In the 1920s there was a prizefighter named Billy Petrolle. Because he hailed from Fargo, North Dakota, he was nicknamed the Fargo Express. Petrolle never became champion, but he had a good punch, he had courage, and he always obeyed his manager, Jack Hurley.
Petrolle got married, had a honeymoon, then went to New York to consult his manager about future fights. A movie called The Big Parade was playing at the Astor Theater on Broadway. Hurley brought Petrolle a ticket for $1.65.
That night a boxing match was scheduled in Newark, New Jersey, between Johnny Ceccoli and Ruby Goldstein. Goldstein was at the weigh-in; then, for reasons unknown, he took a train to California. A man named Laddie Rusy was the promoter of the fight. When he heard that Goldstein had left town, Rusy called Hurley. He offered $2,500 if Petrolle would fight Ceccoli. Hurley accepted. Then he went to the Astor Theater to find Petrolle.
When Petrolle arrived to see the show, he had just finished a huge spaghetti dinner. He had not been inside a gym to train in more than three weeks. And he had drunk a couple of glasses of wine with dinner and was feeling quite relaxed.
When Hurley mentioned the fight, Petrolle did not bother to ask about his opponent. He said, “What about the movie ticket? It’s paid for.”
“So what?” retorted Hurley impatiently. “Forget about the ticket. It cost $1.65. We’re getting $2,500 for the fight.”
Petrolle insisted that his manager get a refund. Then they took a train to Newark. Unfortunately, in the excitement of reaching Newark quickly. Petrolle discovered that he had brought two right shoes in his bag. A left shoe was borrowed. It was about three sizes too big, but Petrolle wore it anyway.
Although full of spaghetti and wine, and despite the facts that he had not trained for almost a month and was wearing a badly fitting shoe, Petrolle won the decision. As they were returning to New York, Hurley said, “I’ll get you a ticket to The Big Parade for tomorrow.”
“Okay,” agreed Petrolle. Then he added, “Say, if you can get another bout for a good purse tomorrow, I can always skip the movie and see it some other time.”
From The Giant Book of More Strange But True Sports Stories by Howard Liss. Illustrations by Joe Mathieu.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Petrolle
Almost a Bill Brasky skit…