Many a boxer has been hailed as a man of steel because of his Rust Belt origins. But it wasn’t just hype when a ring announcer would trumpet: “And in this corner — Battling Nelson!” In 1906, Oscar ...

Standing up straight with thin gloves on their hands two boxers strutted around a ring, cuffed each other in the face, in the belly, over the heart. One was Battling Nelson, lightweight champion of ...

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In a discussion about boxing's keenest wits, the name of Oscar Matthew Battling Nelson - the early 20th century lightweight champion - isn't likely to come up. But he was no mere mindless boxing brute ...

Though born in Michigan, Adolph Wolgast moved to Milwaukee in 1907 and became one of the city's more famous boxers -- a gritty lightweight who won a championship over Battling Nelson.