The Official Pete Sanstol Web Site
The Battle with Panama Al Brown

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On May 20, 1931, Pete Sanstol was proclaimed the Bantamweight Champion of the World by the Montreal Athletic Commission after the generally-recognized (but not undisputed) World Champion, "Panama" Al Brown, had repeatedly and flatly refused to risk his crown against the battling Norseman. (The bantam title had been in dispute ever since Charley Rosenberg had forfeited the Undisputed & Lineal World Bantamweight Title February 1927, by coming into the ring to defend that title overweight.)

Perhaps it is more accurate to say that Brown's manager, David Lumiansky, was the Svengali behind the reluctance to fight Pete. Before Pete's second fight to defend his World Championship against Eugene Huat, Lumiansky had come to Montreal to prohibit Pete by Court order from being billed as a "Bantamweight World Champion." In an effort to compromise, Pete, his manager Raoul Godbout, and the Canadian boxing authorities all agreed to reduce Pete's title to "Montreal Rating Only" if Lumiansky, in turn, agreed to have Al Brown face the winner of the Huat vs. Sanstol bout for the official bantam title. (Click here to learn the details of that chapter in boxing history.)

Further, Gen. Clinnin, president of the National Boxing Association, had put some pressure on Brown and Lumiansky. According to Montreal's The Gazette, "[I]t was very largely due to his insistence that Brown was forced into the titular match with Sanstol here." (August 17, 1931.)

A huge issue that arose early on was Brown's (or Lumiansky's) demand for an exhorbitant percentage of the purse beyond what had been originally agreed to -- a demand that Brown apparently made quite often against other opponents. The matter was finally resolved somehow. (Pete tells of it in his Norwegian-language memoirs, which have not yet been translated.) Also, after the contract had been signed and Pete had done his part by winning the Huat contest, Brown and Lumiansky tried to dictate the style of judging and change other rules pertaining to this title match. They managed somehow to get the gloves changed from those standardly used so that, while of regulation weight, they were so spongy that Pete wouldn't be able to score a knock-out. In fact, no bantam could, as a Montreal newspaper later reported: "A knock-out could be registered only if the glove was propelled by a welterweight."

David Lumiansky also demanded that Gen. John V. Clinnin be appointed both referee and sole judge. No one else. Just him. In a telegram to reporters, Lumiansky said, "Neither bunk nor faked bally-hoo are my specialties. My agreement was distinctly that General Clinnin should have sole control in rendering the decision. I distinctly told promoter and commission that General Clinnin would not consent to being handcuffed and used as a dummy for bally-hoo purposes. Sanstol-Huat scandal is not going to be repeated at my expense." (The Gazette, August 22.) Pete and his manager Raoul Godbout were flabbergasted. Hey, we had a deal! Why change the rules now? A deadlock loomed because neither side would budge. The stakes were monumental.

The Gazette newspaper reported that Brown was favored to win, but said this about Pete:

His personable appearance, his speed and boxing ability brought him a host of admirers, and during last summer's campaign he began his march through the ranks of the then logical contenders. One by one they fell before his bobbing and hypnotizing science, first Bernasconi, Scalfaro, Frisco Grande, Phil Tobias, Bobby Leitham, Arthur Giroux, Archie Bell and, last of all, he gained the judges' decision over Huat.

Before the fight, Pete had given his seconds only one demand: Let him fight to the bitter end, no matter what. "The little Norwegian is determined to fight the fight of his life; there will be no towel thrown in the ring from his corner. 'If I'm beaten, I'll be carried out,' he said yesterday...." The Gazette, August 21, p. 15. Other bouts on this fight card included the semi-final with Jack Delaney's cousin, Art Chapdelaine, versus Benny Brostoff. And our old friend Bobby Leitham was set to fight New York's Peter Jackson.

From what little we know from a Norwegian newspaper article that he still possessed at his death, Pete was first in the ring. He was received by what the reporter described as an enormous, wonderful ovation; immediately thereafter Brown appeared to a luke-warm response. The crowd was well aware of the circumstances which had brought him reluctantly into the ring to face their world champion. According to the newspaper, Brown laughed nervously when the audience greeted him with "some reserved applause." And this from an audience composed primarily by people of French descent; Brown was considered a hero in France. To be fair, however, although the crowd was largely on Pete's side, many thousands had gathered earlier to watch Brown train, and he had his own large contingent of fans at the fight.

The two World Bantam Champions met August 25, 1931, in what was billed as the first bona fide world championship bout ever held in Montreal, Canada. Pete, "The Blond Tiger,"  fought his heart out during the entire 15 rounds of the contest in a valiant effort to win the undisputed world championship. Brown, as might be expected, was a formidable opponent. He used his height and amazing reach, his intelligence and knowledge of reserving energy, as well as powerful punching, clever jabbing and fancy footwork. It was clear from the first round that he was seeking a knockout. By the fourth round he was getting a little perturbed at not being able to finish off Pete.

That's because Pete was a clever and intelligent fighter, too. He weaved and ducked and quite often swiftly got out of the way of a Brown bomb. Yet he took a couple of staggering would-be knockout punches without losing his balance and came back for more, slipping in some great punches of his own to Brown's body during heated in-fighting. There wasn't a single knock-down. Pete danced around the ring with youthful abandon although his foot may have been hurting.

It was as close a contest as could be imagined. Pete's "rally in the last four rounds almost toppled the crown from...Brown." But Brown won by a "sensationally narrow margin." It was an extremely close call and the crowd booed the ultimate verdict. (One wonders what effect the last-minute change of the rules had on the outcome.) It became the third loss of Pete's professional career. The bout was refereed by, of course, Gen. John V. Clinnin, at Brown's demand. (Gen. Clinnin was a hero of the first world war. He was known as a man of impeccable and spotless reputation.)

The Norwegian press reported that, at best, Brown deserved a draw, not the win.

("Brown-Sanstol match was even")

It is a little-known fact in modern boxing history that Brown did not win a unanimous decision; it was a split-decision. Dissenting judge, Dr. Gaston Demers, declared Pete the winner. (The Gazette, August 26, at p. 14.) The Canadian Press score card had given Brown seven rounds, Pete five, with three rounds even. If Pete had been awarded just one of the rounds given to Brown, the fight would have indeed ended in a draw!

The August 26, 1931, New York Times:
 

    Panama Al Brown, world's bantamweight champion, retained his title tonight by winning the decision over Pete Sanstol, gritty Norwegian challenger.

   The fight went the full fifteen rounds and from the tenth round onward Sanstol kept gaining steadily and was tiring out his tall rival as the fight progressed to the finish.

    In the fourteenth Sanstol carried the fight to the champion, ripping him hard with jolting body punches, but his staunch rally was not sufficient to offset the marked superiority of Brown in the early rounds. The battle ended in a slugging bee, with both men fighting toe to toe at the bell.

    The decision, manifestly fair on the trend of the fighting, was received with derision by the crowd, which was strongly partisan to the Norwegian. The bout drew a crowd of 10,000 and the gate aggregated $20,000. It was the biggest gate in the history of boxing in Montreal.

    The decision was rendered by John V. Clinnin, president of the National Boxing Association, who was referee; Thomas Murphy, M.P., head of the Ontario Athletic Commission, and Dr. Gaston Demers, president of the Montreal Boxing Commission, the judges. Each boxer weighed 117 pounds.

For years afterward the press labeled the decision for Brown "questionable." (Montreal Daily Herald in articles leading up to Pete's August 7, 1935, title bout with Sixto Escobar.)  Recalling this fight one year later in an article announcing the September 17, 1932, Pete Sanstol vs. Petey Hayes bout at New York's Ridgewood Grove, Ted Carroll wrote, "He was outpointed by Al Brown in a bantamweight title match in Montreal, a much disputed decision, however. And wild horses could not drag Brown back into the ring with Pete."

In the January 1959 issue of The Ring, at p. 21, Mr. Carroll wrote, "Brown was lucky to win. The consensus after the fight was that Sanstol, who put on a rousing finish in the fifteen round setto, had won six rounds to six for Brown with three even. However, most observers seemed to feel that the contest was too close for a title to change hands. By such a microscopic margin did Pete Sanstol miss the bantamweight championship of the world." Later on in this article, Mr. Carroll quotes veteran Jimmy Bronson, a longtime associate of Lew Burston, Pete's first American manager, "He was a little gentleman, a warm and friendly little fellow, who everyone liked a great deal. As a fighter, well, the Brown fight was the tipoff on how good he really was. How many people ever made it that close with that long and lanky fellow?" It appears that Mr. Carroll was another long-time fan of Pete.

(Boxing columnist and cartoonist Ted Carroll was truly one of the greats. He contributed to many publications, primarily The Ring magazine, from the early 1930s to the early 1970s. Born July 6, 1904, in New York to Jesse and Elizabeth, Mr. Carroll grew up in Greenwich Village. He was well-read, a fan of many sports and always wore bow ties. His boxing cartoons were very popular. He overcame many barriers facing an African-American man of those days. He justly deserves eventual enshrinement into the Boxing Hall of Fame as a "non-participant." Mr. Carroll personally presented to Pete his original 1928 ink drawing of "Pete Sanstol vs. Terry Roth" -- drawn on Bainbridge Illustration Board No. 80 -- which Pete later gave to this web site owner. Click here to view it.)

But Pete himself never complained about the decision. Panama Al Brown was declared the champ and that was that. No questions asked. It was time to move on.

When Al Brown's arm was raised in victory last night at the Forum, it marked the culmination of one attempt by Pete Sanstol to gain the bantamweight crown of the world, but it also marked the beginning of another. For the blonde battler proved himself a stronger man against the famous negro than the most sanguine critic had expected, and he carved himself a neat niche as a logical contender for the title.

No better tribute was paid to Sanstol's showing than that emanating from the dressing room of the champion immediately after the fight. While Brown sat in a corner, talking Spanish and French gleefully to a number of admirers, David Lumiansky, his manager, was paying high tribute to the local fighter. "Sanstol has undoubtedly proven himself, not only the logical contender for the championship, but will probably also prove a persistent contender," was the way Lumiansky put it. "He made a great showing against Brown, and I might even say that it is gratifying that the fight went 15 rounds. I am certainly happy that the cut over his eye is not serious.

"Our stay in Montreal has certainly been pleasant, we have received fair play from all sides, and there is just one more thing to say, and that is, we can't get back here fast enough."

Thus before the crowd had left the Forum, the preliminary discussion for a return bout was already underway. Brown sails for Paris next week to meet Spider Pladner in October. If there is any doubt as to his ability to defeat Sanstol he is willing to agree to a return match, and negotiations may be completed in the near future.

In Sanstol's room, there was also considerable jubilation. Sanstol was receiving the congratulations of some 20 excited admirers. "I did my best," was Sanstol's philosophic comment, as he submitted to treatment for his eye. He intends to go for a holiday for several months.

The Gazette, August 26.

A return match with Pete? We wonder if Al Brown was being less than honest. To us, in hindsight, it appears that he never intended to fight Pete again for the title. In the future he would dangle the crown in front of Pete's eyes, demand that Pete meet certain conditions before he would fight him again; and, when Pete satisfied those conditions, still refuse to fight him. This would go on for four more years! (Again, perhaps it was actually Lumiansky who was behind all this.)
 
 

Pete had learned a valuable lesson during his title fight with Mr. Brown -- a lesson he would remember for the rest of his boxing career. He had found that the more-experienced Brown had not wasted the least little drop of energy or a single punch during their fight. From this fight on, Pete would no longer be the bounding, dancing fighter of old. He, too, would never again waste energy or a single blow.

That fragile gash over Pete's eye and especially his now-chronic foot injury apparently gave him trouble during his fight with Brown; so much so that he was forced to abandon the ring for a second time. Plus, after five years of hard fighting, it was time to take a much-deserved rest. He went back home to Norway to "recuperate." But remember The Dream that just would not go away? He would not be satisfied until he had achieved the title of undisputed Champion of the World. That was The Dream. And to that end he set his mark for the remainder of his career.

(When a local newspaper interviewed her upon Pete's death, his wife Bessie, not being that knowledgeable about boxing history but having read Pete's scrapbooks, heard his stories and been so proud of him, said Pete had been crowned world champion and apparently confused his final professional bout -- his eventual triumph over Al Brown -- as the fight in which he had won that title. During his later years he often told his grandchildren that he had been a professional boxer who once was the "world champion for a little while.")

Around this time the New York State Athletic Commission withdrew its support for Brown as their world champ, citing his preference of fighting in Europe rather than face North American fighters on home soil. [See An Illustrated History of Boxing by Nat Fleischer & Sam Andre (updated by Nigel Collins)(1997) at p. 376.] But, as of 1999, we probably know the real reason they took this action. It is unknown if the NYSAC later declared him once again their champion.

Brown also began forfeiting his title throughout other parts of the world because of his infamous refusal to fight, as would be recalled later by the Montreal Daily Herald on August 7, 1935. Virtually every history account today ignores this fact. Instead they state that Brown, as true world champs before him, traveled the globe to take on all comers. That he fought most of the best is true. Yet his refusal to fight Pete Sanstol would be only the first of at least three documented cases where Brown refused to fight the top contender for his crown -- the other two are Baby Casanova and Sixto Escobar.

But the National Boxing Association grudgingly stood behind Brown to support his claim to the "official, undisputed" world title -- at least until 1934 when it, too, would withdraw its support because of his refusal to risk his crown against Baby Casanova. From 1934 on who else, besides probably the IBU, considered him the bantam king?

Yet, today Brown is officially acclaimed the bantamweight champion continuously from June 18, 1929, to June 1, 1935, for the entire world. Modern boxing history proclaims him a "true world champion" while Pete Sanstol remains his footnote as one of the men who lost trying to win Brown's "world title."

Recall that earlier we made mention that Brown may not have been universally recognized as the bantam champ, as we have been made to believe today. We suggested that he may have been recognized only by the New York State Athletic Commission at first, then later by the National Boxing Association, and perhaps the International Boxing Union in Paris. We also documented that around 1931 the NYSAC stripped him of their bantam crown because of his refusal to fight in the United States; and that his NBA crown was, or should have been, forfeited because he had failed to defend the title within the prescribed time limit. Here we present additional evidence to muddy the water some more. When Brown fought Eugene Huat in Montreal that October to defend his world title yet again, The New York Times reported:

Panama Al Brown, who is recognized in some states as bantamweight champion of the world, successfully defended his title claims tonight by winning the decision over Eugene Huat of France in a fifteen-round bout. A crowd of 12,000 attended.

Bobby Leitham of Montreal won the Canadian bantamweight championship when Arthur Giroux, also of Montreal, the defender, fouled him in the sixth round of a scheduled ten-round bout.

It doesn't sound like Brown was thought of by his contemporaries as the undisputed champion throughout the world at the time, does it? But that's what history tells us today.

One of Pete's lost scrapbooks must certainly have documented this era in better detail than we are able to reconstruct from what remains. This is likely the reason it is missing. Someone "borrowed" the volume because of its historical significance and never bothered to return it.

NOTE: Best of all, we have access to an "insider's" report of what actually went on "behind the scenes." During the many long hours on the road and in the hotel rooms, Pete kept himself busy. He practiced yoga and meditation. He read. He painted and he played his violin. And quite often he wrote. He wrote letters to family and friends, a favorite past-time. And he wrote in his journal during the 1930s, which the site owner possesses today -- another gift from Pete. There exist about 500 type-written, single-spaced pages that apparently cover everything from philosphophical quotes, astrological and numerical readings, the "ABC's of Boxing" according to Pete, and a diary of sorts, among many other subjects.

The problem? They are about 95% in his native tongue of Norwegian.

There are some pages in this journal that appear to cover this chapter with Al Brown. A future project is to get all this material translated.