Special to the PVT A photo of the Nelson-Gans fight on display at the Esmeralda County Courthouse in Goldfield shows the fighters touching gloves at the start of the bout. MARK WAITE / PVT Esmeralda County Commissioner R.J. Gillum, at left, and Paula Elefante, executive director of the Economic Development Authority of Esmeralda and Nye counties, talk about logistics at the site of the reenactment of the Nelson-Gans fight in the ball field behind them. Advertisement

GOLDFIELD -- When famed boxing promoter George Lewis "Tex" Rickard organized the light heavyweight bout between Joe Gans and Oscar Matthew "Battlin" Nelson on Sept. 6, 1906, the Goldfield Daily Sun reported the paid admission was 6,972, generating $69,715 in total receipts, a large sum in those days.

The purse, $33,500 in $10 and $20 gold coins, was displayed in Rickard's Northern Saloon, according to The Roadside History of Nevada, by Richard Moreno.

The fight went an astonishing 42 rounds before Gans was awarded the world championship after a foul by Nelson the newspaper said, "was so palpable, that everyone within sight of the ring saw it."

At the time, Goldfield was the largest city in Nevada, with 15,000 to 20,000 residents. Mining millionaires held a great deal of influence and power.

Today, Goldfield has a population of about 300. Historical groups are attempting to keep the old buildings from crumbling. An event to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of that famous fight on Sept. 16 could recreate those glory days.

Boxing teams from the University of Nevada at Reno and UNLV will participate in five bouts at a baseball field a few blocks off Highway 95 in Goldfield, in honor of the centennial anniversary of the event.

The first bout is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. It won't be a marathon event as in 1906; instead, each bout will be three two-minute rounds. The bouts will count toward the individual and team record. The entire event is expected to be over by 3 p.m.

Mike Martino, the Nevada-Reno boxing coach, said he's not sure which of his fighters will attend. He will have to wait until school practice starts Aug. 28.

"I only mentioned it to a few of them. They've committed to coming to this event," Martino said. The school teams compete in a few bouts in the fall; they then have bouts every weekend from the end of January until the national championships, March 29-31, he said.

"UNLV has two national champions. I have two national champions. They're in different weight divisions. I don't know if we can match them," Martino said.

In addition, UNLV is the defending national champion, Martino said. Both schools are part of the National Collegiate Boxing Association Western Regional Conference.

Martino said his national champions include 132-pounder David Shacter, who unfortunately will be overseas on a foreign exchange program, and 147-pounder Thomas Gennaro. A bout between Gennaro and Nevada-Reno's 156-pound standout, Francisco Torres, is possible.

"Those kids have been in Reno so I feel good about their conditioning," Martino said about Gennaro and Torres. The boxers train in the summer, he said.

Amateur judges, a referee and U.S.A. sanctioned boxing officials will judge the event, the coach said.

"I just think it's great. We were able to assist the area down there with a celebration of the 100th anniversary of this bout and it gives us an opportunity to show the boxers to the community down there and also to promote local tourism," Martino said.

The centennial anniversary of that fight will lead up to the centennial of the Jack Johnson-Jim Jeffries fight in Reno in 2010, he said. That fight featured Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion.

"We look at this as an opportunity to celebrate this event and in 2010 do this (fight) in Reno," Martino said.

The event is being pitched to Everlast, the company that makes boxing gloves, to see if it will be a sponsor, Paula Elefante, executive director of the Economic Development Authority of Esmeralda and Nye Counties, told Esmeralda County Commissioners Monday.

The Tonopah Convention Center has been reserved for a dinner that evening, she said, while the Tonopah Volunteer Fire Department will put on a barbecue luncheon that afternoon. She proposed buying 500 souvenir belt buckles at $11 apiece, to be sold at the event, with proceeds going to the Goldfield Historical Society.

When it comes to promoting the event, Elefante hopes for a knockout. She said the Nevada Commission on Tourism is expected to contact The History Channel, Fox West and ESPN about coverage.

Posters will be circulated along major highways in the area. In addition, Elefante said, "The universities are going to be advertising at every event between now and the event."

Esmeralda County Commissioners were more concerned about the logistics of hosting such an event, in a community without a lot of services anymore.

Commissioner R. J. Gillum said they could move bleachers from Goldfield Elementary School for the spectators, with more bleachers available from Tonopah if needed.

The school would also have dressing rooms available, he said. Goldfield Volunteer Fire Chief Mike Anderson suggested some shade for spectators. There would be parking on the east side of the baseball park.

Commissioner Bill Kirby said there's a youth group in Fish Lake Valley that could volunteer its services.

Gillum said the county may not have to get a rider on its insurance for the event. But he said, "It's a 100-year thing. It's a one-shot deal. Anything at all would be better than nothing."

Kirby suggested upping the proposed admission fee from $5 to $10. Elefante suggested $10 for seats, $5 for standing room only; Gillum suggested $20 for ringside seats.

"There weren't many bleachers in the original fight. There was a lot of standing," Commissioner Nancy Boland said, looking at the old photographs.

But Anderson replied, "People were tougher back then."

The admission fee would pay for cleanup costs. Elefante anticipated the fights would last from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. She encouraged the public to bring lawn chairs.

Kirby pushed for a horseshoe tournament before the bouts, starting at 9 a.m. He also suggested cowboy shootouts afterwards to keep the public entertained. Elefante suggested selling vendor booths for $25, with an eye toward attracting political candidates.

A dignitary, perhaps a political leader or someone associated with boxing, could open the event, she said. Boland suggested a walking tour of the town to people attending the event and Gillum advised him to contact the Goldfield Historical Society.

Gary Schultz, a boxing historian from Champaign, Ill., will bring a video of the actual fight, to be shown at the Tonopah Convention Center, and an original scrapbook with a program.

"They started this fight to promote the sale of gold stocks in Goldfield. So they did the whole thing and they brought in all the people with some money in the area and then they sold them gold stocks," Schultz said. "In addition to that it was really putting Goldfield on the map.

"It was one of the first more modern fights where they fought the three-minute rounds, gloved. It was white against black, it was very racial and this Gans came up to a pretty much all-white area. He fought obviously for the money but he kind of took the town by storm. People liked him."

While it may seem like a marathon fight, the old fights, under the Marquise of Queensbury Rules, could last 75 rounds, he said.

A committee will be formed to help plan the event. Gillum said the county festival fund could be used, but he said, "We might even be able to add money to it because we'll have a gate fee."

Elefante said she requested a resolution from the Nevada legislature through State Senator Mike McGinnis' office commemorating the centennial event. It could be displayed in the courthouse, she said.

The Goldfield Daily Sun reported on that final round with the low blow: "Both men were weak. There was an occasional punch left in them but Gans was in the better condition when the 42nd started.

"Gans began the round with a straight left to the face and they clinched. As the men broke from the clinch Nelson struck Gans low and the colored man sank slowly to the floor. The blow was clearly observed by everyone in the arena and there was not a murmur of dissent from spectators. The long drawn out battle was terminated."

The economy of Tonopah might have been given a low blow after the fight as well. The mines became consolidated and many wildcat miners moved on when the gold began diminishing.

The population of Goldfield declined to only 4,838 residents in the 1910 census. Disastrous fires struck in 1923 and 1924. But during the re-enactment of this fight, the glory of Goldfield may, for one day, be revived and revered.

While boxers today take home million dollar purses, the Goldfield Daily Sun reported in 1906 that Nelson received $22,500 and Gans $11,000.