Tommy Ryan (born Joseph Youngs; March 31, 1870 – August 3, 1948) was an American-Canadian World Welterweight and World Middleweight boxing champion who fought from 1887 to 1907. His simultaneously holding records in both weight classes was a rare and impressive feat for a boxer. His record is a topic that has been up for debate for decades. As of May 2021, Boxrec.com lists his official record as 82–2–13 (68KO). The International Boxing Hall of Fame lists his record as 86–3–6 (22KO). Others list his record anywhere from 86–3–6 (68KO), to 90–6–11 (70KO), to 84–2–11 (70KO). Some historians have even speculated that he held closer to 90 knockouts. Ryan was posthumously inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the class of 1991.

Boxing career Ryan was considered by many one of the greatest Middleweights in boxing history. He was the World Middleweight Champion from 1898 to 1906. Some of his opponents included Mysterious Billy Smith, Kid McCoy, Tommy West, and Jack Bonner. After his retirement as a fighter he became a boxing teacher and coach. He was credited with helping devise the crouching crab technique for defense. During his career of 97 fights he won 82 (70 by knockout), lost 2, with 13 draws. Ryan was considered an excellent boxer-puncher and nearly unbeatable for his time.

Ryan first won the welterweight title in a match with Mysterious Billy Smith on July 26, 1894. He was knocked out by Kid McCoy in the 15th round on March 2, 1896. This bout forms part of the lore of the McCoy legend. McCoy served as a sparring partner for Ryan, and absorbed many beatings at the hands of his employer. Ryan was notorious for showing little mercy to his sparring partners. As a result, McCoy hated Ryan, and sought revenge. It is alleged that McCoy, who appeared thin, pale and frail, persuaded Ryan that he was seriously ill before their fight. McCoy, who was famed as a trickster, purportedly rubbed flour on his face so as to appear deathly ill. Ryan is said to have fallen for the ruse, failed to train properly and was not in top condition for the bout. Whether true or not, McCoy scored an upset win over Ryan in the non-title match.

In November 1941, Ryan accepted the position of boxing instructor at the Multnomah Athletic Club. A month later, he resigned the position and told The Oregonian, "I don't think I would have come west had I known that professional boxing was barred in the states of Washington and Oregon. There is too much money in other sections of the country for me to stick here at a $150 job".

Ryan was also instrumental in the career of heavyweight champion James J. Jeffries. In fact, Ryan is credited with changing Jeffries' stance and teaching him to fight out of a crouch. Although, Jeffries disputes this saying he developed his crouching style instinctively after taking a left hook to the liver by John Brink.

Ryan also seconded James J. Corbett in his second attempt to wrest the heavyweight crown from Jeffries. Corbett however, blamed Ryan's strategy for his defeat. In 2003, Ryan was listed in The Ring magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.

Ryan died on August 3, 1948, aged 78."Tommy Ryan", BoxRec

Professional boxing record All information in this section is derived from BoxRec, unless otherwise stated.

Official record

All newspaper decisions are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column. ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes106 Ed MartinNC6Nov 29, 1911 105Draw82–2–13 Hugo KellyPTS6Mar 4, 1907 104Win82–2–12 Dave BarryKO5 (20)Feb 5, 1907 103Win81–2–12 Billy StiftKO4 (10)Dec 29, 1904 102NC80–2–12 Jack RootNC4 (6)Nov 23, 1904 101Win80–2–12 Jack GrahamTKO4 (10)Nov 15, 1904 100Win79–2–12 Tommy WallaceKO5 (10)Oct 26, 1904 99Win78–2–12 Bob DouglassKO4 (8)Oct 10, 1904 98Win77–2–12 Jack BeauscholteTKO6 (10)Feb 24, 1904 97Draw76–2–12 Philadelphia Jack O'BrienNWS6Jan 27, 1904 96Win76–2–12 John WillieKO4 (20)Jun 30, 1903 95Draw75–2–12 Dan HickeyPTS6Jun 23, 1903 94Win75–2–11 James J WalkerKO5 (?)Jun 1, 1903 93Win74–2–11 Cyclone KellyTKO7 (10)Feb 3, 1903 92Win73–2–11 Billy StiftKO4 (10)Jan 15, 1903 91Win72–2–11 Barney WalshKO2 (6)Oct 3, 1902 90Win71–2–11 Jack BeauscholteKO3 (6)Oct 3, 1902 89Win70–2–11 Kid CarterKO6 (20)Sep 15, 1902 88Win69–2–11 Johnny GormanKO3 (15)Jun 24, 1902 87Win68–2–11 Jimmy HandlerTKO4 (10)May 26, 1902 86Win67–2–11 Billy StiftPTS10Apr 3, 1902 85Win66–2–11 Mysterious Billy SmithKO4 (10)Mar 14, 1902 84Win65–2–11 Tim Draffin MurphyKO8 (10)Feb 25, 1902 83Win64–2–11 Jack BeauscholtePTS6Feb 15, 1902 82Win63–2–11 George GreenKO7 (10)Jan 30, 1902 81Loss62–2–11 George GreenDQ6 (15)Oct 10, 1901 80Win62–1–11 Bob DouglassTKO7 (10)Aug 22, 1901 79Win61–1–11 Tommy WestTKO17 (20)Mar 4, 1901 78Win60–1–11 Jim JudgeKO4 (6)Jan 31, 1901 77Win59–1–11 Jack BeauscholteKO3 (20)Jan 17, 1901 76Win58–1–11 Kid CarterPTS6Nov 27, 1900 75Win57–1–11 Geoff ThorneKO3 (6)Nov 10, 1900 74Draw56–1–11 Jack RootPTS6Jul 24, 1900 73Win56–1–10 Young MahoneyPTS6Jun 29, 1900 72Draw55–1–10 Charles Kid McCoyPTS6May 29, 1900 71Win55–1–9 George LawlerTKO13 (20)Feb 2, 1900 70Win54–1–9 Frank CraigTKO10 (20)Sep 18, 1899 69Win53–1–9 Jack MoffatPTS20Aug 31, 1899 68Win52–1–9 Billy StiftPTS20Apr 19, 1899 67Win51–1–9 Frank NealKO6 (20)Apr 6, 1899 66Win50–1–9 Paddy PurtellTKO4 (10)Mar 13, 1899 65Win49–1–9 Charley JohnsonKO8 (20)Mar 1, 1899 64Win48–1–9 Dick O'BrienTKO14 (25)Dec 23, 1898 63NC47–1–9 Tommy WestNC6Dec 2, 1898 62Win47–1–9 Johnny GormanRTD8 (20)Nov 23, 1898 61Win46–1–9 Jack BonnerNWS6Nov 8, 1898 60Win46–1–9 Jack BonnerPTS20Oct 24, 1898 59Win45–1–9 Tommy WestTKO14 (20)Jun 13, 1898 58Win44–1–9 George GreenKO18 (20)Feb 25, 1898 57Win43–1–9 Bill HeffernanKO3 (20)Dec 20, 1897 56Win42–1–9 Billy StiftTKO6 (12)Nov 30, 1897 55Win41–1–9 Australian Jim RyanKO5 (20)Nov 25, 1897 54Draw40–1–9 Charles Kid McCoyPTS5Sep 8, 1897 53Win40–1–8 Tom WilliamsKO2 (20)Jun 21, 1897 52Win39–1–8 Patsy RaedyTKO6 (20)May 24, 1897 51Win38–1–8 Paddy GormanTKO3 (?)May 10, 1897 50Win37–1–8 Patsy RaedyTKO18 (20)Mar 17, 1897 49Win36–1–8 Tom TraceyTKO9 (20)Feb 24, 1897 48Win35–1–8 Billy PayneKO4 (20)Dec 23, 1896 47Win34–1–8 Billy McCarthyTKO7 (20)Dec 21, 1896 46Win33–1–8 Mysterious Billy SmithDQ9 (20)Nov 25, 1896 45Win32–1–8 Dick MoorePTS20Aug 20, 1896 44Win31–1–8 Billy (Shadow) MaberTKO9 (20)Jun 22, 1896 43Win30–1–8 Joe DunfeeKO6 (20)May 18, 1896 42Loss29–1–8 Charles Kid McCoyKO15 (20)Mar 2, 1896 41Win29–0–8 Henry BakerPTS6Jan 15, 1896 40Draw28–0–8 Mysterious Billy SmithPTS18 (25)May 27, 1895 39Win28–0–7 Tom TraceyTKO8 (8)Mar 20, 1895 38Win27–0–7 Emmett MellodyPTS4Mar 11, 1895 37Win26–0–7 Shorty AhearnNWS4Feb 25, 1895 36Win26–0–7 Nonpareil DempseyTKO3 (15)Jan 18, 1895 35Win25–0–7 Billy LaytonKO4 (20)Sep 13, 1894 34Win24–0–7 Mysterious Billy SmithPTS20Jul 26, 1894 33Win23–0–7 Jack PittsKO3 (?)Jun 1, 1894 32Win22–0–7 Jack FalveyKO3 (8)May 22, 1894 31Win21–0–7 Harry WilkesNWS5Apr 22, 1894 30Win21–0–7 Morris LaneTKO3 (8)Apr 10, 1894 29Draw20–0–7 Mysterious Billy SmithPTS6Jan 9, 1894 28Draw20–0–6 Joe GuthriePTS3 (10)Dec 11, 1893 27Win20–0–5 Harry JamiesonKO2 (?)Nov 2, 1893 26Draw19–0–5 Mysterious Billy SmithPTS6Aug 29, 1893 25Win19–0–4 George DawsonNWS6Apr 8, 1893 24Draw19–0–4 Tommy KellyPTS8Dec 1, 1892 23Draw19–0–3 Jack CollinsPTS8Nov 24, 1892 22Draw19–0–2 Jack WilkesPTS17 (?)Jul 30, 1892 21Win19–0–1 Paddy BrennanPTS10May 7, 1892 20Win18–0–1 Con DoylePTS8Apr 11, 1892 19Win17–0–1 Frank HowsonKO14 (?)Dec 13, 1891 18Win16–0–1 Billy McMillanKO3 (?)Aug 8, 1891 17Win15–0–1 Danny NeedhamRTD76 (?)Feb 17, 1891 16Win14–0–1 Professor McGuireTKO3 (5)Dec 6, 1890 15Win13–0–1 Frank GarrardNWS3Dec 6, 1890 14Win13–0–1 Ed BartlettKO3 (?)Nov 23, 1890 13Win12–0–1 Con DoyleTKO28 (?)Oct 5, 1890 12Win11–0–1 John McInersseyKO5 (?)Aug 7, 1890 11Win10–0–1 Bob HarperKO4 (?)Aug 4, 1890 10Win9–0–1 Henry BakerKO3 (?)Jun 6, 1890 9Draw8–0–1 Jimmy MurphyPTS57 (?)Oct 10, 1889 8Win8–0 Martin ShaughnessyKO48 (?)Jun 18, 1889 7Win7–0 Michael DunnKO9 (?)May 27, 1889 6Win6–0 Martin ShaughnessyKO23 (?)Apr 30, 1889 5Win5–0 Dick EnglandKO23 (?)Dec 21, 1888 4Win4–0 Joe JohnsonKO5 (?)Jul 20, 1888 3Win3–0 Chris ChristopherKO10 (?)Mar 3, 1887 2Win2–0 Jack ConwayKO3 (?)Feb 2, 1887 1Win1–0 John CaseKO5 (?)Jan 1, 1887

Unofficial record

Record with the inclusion of newspaper decisions in the win/loss/draw column.