His first loss came on July 16, 1936, courtesy of Max Baer, who knocked him out in the fifth at the Coliseum in Tulsa?
?When the white man discovered this country, Indians were running it. No taxes, no debt, women did all the work. White man thought he could improve on a system like this.??Cherokee saying
Italians, Irish, Jews, Mexicans, blacks?and at least one Chickasaw.
Despite bearing a strong physical resemblance to an English heavyweight of somewhat later vintage, Don Cockell, Junior Munsell was all American ? American Indian, that is.
Born in Tuttle, Oklahoma, on May 30, 1913, ?Indian,? a member of the Chickasaw Tribe, fought from 1935 to 1942, racking up an impressive record of 56 wins, 38 by knockout, 11 losses, five by knockout, and two draws, an average of about 10 fights a year.
The southwestern southpaw won his first 11 fights, eight by knockout (including outpointing someone actually named Buck Rogers, 0-6, in Oklahoma City on April 27, 1936), before drawing against Jack Van Noy at the Sportatorium in Dallas that May 14. His first loss came that July 16, courtesy of Max Baer, who knocked him out in the fifth at the Coliseum in Tulsa.
?A snarling Max Baer loosed a crushing right to the jaw of Junior Munsell 35 seconds after the start of the fifth round of a scheduled six-round bout here last night, and the Oklahoma City Indian heavyweight?s body bounced on the canvas with the knockout,? reported the Associated Press. ?Seven thousand fight fans saw the 213-pound Baer, apparently in the best of condition, clown four rounds against the popular southpaw Indian, who scaled 187. Munsell was badly outclassed, but bored in hopefully against the former heavyweight champion of the world. Junior made his best bid in the fourth, when he peeled the bridge of Maxie?s nose with a whistling left. Jabbed the California playboy?s face with his right, shot left after left to Baer?s body.?
When Chickasaw troops marched against the Union during the Civil War, Chickasaw Governor Cyrus Harris observed that ?This was the first time in history the Chickasaws have ever made war against an English-speaking people.? But not the last.
Although not a psych-out artist on the level of, say, Benny Leonard, Munsell knew how to intimidate?and how to make war. Following a third-round TKO loss to Charley Coates (the ?hard-hitting Ohio Negro?) at the Eastside Arena in Los Angeles on October 5, 1936, Indian won 19 in a row, 12 by knockout. Among the hapless 19 was Vicente Parrile (aka Stanley Ketchell ? that?s right, with two lls), who was well and truly discombobulated by Munsell waving around what he claimed was the scalp of a previous opponent. Parrile lost no time getting his head shaved, exclaiming, ?No Indian gets my scalp!? He was wrong about that, Munsell knocking him out in the second in Ponca City, Oklahoma, on March 23, 1937 (with Archie Moore collecting $12, about $200 today, for doing the same to the fantastically named Ham Pounder, who had two opponents in his career, Archie and Brad Simmons, winning one on points and losing four by knockout).
Another victory for Munsell was over Tiger Hairston, who once humiliated Joe Louis in a sparring session, Junior winning on points in Dayton that July 23.
Indian?s winning streak was brought to a close by Marty Simmons, who outpointed him at the Municipal Auditorium in St. Louis that September 17. Another streak of wins, consisting of five knockouts, was brought up short by George Sutka, who won first on points at the Arena Gardens in Detroit on March 22, 1938, then by third-round KO at Detroit?s Olympia Stadium that April 8.
It was on September 27 that year that Junior won the Indian heavyweight title (recognized by the NBA) by outpointing Ernie Collins at Conoco Park in Ponca City, Nat Fleischer presenting him with the belt that October 4. He successfully defended, or perhaps rewon, the title against James Merriott, knocking him out in the second in Anadarko on August 15, 1940 (the year Lou Nova refused to meet him, saying that he wasn?t ?interested in any inferior opponents.? Nova was ranked fourth by the NBA that year, while Munsell was ranked ninth).
The pattern of interrupted streaks continued. After winning four in a row, three by stoppage, Munsell was outpointed by Gunnar Barlund at the Legion Stadium in Hollywood on August 25, 1939. He won his next four, two by stoppage, including stopping Arne Andersson by second-round TKO on February 9, 1940 (despite manager Al Lang?s prediction that the Swede would ?flatten Munsell as sure as there is a cow in Texas?), before Tommy Martin stopped him by fifth-round TKO that July 12, all five bouts taking place at the Legion Stadium.
Although hard-hitting Turkey Thompson stopped him by second-round TKO at the same venue that December 20, he won his next five, four by knockout, including outpointing Johnny ?Bandit? Romero in Memphis on September 4, 1941, before losing his last two bouts to Connie Norden, who won the first by split decision on July 31, 1942, the second by unanimous decision that September 18, both at the Legion Stadium. Indian?s last win was on June 13 that year, knocking out Cash Dasher Clinton in the third in Las Vegas. A terrific name, but one he didn?t exactly live up to, winding up with a record of three wins, all by knockout, 11 losses, seven by knockout, and one draw.
Following his retirement from the ring, Munsell joined the 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, aka the Terror from the North, where he served as boxing instructor throughout most of 1943.
Although not yet inducted into the Chickasaw Nation Hall of Fame (though wrestling brothers Jack and Jerry Brisco are 2016 inductees), Munsell was inducted into the Oklahoma Athletic Hall of Fame in 1976 and the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame the following year. He died age 82 on April 29, 1996, in Ocala, Florida, where he?d been living with his daughter, Mary Reed, and is buried in Reno.
All right, maybe not up there with fellow Indian southpaws Marvin Camel or Joe Hipp. After all, Munsell didn?t take on too many names. Why, he even faced a pro wrestler, Jack McDonald (1-2-1, 1 KO), knocking him out in the third in Tulsa on June 5, 1941. But he was a tough ham-and-egger, and one who faced guys of the same deviled kidney. And if boxing ain?t about two toughies hammering away at each other, then it?s really not about much of anything at all.
