pressure the Campbell crew. Ancil estimated a Baer-Campbell bout could easily draw over $50,000 at Recreation Park in the City by the Bay.

Paul Lowry considered their efforts "a waste of time." "What Tom Kirby, who has no reputation as a hitter, did to Campbell at the Olympic Tuesday night must have thoroughly convinced the Campbell handlers their boy has no business in the same ring with Baer. Two fights in a row Campbell has been all but stopped by fighters who are not punchers--Les Kennedy and Tom Kirby. Baer is a puncher of the murderous type. And it is becoming painfully evident that Campbell has a chin of glass. He can't shed punches and even his fighting here could not stave off the inevitable in a fight with Baer. The bout will never be made until the Campbell faction decides Frankie has come to the end of the trail and they want the dough."

Frankie and his family drove up to Sacramento in early June to watch his brother, Dolph Camilli play first base for the Sacramento Senators in several night games against the Oakland Oaks. Frankie was quoted as saying that he was "obligated to Promoter Jack Doyle of Los Angeles for his next start, but has promised to appear in Oakland or San Francisco later." By June 13th, Ancil Hoffman was informing the press he had met with Ham Lorimer, Cal Working and Tom Maloney to discuss a Baer-Campbell fight and "announced that while the articles of agreement had not been signed, he had secured an option on the services of the battlers. Hoffman refused to discuss terms but intimated he had satisfied both sides." Ancil declared he planned to hold the match at Recreation Park in July, but that "articles cannot be signed until we know when Campbell will be ready to fight, but both managers have agreed to my terms. Campbell was injured in his fight with Kennedy at the Los Angeles ball park six weeks ago and in his bout with Kirby last week he complained that his side hurt him. It is possible that Frankie has a fractured rib. He will be in San Francisco today for an examination."

On June 17th, the Oakland Tribune reported that "there are good reasons to believe that Mr. Campbell wants nothing to do with Mr. Baer. His managers have been stalling for time and now suggest that Frankie would prefer an August date. Next week they may opine that they will be ready by September but may counter with a correction that they meant August, 1950. " On June 25th, the Tribune stated "the Campbell managers have been giving the promoters the run-around for three weeks, but Hoffman has called for a showdown and the Campbell board of directors has promised to give a definite answer some time today. Yesterday, Tommy Maloney one of the managers tentatively accepted an offer of $15,000 for Campbell. That's more money than Frankie ever dreamt of getting for just one fight." The Campbell menage managed to hold off for almost two more weeks before the pressure from all sides, and perhaps the lust for that damn much money, became like a wolf caught in a bear trap, impossible to escape. On July 5th, 1930, a Baer-Campbell match to be held on either August 25th or September 1st at Recreation Park, became official. Both fighters were guaranteed $5000 with the privilege of 27 percent of the gross receipts.

By mid-July, Frankie, his family and his handlers were back in L.A. When Frankie dropped by the Manhattan Gym, he had to push his way through a crush of people crowded around one of the training rings. Max Baer was holding court to a multitude of fighters, managers, fans and the curious as he trained for his July 15th fight with Les Kennedy. Baer went into the bout at even-money, an unusual occurrence for the normally heavily favored lad. Quite a few of the local sharp-shooters liked Kennedy, "a strong, tough, awkwardly clever boxer who might be able to outpoint" and outbox Baer. Max assured the press he would win handily. "I'm going to be a serious boy tonight, out to knock Kennedy flat in a hurry so that Frankie Campbell will have nothing to shout about. I want to knock Kennedy out a round earlier than Campbell did." Max's predictions couldn't have been more off the mark. Frankie watched from ringside as, at the end of 10 rounds in which Kennedy battered Baer around at will, Kennedy was awarded the decision on points. It was Max Baer's first loss, except for 2 disqualifications, in 23 bouts. The AP reported Les "soon found that Max was not pleased with body punches and concentrated his attack on the midriff with devastating aim. During the melee Baer showed the fans more facial expressions than Lon Chaney, but most of them were of mingled pain and surprise." To comfort himself, Max promptly went out and bought his parents a palatial home in the Piedmont Hills above Oakland and made a gift of a 16-cylinder $7500 Cadillac to himself. Elsie Camilli presented Frankie Campbell with the gift that she was expecting their second child.

Tillie Herman, Frankie Campbell, Toby Irwin, Max Baer, Frankie Burns pose before their bout - August 25, 1930

A Wild Tornado:
In late July and the first week of August, Frankie trained for the Baer bout up at Soper's Ranch, outside of L.A. At the beginning of the second week of August, the crew moved up to San Francisco, where Frankie continued his training at the Royal Gym in the City, along with crowd pleaser appearances at Jimmy Duffy's Gym on Eleventh in uptown Oakland. Max trained at Moose Taussig's Gym in the City, then moved over to Duffy's as the bout neared. Frankie was reported to have hit his sparring partner, Racehorse Roberts so hard he dislocated his shoulder and was "credited with knocking his other hired men cold." Max ran his sparring partners Hans Birkie and Bud Doyle ragged until they begged for relief. Max's handlers issued a invitation of $15 for 2 rounds, $5 over the going rate, to all area heavyweights to spar with Max at Taussig's. But word had spread that Max hit too hard. One old pug was quoted as saying "That Baer man don't know what 'sparring' means. He just wants to bust you on the whiskers and tear your head off. And when he lets that left hook fly at your tummy there's no use in having a dinner date later." The newsmen reported that "Campbell appears to be in perfect shape" but "Max is confidence personified and has been doing his training with a smile all week"...Frankie "will have nothing on Baer in the matter of condition. Max is all business."

Bay region newsmen daily wrote endless amounts of copy about the fight and the fighters. More opinions, speculations, quotes and just plain diarrhea of the mouth was written on the West Coast about this one fight than any heavyweight championship title bout to date. The ballyhoo worked wonders for the gate. Requests for seats came in from as far South as Mexico and as far North as Vancouver, Washington. When word came from promoter Ancil Hoffman that he wanted Jack Dempsey to referee, interest reached nuclear proportions. Dempsey's minimum fee to referee however, was $2500. Ancil didn't feel he should be saddled with the entire amount and appealed to the rival managers for monetary assistance. The managers offered Dempsey $500 each and Hoffman ponied up $1000, asking Jack to "shave his renumeration a trifle." Word came back from Jack, that while he "admitted the pair of 'G's' looked good, he hates to 'cheapen' himself. "

Three days before the fight, State Boxing Commissioner Charles Traung, in a move that mimicked New York boxing solons, suspended the "no foul" rule for the bout. To wit: "should a gladiator fall and clutch at his groin the referee will not raise the other gentleman's hand. He will call a physician into the ring to give first aid to the injured and when the medical man decides the pain has gone, or almost gone, the third man will order the boys to start fighting again. Traung wants it thoroughly understood this concession is for unintentional fools only. Should one of the boys shoot in more than one foul blow and should the punches appear to he intentional the referee will immediately award the fight to the fouled boxer." Traung, Hoffman, Working and Lorimer all signed the agreement. That night, Max and Frankie were introduced from the ring at Dreamland Rink and were given a standing ovation.

Two days before the fight, Ray Pelkey, "who claims to have been Baer's manager at one time and who has been nursing a peeve ever since the Livermore leveler signed with Ham Lorimer, joined Frankie Campbell's camp yesterday and in a private exhibition showed the Italian boy how to defeat Max Baer. Ray has just one ambition and that is to see Baer get licked. 'I'm sure glad Pelkey went over to aid Campbell,' Baer said when he heard about the matter, for Frankie will need all the help he can get Monday night and it won't be the first time that Pelkey has helped drag one of my opponents to his corner.'

Jack Dempsey had yet to accept terms to referee. He was holding out for $2500, refusing an even $2000. Tillie Herman, who had been hired by Ham Lorimer as one of Baer's sparring partners, was advised to do some boxing if he wanted to remain on the payroll. Without approval, Tillie had recently assumed the role of trainer and instructor and refused to box. Frankie Burns, the official trainer, told Tillie to get to work or get out.

One day before the fight, the papers gushed that "the clamor over the 'big shot' at the local ball park Monday night has reached the proportions of a wild tornado !!" Oakland Tribune sportswriter Bob Shand told sports writer Bob Edgren, "Watch Baer in this fight. Campbell's good, but this fellow is what they call a killer." Baer was a 3-to-1 favorite, having opened at 10-to-6. Even money was being bet that Campbell would not come up for the sixth round. The odds appeared "out of line considering Campbell kayoed Les Kennedy while Kennedy took an easy decision over Baer," but Max had knocked K.O. Christner "colder than any mackerel that ever came out of Monterey Bay" three weeks earlier and it had boosted his stock considerably.

Tom Maloney, Frankie Campbell, Toby Irwin, Max Baer, Frankie Burns, Unknown, Ham Lorimer before the fight - August 25, 1930

Tillie Herman was taken off the Baer payroll when he refused to don the gloves with Max. Confirmation was made that Tillie had actually been a plant by Jack Kearns to report on Max's progress. When Cal and Tom heard Tillie had been fired, they promptly hired him as Frankie's chief second. Toby Irwin, former boxer and one of the most experienced referees in the country was selected as third man in the ring when Jack Dempsey refused the managers' $2000 bid.

The day of the fight, at 2 o'clock, the rivals weighed in. It was expected that Campbell would scale at 184 pounds, while Baer would be at 194. Max hit his mark, but when the needle stopped quivering, a gasp rose from those gathered. Frankie weighed only 179 pounds. Now in addition to a height advantage of almost 6 inches, a reach advantage of over 5 inches, and an youth advantage of 5 years, Max had a 15 pound weight advantage. Later, critics would blame Max for fighting a smaller man. But a 15 pound weight difference wasn't excessive for heavyweight matches of the day. Dempsey gave Willard exactly 82 pounds advantage, and a beating. Fitzsimmons was 28 pounds lighter than Jim Corbett, and he took the title. Tom Sharkey, weighing 183, gave the 220 pound giant Jim Jeffries the fight of his life.

Frankie's old home districts of Glen Park, Bernal Heights and all of North Beach would be at the ball yard to root him on. Max's supporters from his many Bay area 'hometowns' of Livermore, Hayward and Oakland would be there with cowboy hats, overalls and bells on. Jim Jeffries, along with his protege Al Morro was expected at ringside. Jack Kearns and his retinue of scouts, who had done everything short of kidnapping to secure Baer's contract, would be watching the fight closely. Kearns' theory was that if Baer lost, manager Ham Lorimer, in disgust, would peddle Max's contract for a small sum. Wad Wadhams, Si Masters, Jack Doyle and other prominent Los Angeles managers and matchmakers would be present. Fighters of every weight division from all over the West appeared en masse. Ancil Hoffman tried to locate Dempsey but Jack was somewhere between San Diego and Ensenada. It was intimated he had stopped over at Agua Caliente for some horse racing. Jack had told the local press, "Even if I don't referee I will be there to see the fight." Jack never made it to ringside.


This Will Hurt the Game:
The evening of the fight, the weather was typical for a San Francisco summer. Mid-60s, with a light breeze as the ever-encroaching fog pushed into the Bay, across the span where the Golden Gate Bridge was still 7 years from being built. Frankie's old schoolmates organized a band and a parade and marched to the Park to cheer him on. The rumbling noise of the swelling crowd spread across the field like a series of small earthquakes that registered low on the richter scale. The semi-windups began around 8p.m. and aroused some interest, but as the main event drew close, fans milled about like cows sensing a pack of coyotes. Finally just after 9:30p.m. Frankie and Max entered the ring to a palpable enthusiasm that seemed to make the ring ropes sway.

Baer strutted about the ring before the fight, wearing a sneering grin. He paid no attention at all to the man he was to fight. Frankie smiled with confidence as he gazed across the canvas at his opponent. When the bell sounded, Max pressed in immediately, forcing it, letting his punches go fast and hard. Frankie rushed Max to the ropes time and again, forcing him back by sheer energy of attack, forcing him to cover. Baer met his attack with grim purpose. Frankie's seconds Tillie Herman and Ray Carlin taunted Baer from the corner in an effort to break his concentration. Baer ignored their jibes and suddenly whipped over a right hand to Campbell's jaw which dropped him to the canvas. Campbell showed the experience of a campaigner by taking a full nine count, then got up strong and unhurt, to attack again. Max was awarded the round.
.
As the second round began, Frankie's seconds again jeered Baer. Max attacked Frankie furiously and would not be driven off. He landed blow after heavy blow, and at one point was ordered to elevate his sights. It was a wonder Frankie could take it, but he did, fighting back hard. He drove Baer into the ropes. Baer then drove Campbell into his own corner with a rush. Campbell's seconds yelled at him to "keep low" meaning to weave and bob. When he attempted to do so, he was invariably met with a right hand uppercut. Frankie half pushed, half shoved Max to the floor and Frankie's seconds burst into laughter. Referee Toby Irwin waved Campbell to a neutral corner. Campbell stepped over Baer's legs and smiling to himself, walked lightly to his own corner. He looked down at ringside and waved to his wife Elsie, who smiled with pride. Baer, his pride injured, took no count, rolled over, leaped to his feet and rushed after Campbell. Not realizing that Baer was up, Campbell had not turned, when Baer caught him and knocked him into the ropes with a hard left on the side of the jaw. Frankie saved himself from falling by winding his arms around the top rope. Max was strictly within his rights, but was booed by the crowd. Baer continued to hammer him with body blows. Irwin stepped between the men and disentangled Campbell's arms from the ropes. It looked as if he intended to stop the fight, for Campbell had been pounded apparently helpless in a few seconds. But Campbell stepped aside, squared off, and just then the bell rang. Max was awarded the round.

Back in his corner, Tom Maloney overheard Frankie say to his seconds "it feels like something broke in my head." Frankie came out in the third, however, with extreme vigor which lasted through the round. Campbell changed his style and out-boxed his man. He beat Baer all over the ring. Frankie was awarded the round.

Frankie and Max at battle - August 25, 1930

Campbell came back strong in the fourth round, apparently having completely recuperated from the hard beating in the second. He literally ran across the ring to get at Baer. The fighters slugged each other toe to toe every second of the way. Frankie's seconds again jeered Max mercilessly throughout the round. Campbell was knocked groggy twice for a few seconds, but came right back to hammer Baer's body until Baer visibly weakened and slowed up. Campbell was cautioned to elevate his sights, but he was taking a decided lead in the fight. Frankie was awarded the round.

Shortly before 10:30p.m., with honors even, Frankie's seconds sent him out in the fifth round to try for a knockout. As he trotted to the center of the ring, Cal Working yelled to friends at ringside, “We’ve got him, we’ve got him. We’re going to win now.” The jeering and jibing from Campbell's corner escalated to foul language and attacks on Baer and his family. Max's fury was now white hot and he left his corner enraged and determined to score a knockout. He held his long left arm out to stop Campbell's punches, and slugged at him with his right. The blows were slow, but powerful. Max missed, then leaped forward, hitting with terrific speed and force as he drove Frankie to the ropes with a left hook to the stomach. Campbell was just about holding his own until Baer crowded him into a corner and smashed him on the chin with a devastating right hand. That punch alone actually knocked Campbell out. Baer fought like a man possessed as he continued to drive in rights and lefts to Campbell’s unprotected jaw. Campbell was “out” but Baer did not know it. Campbell could not fall down as he was supported on two sides by the ropes. Campbell’s eyes were glassy. He started to fall forward and was straightened up with a left hand to the chin. There was no way to fall but forward, yet Baer was in front of him punching, punching, punching.

Referee Toby Irwin was positioned behind Baer and claimed he was oblivious to the fact that Campbell was out and unable to defend himself. Later Irwin would declare to friends he had waited until "certain" Campbell had been knocked out for fear the audience would claim the fight was faked. He seemed to overlook the fact that as long as Campbell could bob and weave he could let his head "go" with the blows. Pinned in a corner, he had to accept the full force of Baer's punches. Contrary to popular belief, Max's blows did not cause Frankie's head to slam against the corner post. Tillie Herman, in his bright yellow sweater, stood on the steps leading to Campbell's corner. It was his privilege as chief second to enter the ring and stop the bout but he remained in the corner. Cal Working declared later that he and second Larry Morrison had yelled at Irwin to give Baer the fight and that he had “told the cops that they or Toby Irwin ought to stop the fight" then started to climb into the ring. Perhaps he did, but in the pandemonium Irwin could hear nothing but the roar of the crowd demanding that the affair be halted.

Not until Max had taken at least six “free shots” to the head and body and Frankie had crumpled to the canvas did Irwin intervene. While Frankie lay stretched on the floor unconscious, blood oozing from his mouth, nose and ears, Toby Irwin pushed in between Baer and the ropes and posed for a picture, raising Baer’s arm in a token of victory. Frankie was lifted to his corner, but fell unconscious from the stool. He lay sprawled on the canvas in the open air, the cool mist of the fog on his unfeeling face, as his and Baer's seconds worked to rouse him without success.


Nothing to be Done:
Toby Irwin slipped among the milling thousands in the fight arena and disappeared into the night. Baer had to move fast through a hostile mob to his dressing room, which fortunately for Baer, was on the opposite side of the ring from where Frankie’s angry supporters had congregated.

Photographers attempted to take pictures of Frankie stretched out in a corner of the ring but were threatened by fans. "One intrepid cameraman took a chance, but no sooner had he shot his flash light than he was hustled from both within and without the ring. Two of Frankie's camp followers jumped over the ropes and attempted to smash the camera." Spectators crying “this will hurt the game” assaulted the cameraman as soon as he stepped outside the ball park.

Tillie Herman raises Max Baer's hand in victory - August 25, 1930

Twenty minutes elapsed before the ring doctor, believed to be well back in the audience was able to push his way to the ring. Another ten minutes passed before an ambulance summoned by a newspaperman arrived to take Frankie to the hospital. It had been stalled in traffic. Frankie, with Elsie holding his hand, was loaded onto a stretcher and taken to Mission Emergency Hospital. Surgeons who examined him thought he had a fractured skull or one or more vertebrae were broken. Frankie, still unconscious, was then taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital for a more thorough examination.

At length, doctors at St. Joseph's determined Frankie suffered from brain bruises and hemorrhages. Surgery would be futile. Near midnight, Frankie slipped into a coma. Elsie became progressively more hysterical and at 1a.m. she was sent home and ordered into a physician’s care. Frankie's Mother Eliza Camilli, "who was in Sacramento, knew nothing of the tragic finale of the bout until she read it in the late newspapers. She rushed to the City immediately, and arrived before Elsie had left the hospital. The two, after a moment of restraint, fell into each other’s arms, sobbing."

Early the next morning, Frankie experienced hemorrhages of the eyes and leakages of blood down his spinal column as death approached. "While she was hovering in the hospital room where her husband’s life was ebbing, despite the administration of oxygen as a last resort," Max Baer "tears as big as golf balls falling down his face" "visited the stricken fighter's bedside" where he offered Elsie the hand that hit her husband. "She took that hand and the two stood speechless for a moment. 'It was unfortunate, I'm awfully sorry'. said Max. 'It even might have been you mightn't it.'" Elsie replied. When reporters later asked of her feelings towards Baer, she replied, “I have no room for bitterness in my heart today, only sorrow.” As she sat beside her husband, Elsie's hand moved over her stomach and she whispered to Cal Working, "I’ve got to keep up for the baby’s sake.”

At mid-morning, last rites of the Catholic Church were administered to Frankie by Fathers Keeney and Maier of St. Paul’s Church. With a lit candle laced between his crossed fingers, his family and his managers beside him, Frankie Campbell was pronounced dead at 11:43a.m, barely 13 hours after the fight that was supposed to change his life. Upon the surgeon's announcement of Campbell's death, Max Baer, who waited nearby, broke down and sobbed inconsolably.

Dr. Tilton. E. Tilman, brain specialist, speaking for himself and his colleagues, Drs. Frank Sheehy and Edmund Morrissey, who worked over the young fighter all night "declared death had been caused by a succession of blows on the jaw and not by any struck on the rear of the head." and that “Campbell’s brain was knocked completely loose from his skull. If it had been a case of one cerebral hemorrhage, or two, or even three, we might have saved his life. But his brain tissue literally was one huge mass of bruises. There was nothing to be done." Campbell's brain had been "knocked completely loose from his skull." "Under the circumstances, the surgeons explained, it was impossible to operate."


Isn't This Terrible:
One hour after Frankie's death, though Frankie's wife and Mother refused to press charges, Max Baer’s arrest for manslaughter was ordered by Chief of Police William G. Quinn. The promoter of the fight, Ancil Hoffman accompanied Max to the Whitcomb Hotel where he surrendered to police one hour later. They left immediately for the Hall of Justice, then Max was booked at the Central Prison. Bail was set by Superior Court Judge George H. Cabaniss in the amount of $10,000, a shocking amount for the times and the charge. Campbell's death was the second ring fatality in a week in the City. Johnny Anderson, a 17 year old novice in his second professional bout and fighting for a $20 purse, died after "being beaten black and blue" for 4 rounds, in a bout with "Red" Kuehl the previous Wednesday. The public outrage over Johnny's death had yet to settle down when Frankie died. It was suspected that in a temporary outburst of moral piety, Judge Cabaniss' record-breaking bail against Max Baer, while ludicrous, was an attempt to somehow assure the City's citizensthat government officials were taking the situation quite seriously.

Accompanying Max and Ancil to the prison were several of Hoffman's assistants, who arrived to pay Max's bail "carrying large sacks which Hoffman said, contained $33,351, the receipts of the fight," which had been taken in at the entrance wickets the night before. Of this, each fighter was to receive 27% per cent, or $9171.63. The sacks were carried into the Bond and Warrant Office, and clerks laboriously counted out $10,000, approximately $900 more than Baer’s share of the receipts, for the required bail — in bills, dollars, halves and quarters, before Baer could be freed."

Max Baer's arraignment for manslaughter - August 26, 1930

The day of Frankie's demise, accusations and censure swirled like a raging wildfire around the parties involved. Many claimed that Referee Irwin should have stopped the bout on a foul by Baer in the second round. Paul Lowry of the L.A. Times wrote "SAC regulations say in Rule 13, Page 30, 'that any physical actions which may injure a contestant, except by fair sportsmanlike boxing, are considered fouls. Campbell was hit in the head when his back was turned in Round Two. Had the referee taken cognizance of the foul in Round Two, Frankie Campbell might not be dead today. Certainly no referee can say such a blow is 'fair sportsmanlike boxing.' If so, the rules need amending." "Two fighters have died in San Francisco rings within the past week. One was a preliminary kid whose passing gained little attention. The other was Campbell, who attained national recognition because of a build-up campaign fostered by 'smart' managers at the expense of tankers. But Campbell was not any more ready for stern competition than the preliminary kid. He was sacrificed to the cupidity of his managers."

Bob Shand of the Oakland Tribune stated that " those who are acquainted with the boxing rules declare that there was nothing Irwin could do when Baer struck Campbell on the head while the latter had his head turned. The rules specifically call for the men to protect themselves at all times. Jack Dempsey did the same thing" against Jack Sharkey in 1927 when Sharkey "was appealing to the referee about an alleged foul punch. They lauded Dempsey for his smartness"..."Baer simply followed the code of the ring and the natural impulse of the born fighter. He punched and punched until his opponent was unconscious. That was his unwritten contract despite altruistic allusions to 'boxing' in the written contract. The 15,000 people who attended the fight came to see a knockout. They were warned that the fight could go the limit as the principals were the hardest hitters in the game. But even the most hardened men in the 'racket' wanted the affair over after that first punch in the fifth round."

The day after Frankie's death, Max Baer appeared to be arraigned on a manslaughter charge before Municipal Judge Albert J. Fritz. "You are in a difficult position," said Judge Fritz to Baer. "It's not so bad for me, your honor— but it's sure tough for Mrs. Campbell," the fighter replied. Judge Fritz asked arresting officer Patrick Shannon if he had anything to "predicate a manslaughter charge on yet."  Shannon said he had not — "not yet.''

Max and his family and friends spoke to the press, who reported that "Nobody feels sorrier over the tragic ending of the bout than Baer. The big kid is heartbroken and ready to quit the racket"..."Baer says he did not realize that Campbell was limp and 'out' when he kept up the bombardment. Ancil Hoffman indicated “Dr. McNulty, who examined both principals before the fight, told me Campbell was in better physical condition than Baer. I had been told that Campbell weighed well over 180 pounds, and his advisors are inclined to believe he worried off many pounds the night before the fight.” Jacob Baer, Max's Father, said "He worked himself into a frenzy when Tillie Herman and Ray Pelkey shouted at him from Campbell's corner. Herman had trained Max for the bout and then appeared as chief second for Max's opponent. The taunts from the opposite corner hurt my boy and he lost his head. We are all sick and disgusted with the whole affair. His Mother is confined to her bed and his sister is on the verge of a breakdown. It is all too terrible. Of course we want to do everything we can for Frankie's widow. She is the one who is suffering the most."

Two days after Frankie's death, his funeral was held. It was one of the largest and most elaborate funerals San Francisco had ever witnessed. Foremost amongst the mourners was Max Baer. "Thousands, including Mayor James Rolph Jr, San Francisco officials, sports editors and writers, notables and ex-notables of the ring, and followers of pugilism, were there in St. Paul's church this morning as high requiem mass was held. As the casket, buried under flowers, left the church, young Baer got up from a group of friends. "Isn't this terrible," he was heard to say. Then he put his handkerchief to his eyes and walked out the door. J. Hamilton Lorimer, Baer's manager, Toby Irwin, referee, Ancil Hoffman, promoter, and others connected with last Monday's fatal bout-they were all there. And they went out of that church with husky voices and tears in their eyes. 'We feel pretty badly.' said Lorimer."

"150 persons, some of them friends and relatives of the dead fighter, some officials, other sports writers and pugilists who had known Campbell well, acted as honorary pallbearers. Among these were Mayor Rolph, Samuel C. Murphy, former state senator, Nick Williams, San Francisco ball club manager, and many others. The funeral was held at an undertaking parlor at 17th and Valencia streets, and thence the procession moved to the church. Internment took place at Holy Cross cemetery. Throughout the ceremonial of death the fighter's widow, Mrs. Elsie Camilli bore herself with the same air of tragic calm which has marked her since she first learned her husband might die. His mother, Mrs. Eliza Camilli, broke down during the singing of the mass."

Frankie Campbell's headstone. He was buried alongside Elsie's parents. - Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma, CA

Reeks to High Heaven:
Three days after Frankie's death, nine men prominent in California boxing circles were suspended from further activities as the result of a decision reached by the State Athletic Commission investigating Frankie's death. Max Baer, Toby Irwin, J. Hamilton Lorimer, Baer's manager; Cal E. Working and Tom Maloney, Frankie's managers, Tillie Herman, Ray Carlin, Frankie Burns and Larry Morrison, both fighters' seconds.

On September 5th, the San Francisco County Grand Jury started an investigation into prizefighting in general and the recent deaths of Frankie and Johnny Anderson in particular. The death of Frankie Campbell prompted the investigation, but the probe included "ramifications of the prizefight industry in general," D.A. Matthew Brady said. Coroner T. B. W. Leland announced his intentions to convene a Coroner's Jury to question all individuals involved in the Baer-Campbell fight.

During testimony before the Grand Jury, a Mrs. Anna DeLiso of Oakland testified regarding her alleged eyewitness account of certain actions by Max's Father, Jacob Baer, prior to the fight. Papa Baer issued a blanket denial: "These charges that I argued with a group of men in a parking station on 17th street and Telegraph Ave and told them that it was all fixed with Traung so Max could win against Campbell in the 5th round by fouling, crippling or killing him are a pack of lies. I never saw nor heard of this woman. I never was in a parking station at 17th and Telegraph. I didn't know until today there was one there. And I never, at any time or to any person, made such statements as I am accused of making." Mrs. DeLiso's charges were later proved to be false.

On September 14th, it was revealed by Elsie Camilli's attorney, William Hornblower, that Frankie Campbell, who died in testate, left an estate of approximately $10,000. After taxes and expenses, she was left with $6000. Just prior to his fatal match, Frankie had earned $20,000 in Los Angeles rings. However, Cal Working, his manager, had a contract for 33 1/3% of his matches and the remainder of the $20,000, he said, was used to exploit Campbell as a 'fistic attraction.'"

On September 17th, the Coroner's Jury agreed Frankie Campbell "died of injuries received in a fight with Max Baer here three weeks ago but did not place responsibility for Campbell's death on Baer." Assistant D.A. John R. Tyrrell, in charge of grand jury affairs, stated that "the evidence against him [Baer] is weak, and I don't think the case will get far either before the Superior Court or the Grand Jury. Although Baer may be accused by some of unsportsmanlike conduct for the blow he struck Campbell from behind in the second round, I feel, and the coroner's inquest testimony shows, that the fight was carried out according to the regulations of the State Boxing Commission."

On September 27th, the Grand Jury presented its recommendations to Governor C.C. Young, regarding the Baer-Campbell fight and the sport of boxing in California in general, declaring the latter "reeks to high heaven." "The professional boxing 'racket' so-called, is not cleanly conducted and does not merit the support of adherents of clean sportsmanship. The conduct of boxing matches is prostituted by the alliance therewith of gambling cliques. The selection of certain referees is subject to severe criticism and their decisions may be said to be based more upon the desire to increase gate receipts for the clubs involved and profits for gamblers than to do strict justice to the fighters themselves."

The Jury asked for "the permanent suspension of Toby Irwin, the referee in the Baer-Campbell fight, by a preponderance of evidence, is guilty in our eyes of carelessness and inefficiency, deliberate or otherwise, on the night in question, and his sworn testimony is at variance with all other testimony heard." They asked "for the removal from office of Charles F. Traung, state boxing commissioner," and they flayed Max Baer for "unsportsmanlike conduct, combined with a viciousness of which he has boasted." Five recommendations for the "cleaning up of the fight game" were offered as well. As of 1942, upon the occasion wherein Tillie Herman "muffed the verdict" by giving the decision under suspicious circumstances to the wrong man at the Ray Lunny-Richie Lemos State Featherweight title bout, Oakland Tribune sports writer, Alan Ward, listed all 5 recommendations put forth in 1930 and noted that "none of them was ever adopted."

On October 1st, Municipal Judge A. J. Fritz dismissed manslaughter charges against Max Baer. The charges were dismissed on request of Assistant D.A. John R. Tyrell, who moved for the dismissal saying the grand jury had made a "complete and comprehensive" investigation and had found "no evidence that a crime was committed." Max Baer was placed under suspension by the State Athletic Commission for one year, but offered a special dispensation that would allow Max to appear in a benefit for Elsie Camilli and her son.

While Ancil Hoffman, who was now co-manager to Max Baer, attempted no less than 6 times to arrange a benefit bout in 1930, the Oakland Tribune reported that Max Baer was "willing to appear in a benefit show for the widow of Frankie Campbell, but so far there has been no demand for such a thing."

Sometime during the tumultuous last months of 1930, Elsie Camilli miscarried Frankie's second child.

Donn Shields of the SAC presents benefit tickets to Frankie and Elsie Camilli - February 16, 1935

In Closing:
On February 16, 1935, Max Baer held a benefit fight at Frankie's old haunt, the Dreamland Rink, to repay his long overdue debt to Elsie Camilli and her now 5 year old son, Frankie Campbell Camilli. The house was a sell out crowd of over 10,000, and over 500 tickets were sold for standing room only. It was the largest attendance ever at the Dreamland. On his way to the ring, Max crouched down to chat with Elsie. With tears in both their eyes, Elsie once more grasped the hand that had killed her husband and wished Max good luck. Once in the ring, Max sincerely thanked the thousands of attendees and "expressed his pleasure that the entire profits would go to Mrs. Campbell and closed by saying "If in the future there is anything that I can do for her, I'll be glad to so. Thank you all." The remarks brought an ovation for Baer as the crowd approved his evident depth of feeling.

While the benefit was a huge financial success, raising over $15,000, it left something to be desired in the thrills department. Max did everything but stick out his tongue at his washed up opponent, Stanley Poreda. Max could have knocked the unconditioned Poreda out at any stage of the fight, but preferred to play at being groggy, threw a few rubber chicken legs in between and demonstrated a bit of everything he had in the way of swings and clowning. In return he received the thanks of Mrs. Camilli and a bloody nose, compliments of Poredas' one effective contribution to the proceedings.

After the fight, Max addressed the "storms of boos and hoots that arose from all parts of the arena after the first, second and third rounds. 'Do you think the fans like it? Sure, they wanted blood.' he declared a little vehemently. 'They wanted a knockout. Maybe I'd have killed the fellow, and wouldn't that have been a swell note at a benefit for the family of a fighter who died at my hands in a San Francisco ring?' Elsie later said she could only repeat the remark of William Howard Taft, "San Francisco knows how" in thanking everyone for attending.

Max Baer never stopped grieving for Frankie. Campbell's death transformed his natural savagery and his thunderous fists into a gentle, clowning docility. Baer said his "enthusiasm for the game was gone." During his impressive career, while he exhibited moments of greatness in the ring, Max Baer never really exceeded the tremendous potential he displayed beginning in 1929 and ending a little over a year later in a ring built over home plate at Recreation Park. Max had nightmares about the fight for the rest of his life. He would "bolt awake at night, sweating and muttering, 'You're okay ! Please be okay !" The dream was always the same, "a man lies prone on the canvas as Max tries in vain to revive him."

After Max retired from boxing, his popular stints on the entertainment circuit took him all over the country. Max often ran into Dolph Camilli, Frankie's brother. Without fail, Max would always apologize to Dolph for taking his brother's life and without exception Dolph would always forgive him. To this very day, the Camilli family holds absolutely no grudge against Max Baer, and disagrees with his portrayal in the movie, "Cinderella Man."

Frankie Campbell Camilli attended West Point Military Academy beginning in 1948. On December 22nd, 1951, he went home to San Francisco on Christmas leave. On Sunday December 31st, Frankie and 18 other military Cadets hitched a ride on a C-47 transport plane bound for West Point. At 3:34pm MST, 20 miles west of Arizona, the plane's pilot was heard asking for landing instructions. A stormy southwest wind was blowing and it is presumed the plane was blown off course into a  rough, mountainous section of central Arizona. All 29 lives aboard were lost. 22 year old Frankie Campbell Camilli would have graduated from West Point in June of 1952. Instead he was laid to rest at the Presidio in San Francisco's National Cemetery.

In 1958, Frankie T. Camilli, son of Albert Camilli, Frankie Campbell's eldest brother, died in a horrendous automobile accident in Samoa, California, near Eureka. Dolph Camilli's wife asked members of the Camilli family to please stop naming their sons Frankie.

Frankie's Father Alex Camilli died in March of 1966 in San Jose, California. From all accounts he died a bitter, drunken man. "Nana" Eliza Tassi Camilli, maker of the finest raviolis this side of the MIssissippi, died in August of 1980 in San Mateo, California, surrounded by her loved ones.

Elsie Ana McGuire Camilli would live in San Francisco for the rest of her life. She and Frankie Jr. lived for a time with Frankie's Mother, Eliza. Sometime after World War II, Elsie remarried to Nicholas Marion "Nick" Toich. Nick died in July of 1989. Elsie followed him, 5 months later, in December of 1989. They are buried together a stones throw away from Frankie.

Contrary to claims made in recent years, neither Max Baer nor Jack Dempsey "put Frankie's children through school" or "sent three of Frankie's children to Norte Dame" though if Elsie Camilli had asked they surely would have helped her. Only Frankie Jr. survived to early adulthood, but as indicated, chose to attend West Point. An archivist at Notre Dame University confirmed to me that nobody with variations of the names "Frank Camilli" or "Frank Campbell" has ever attended their University.

Frankie Campbell's family members take great pride in their fistic Uncle's story. "I've often thought we must be descendants of a warrior class," Frankie's niece, Joanne, has said. "We fight back when challenged, even the girls. We Camilli's are all strong boned people, though none of us are tall or look very big"..."We have large hands. My Father Dolph's fingers were like cigars !"..."My Father lived in the 'now.' He had a presence, he was adventurous, but dignified. He taught himself how to build houses!"..."I tend to think Frankie and my Father were quite alike."

The number one phrase people use to find this website, is of course "Max Baer." The number two phrase however, is "Frankie Campbell." In his eulogy to Frankie, Oakland Tribune sports writer Bob Shand wrote in 1930, "Frankie Campbell went to his death fighting, and as long as the 'racket' endures they will tell of the last stand of Frankie Campbell, gentleman and sportsman and the gamest boxer that ever drew on a glove."

Here's to a forgotten man who deserves to be remembered...



Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008 Catherine Johnson. All rights reserved.