Today marks 98 years since the first sporting event radio broadcast

Johnny Dundee

I was looking through my notes earlier this week and saw where today (Thursday) marks 98 years since the first sporting event was broadcast live on radio.

It was on April 11, 1921 that KDKA Radio did so when they broadcast a boxing match between Johnny Ray and Johnny “Hutch” Dundee. KDKA is an AM station located in Pittsburgh, and it is still in operation today. The station first went on the air on Nov. 2, 1920, and today the station describes itself as the “Pioneer Broadcasting Station of the World.”

According to what I could dig up, the fight between Dundee and Ray took place at Pittsburgh’s Motor Square Garden. It went for 10 rounds, but resulted in a no decision. Dundee and Ray were both lightweights, and Pittsburgh Post sports editor Florent Gibson served as the radio announcer for the event.

Dundee and Ray were both colorful characters. Dundee fought as a featherweight, junior lightweight and lightweight between 1910 and 1932. Known as the “Little Bar of Iron,” his real name was Giuseppe Corrara. During his professional career, he fought in 321 bouts, winning 113, including 19 by knockout.

Ray, aka Harold Pitler, was a native of Pittsburgh. He fought in 138 professional bouts between 1913 and 1924, winning 15 by knockout. Some sources indicate that Ray and Dundee fought at a later date and that Ray won that fight. Much of Ray’s overall record has been gleaned by boxing historians from old newspaper accounts.

Interestingly, his brother, Jake Pitler, played second base for the Pittsburgh Pirates. After his playing days, he went on to serve as a longtime coach in the Brooklyn Dodgers organization. Those of you who have read Roger Kahn’s famous baseball book, “The Boys of Summer,” will be familiar with Pitler, who is also in the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Pittsburgh’s Motor Square Garden, not to be confused with Madison Square Garden, is located in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this building now serves as the headquarters for the Pittsburgh branch of the American Automobile Association, which most folks call “Triple A.” In its heyday, this building not only served as a boxing venue, but it was also the home of the University of Pittsburgh’s men’s basketball team.

I wasn’t able to find much on Florent Gibson, but as best that I can tell, he was born in 1888 and died in 1976 around the age of 88. If my research is correct, he is buried in the Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery in Washington County, Pa. His biggest claim to fame, apparently, is the historic boxing match he broadcasted in 1921.

The newspaper he worked for, The Pittsburgh Post, was established in 1842 as the Daily Morning Post. In 1927, The Post merged with The Pittsburgh Gazette Times to form The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which is still in publication today. Nowadays, it’s the largest newspaper in the Pittsburgh area.

In the end, it would be interesting to know if a recording of the 1921 boxing match between Dundee and Ray still exists somewhere today. It would be fun to hear this historic recording and to listen to Gibson’s voice as he describes all the action. Almost like the people who heard it live 98 years ago today, you’d almost be able to imagine the exchange of the blows and hear the roar of the crowd.