Danno O’Mahony became box-office smash in Boston

Eighty years before Conor McGregor stormed the US, a little-known former army private did something similar.

As you snake through the narrow streets of Ballydehob in deepest West Cork, you’ll come upon an imposing bronze statue. A square-jawed, barrel-chested, Augustus-like figure peers down at you with steely-eyed intent.

The inscription is simple, the story behind it much more complex: ‘Danno. Heavyweight All In Wrestling Champion Of The World 1935-1936.’ Myths surround Danno O’Mahony’s early years.

Born into a local farming family in 1912, one legend has it that as a child he helped a school inspector whose car was stuck in a roadside drain by taking a hold of the bumper and dragging the vehicle back onto the road.

Throughout his teens, O’Mahony took part in various athletic meets, showcasing his extraordinary power in events like the hammer. But it wasn’t until he joined the army in 1933 that others began to take notice. An ocean away, professional wrestling was in the ascendency again after a spell in the doldrums

In the early 1930s, a Boston-based promoter, Paul Bowser, saw an opportunity. He wanted to tap into the hardcore immigrant communities in the north-east and set about identifying and developing an Irish wrestler who could be primed for the big-time.

One man was the perfect fit: the double-Olympic champion, Dr Pat O’Callaghan. But he wasn’t interested. And after a tip-off, Bowser’s colleague, Jack McGrath, found himself in Kildare, running the rule over an army private who had broken various throwing records. It was Danno.

McGrath was impressed and by December 1934, O’Mahony had a debut fight in London against the legendary Ed ‘Strangler’ Lewis. Unsurprisingly, O’Mahony was beaten and Lewis dismissed the novice afterwards saying, “I expected to see Hercules but when this fellow slouched into the ring and onto the mat, I was afraid to clamp a hold on him for fear every bone in his body would crack.”

Back in Boston though, Bowser prepared for O’Mahony’s imminent arrival by telling everyone the Irishman had won. The PR machine was already in overdrive.

O’Mahony quickly became a firm favourite. His first bout in Boston attracted 14,000 fans. He had a signature move — ‘The Irish Whip’. He signed a five-year contract worth one hundred thousand dollars. He became a star. But O’Mahony was still learning.

In one fight, he caught the volatile Dick Shikat with a stray punch to the nose. Outraged, Shikat retaliated and left O’Mahony in a crumpled heap on the canvass, tearfully claiming his ribs were broken. But even though the young Corkman was a limited wrestler, he was also a box-office smash.

In the summer of 1935, O’Mahony faced the veteran Jim Londos in a title-fight at Boston’s Fenway Park in front of 25,000. Londos agreed to the bout for a price of $50,000 and agreed to lose it for an extra $20,000. He played his part to a tee, allowing O’Mahony to throw him around the ring for over an hour. Shortly after, O’Mahony became the undisputed World Champion.

The Irish community in America rallied around their new idol. In early 1936, a banquet was held in his honour at the Hotel Baltimore in New York by the County Cork Men’s Benevolent, Patriotic and Protective Association. Seven hundred people were in attendance. ‘Cinderella Man’, JJ Braddock, then World Heavyweight boxing champion, was there too. Everyone wanted to be around Danno.

Later that year, O’Mahony returned to Ireland on a holiday.

Arriving at Cobh, thousands greeted his arrival. From there, he journeyed to Ballydehob, the masses following in cars and on bicycles. They had come to see a hero, a champion, the best in the world. They had come to see one of their own.