Burns, Tommy b. Noah Brusso
Champion Boxer ~ 1881-1955
Noah Brusso was born in June 17, 1881 in a log cabin outside of Hanover, ON. Brusso fought under the name of Ed Burns and then as Tommy Burns in the United States. He had changed his name to hide his prizefighting activities from his mother who did not approve of his pugilistic ways. Tommy at 5’7” and 170 lbs. was a middleweight by today’s standards but fought as a heavyweight and held the World Heavyweight Champion title for two years and ten months, defending it fourteen times between 1906 and 1908. Tommy was a pioneer in boxing, being one of the first not to acknowledge the colour bar. As he said, “You’re not a real contender if you duck a man because of his colour.” Tommy Brusso was the first Canadian to be World Heavyweight Champion and is recorded in the Guinness Sports record book as the shortest World Champion of all time. He also has the world record for the quickest knockout in a heavyweight title fight (1 minute and 28 seconds). Tommy died in relative obscurity, short changed by history until a fundraising campaign by Dick Beddoes; sportswriter, finally placed a memorial plaque on his grave in Vancouver, BC assigning his true rank in the world of heavyweight boxing. You can also visit a plaque commemorating his birthplace in Hanover, ON.
Additional information: Canadian Review of Materials website through the University of Manitoba: www.umanitoba.ca/cm/vol8/no4/tommy.html
Cyber Boxing Zone website: www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/burns.htm
Dan McCaffery. Tommy Burns: Canada’s Unknown World Heavyweight Champion, James Lorimer, Toronto, ON, 2000.
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