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'ue to outside-the-ring antics of Harris Martin, known

as the “Black Pearl,” the relationship between trainerCharles Hadley and his pupil began to break down, but

no matter how hard he partied, the Pearl kept on winning.In February 1887, the managers of the Teater Comique

stated that they had solid backing for a big match for thePearl for the Colored middleweight championship of theworld. Manager Billy Hawley and Martinwere all for it. But when the day of the fightcame, the opponent, who was nicknamed“Black Strap,” turned out to be nothingmore than a weak local opponent whomthe Pearl crushed in four rounds. Because

of that fact, the title was not well receivedin the sporting community as legitimate,and the Pearl set his sights on a third BlackFrank fight. It was set for March 18, 1887,at the Olympic Teater in Saint Paul, MN.Professor Hadley’s plan for Martin was tolet Frank punch himself out in the first half then utilize Martin’s incredible stamina towin by late knockout. Te plan didn’t work.Black Frank was ready and in shape, andhe came out swinging from the openingbell. He had the Pearl on the defensive over

the first half, stinging Martin with hard right hooks to thehead and neck, while the Pearl ripped away at his taller foe’strunk. Frank took all five of the opening rounds with Martinturning up the gas in the second half. Frank was groggy andready to go in the seventh, but the Pearl hadn’t enoughenergy to put him away. Te fight ended in a draw.

75$,1(596383,/With the growing friction between Hadley and the Pearl,

the two agreed to face one another for a nice purse at theend of March over eight rounds. In an era where the averageblack man earned about a dollar a day, it isn’t diffi cult to

imagine why a black trainer and a black fighter would

agree to face one another when the winner was to get $150,

and the loser $25. Te fight was fast-paced with Hadley asthe aggressor and forcing the fighting throughout the firstfour rounds. But perhaps the scientific lessons were taughttoo well to his pupil, who allowed his 40-year-old trainerto tire himself out. Te Pearl then went to work, driving indevastating body shots to the ribs that took the remaining

wind from Hadley, taking the referee’sdecision easily.

It wasn’t long before a fourth fight wasset between Martin and Black Frank,with the winner to get $250. It wouldprove to be an uninspiring encounter, as

neither man fought hard until the ninthround, whereupon the Pearl finally beganhis offensive; staying close and negatingFrank’s superior reach, while Frank did hisbest to drive hard right hands downward tothe neck of the Pearl. Te last three roundsplayed out the same way with the Pearlgoing low and Frank going high. It wasdeclared a 12-round draw.

alk of another fight between the Pearland his trainer began to surface, and eachman was willing to lace them up again for

the money. Tey did on April 15, with the Pearl once againtaking the victory over eight rounds.

wo days after the second Hadley bout, Billy Hawley sold the Pearl’s contract to Jerry Donovan. Donovan toldthe papers that he firmly believed that the “Black Pearl” wasthe best colored fighter in the world. He quickly arrangeda fight with a colored fighter whose identity was neverfully revealed, but fought under the moniker of “DesperateCoon.” He had been fighting and beating many fighters inthe win Cities area of all weight classes, and his fanfareas a dark horse to bet on was great. Te Pearl whipped himeasily before Desperate quit on his stool after three rounds.

Te crowd was so disappointed in the one-sided affair that

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Martin offered to spar afour-round exhibition withhis rival Black Frank whowas in the audience. Tesparring was heated enoughto spark an argument whichled to a fifth fight betweenthe two, arranged for May 

2 in Minneapolis. It wasdesigned to settle onceand for all who was theother’s master, scheduledto be a fight to the finish. Itwas held at 5:30am on theeast side of the MississippiRiver where Hennepin andRamsey counties adjoin soas to avoid the authorities,as Minnesota did not allow 

finish fights. Te opening round was slow, but the second

through the seventh were so lively that few expected thefight to last much longer. It was a brutal fight with severalknockdowns, all in favor of the Pearl except for being flooredonce himself in the second. In the seventh round, the Pearlworked Frank over pretty well and he bled profusely for theremainder of the battle. By the 25 th round, both men weregroggy and tired, but the Pearl seemed to be catching hissecond wind and began to up his attack; digging deep tothe belly with his right, and scoring short, clubbing leftsto Frank’s bloody face. In the 38th round, the Pearl rushedFrank and knocked him to the ground for a count of six,only to smother him with a blistering finish that dropped

Frank yet again for good. Harris must have felt some sortof remorseful respect for his long-standing rival, as he thenpicked up Frank and carried him to a grassy knoll wherehe helped revive him. With the win, the Pearl laid claimto the Colored middleweight championship of the world.Tis time no one disputed the claim, especially since he hadachieved the feat despite being outweighed by a good 30pounds.

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After the brutal 38-round affair with Frank, HarrisMartin wrote a letter to the editor of the St. Paul  Daily

 News in which he claimed the Colored middleweightchampionship of the world and also announced that he wasnow under the training and management of the well-knownformer colored champion, George Phillips. He then wenton a tear of wins, including two over the highly regardedBlack Diamond; the first time crushing him in five rounds

 via the uppercut, and the second via DQ. After taking adecisive licking over 12 rounds and seeing he was going tolose, Black Diamond slammed Martin to the floor and fellon him in an obvious attempt to be disqualified rather than

lose by knockout or decision. Seeing this, the referee didnot recognize the infraction as to satisfy the crowd, until

the Diamond repeated the stunt three more times in thefollowing stanza, forcing the referee to disqualify him. Atthis point, the Black Pearl’s status nationwide ranked notonly as the best colored middleweight, but also perhaps thebest middleweight, period.

With few credible challenges coming his way, Martinagain fought rival Black Frank for the sixth and final time,earning a 10-round draw. Martin then whipped the well-

known Charles Gleason along with a slew of heavyweights toboot. He also once again met and drew with former trainer,Professor Charles Hadley. He then defeated the much fearedDick Moore for the middleweight championship of theNorthwest. Proving it was no accident, he again whippedMoore in a four-round setto a few months later.

%$11(')5200,11($32/,6Amidst all of his headlines, titles, and success; the Pearl

was secretly out of control. After knocking out anotherhandful of men in easy victories, the Pearl was about to losehis welcome in the city he loved.

His nightlife greatly increased, and it did not gounnoticed—not even by his wife. In February 1891, Martin’swife filed assault and battery charges against him inMinneapolis, allegedly stemming from her accusations of adultery and his repeated visits to houses of ill-repute. Hiswife divorced him shortly thereafter.

Yet, on May 1, 1891, Martin fought a four-round go withworld middleweight champion Bob Fitzsimmons, the termsbeing to simply last four rounds with the feared champ. Notonly did Martin pull that off, but he asked for more when itwas over.

On July 6, 1891, he was arrested for disorderly conduct

toward a woman, but she failed to testify and he wasreleased. A few weeks later he was again in trouble. Aninebriated Pearl forgot his place in 19th Century America,as he boldly tried to gain admittance into the most well-known brothel in Minneapolis—but one exclusively forwhite clientele. Feeling invincible and being known as themost famous black athlete in the Midwest, he must havefelt reasonably certain of being served there. But when theinfamous Madam of the house, Ida Dorsey, saw him at thedoor, she refused him entry. Te Pearl was so insulted; heasked her if she knew who she was refusing. When sheslammed the door in his face, he turned violent, and began

kicking in the door. Te police were called andarrested the Pearl. Since this was not his firstoffense, the judge sentenced Harristo 30 days in the workhouse,though he was releasedearly for good behaviorand upon the conditionthat he never again setfoot in Minneapolis, thecity in which he had madethe headquarters of his

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pugilistic career. Ithad given him fameand fortune and hadmade him the envy of African-Americans of the city and he was theirfirst role model. Now he was being asked to

leave. He headed westto California, takingfights along the way toearn more cash.

It is said that this eramarked the end of the“Black Pearl.” Tough

he still possessed his boxing talents, he often lacked hisresources when stepping into the ring, as his nightliferobbed him of his energy, and he rarely trained.

Martin would lose his Colored middleweightchampionship by KO to Ed Binney in November 1891, after

25 brutal rounds. He then was kayoed again by the notedCharles urner in 19 rounds, followed by a third consecutivenap, this time from Hank Griffi n. By now, the Pearl wasstruggling to find his way. His three losses, coupled with hispartying ways, had raped him prematurely of his skills.

After taking a few inconsequential fights in 1892, hethen fought Joe King in 36 hellish rounds before beingknocked out. Amazingly, he agreed to fight the infamouscolored lightweight champion of California, Bobby Dobbs,in January 1893. He showed well, but eventually succumbedto Dobbs in the 18th round. If the “Black Pearl” had anythingleft in his fight with Dobbs, it is safe to say that it was beaten

out of him that day. Although he fought 20 rounds to a draw with Jack Ramsey in March 1894, his skills had by thensignificantly eroded. Harris Martin, once a man of means,was now trying to eek out a living.

(1'2)7+(3($5/·6&$5((5His remaining fights were nothing more than paydays,

as few people gave him any chance of beating Young PeterJackson and he was stopped in the first round. After hiscareer was finally over in 1900, the Pearl drifted northwhere his brother William was living in Seattle. Livingwith William for several years and working in the same

professions in which he had started off; shining shoes by day,and waiting tables by night. Hoping to better his financialstandings by capitalizing on his name in the state that knew him best, he left Seattle for Minnesota. Since he was bannedfor life from ever setting foot in his beloved Minneapolis,Martin made Saint Paul his new home. He quickly pickedup work bartending at his old friend Phil Reed’s saloon. By this time, George Harris Martin was a much different manthan Minnesota had last seen and remembered. Gone washis wealth, and with it, his upper-class swagger. He wasstill a celebrity, though one clearly grounded by the reality that his luck had come full circle. His charm, charisma,

and infamous smile were all traits that were still very muchintact, and his striking good looks were said to still have

attracted the attention of finer women of the Saintly City. Inshort, Martin was once again, a king; his currency being thedaily compliments paid by fans of years past. He not only enjoyed his re-found fame, he lived off of it. He was onceagain, the “Black Pearl.” Still just 38 years old and said to bethinking of starting his own saloon, the Pearl left work atReed’s saloon for his apartment that he shared with friendHenry Shaw when eyewitnesses said his eyes got wide just

as stepped on the curb of the St. Peter sidewalk. He thenclutched his wide-barreled dark chest and immediately collapsed to the ground; something that had only happeneda handful of times in his long and illustrious career. Peoplerushed to his side in efforts to help him but it was no use. Hewas dead in a matter of seconds, having suffered a massiveheart attack.

Never before in the history of the state of Minnesotahad the death of a black man made the front page of thenewspapers. Yet, fans and friends, both black and white,mourned his death as if he had been family. It was almostremarkable, with more than 1,000 people reportedly 

 viewing his lifeless body at the wake, with an equal amountof whites mourning alongside the African-Americanpopulation. More than 50 carriages followed his body toForest Cemetery in present day Maplewood, MN, to pay their final respects, and many mourners gave heartfeltspeeches.

*5$9(',6&29(5< oday the “Black Pearl” is a name long forgotten. His

record at the time of his death was reported to have beenmore than 100 wins with only 10 losses, and continues tobe discovered and documented. Until 2009, his final resting

place was even a small-time boxing world mystery, as ForestCemetery (now Forest Lawn Cemetery) had claimed thathe was never interred there at all. Tis led many boxinghistorians to seek out his grave like a modern era Holy Grail.I’m proud to report that this writer is the one who discovered

the remains of the“Black Pearl,” interredunder years of grassand earth, buriedall along in the very cemetery that claimednever to have had

him at all. Findinghis name etched ontothe 109-year-old slabof concrete was akinto finding a long losttreasure. It turns outthat the denial of having his remains was

a clerical issue, having entered his name into their 1903interment logbooks incorrectly, thus burying all evidenceof his existence there. On Dec. 7, 2009, buried treasure wasindeed found in the frozen earth of Minnesota; 155 pounds

of “Black Pearl” to be exact, and with it, the tale of one of the19th Century’s most talented black fighters sails again.

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