HOMER SMITH MISCELLANEOUS BOXING MEMORABILIA INC. PHOTO Start Price USD 9.99 Current Price USD 53.03 Time Left - Bid Count 13 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Thursday, October 09, 2008 End Time Thursday, October 16, 2008 Location Dearborn, MI See more about 'HOMER SMITH MISCELLANEOUS BOXING MEMORABILIA INC. PHOTO' Description  HOMER SMITH MISCELLANEOUS BOXING MEMORABILIA INCLUDING  PHOTOS& MORE!! PLEASE SEE ALL PICTURES     Condition:The condition of this merchandise varies, so I will describe the condition of each item next to the description below..   Description: You are bidding on a treasure of Boxing Memoribilia!   Homer Smith is a little known local boxer that hails from Kalamazoo, Michigan. The items that are in this particular auction are as follows:-There is a promotional poster put out by Smith's handler (Joe Woodman) talking about the fight between Homer Smith and the Argentinian boxer, Luis Firpo. This poster is in good condition.--There are two  (2) mimeographed copies of different items. The first is a copy of a program from the Second Annual Banquet of the Veteran Boxers Association which was held on April 25, 1968  honoring Smith. The second is a copy of Homer Smith's career record. This tells date of fight, who he fought, where the fight was held and what the result of the fight was. Very impressive. Both of these are in excellent condition.-There are 2 original copies of the Ford News dated December 1948, with an article about Homer Smith and his boxing career. These are in good condition, but do have some yellowing due to age. -There is a certificate from the Ypsilanti Area Board of Commerce announcing the completion of Homer Smith's coarse  in Practical Politics dated June 9, 1960. On the left edge of the certificate about 2" down, there is a big piece missing. There is also a tear on the same side about 3 1/2" up that is torn into the certificate about a 2" length.-There is a copy of a short bio of Homer Smith and his boxing matches and telling of Smith's willingness to fight any heavyweight in the world. For a copy, this is in good shape.-There is a copy of an article in th the "Gazette" (?) telling of Homer Smith and some of his accomplishments. This is in good condition.-There are five (5) photos of Homer Smith included in the auction:  1. There is a photo of Smith in his service uniform of WWII. Someone has written his name and WWII on the front of the photo, but otherwise in good shape  2 & 3.  There are two (2) promotional photos of Homer Smith in a boxing stance (different ones) announcing Smith as the Heavyweight Champion of Michigan. Again, someone has written the year (1928) on the front of the photos, but other than that, they are in good condition.  4. There is a photo of Homer Smith in a boxing stance, but not sure who had this one done. It too is dated 1928. The year is written on the front of the photo, but other than that, in good condition.  5. There is a larger photo of Homer Smith and other boxers and managers taken in what appears to be a gym. It was done by "Young, Kalamazoo". We are unable to verify the exact date of this photo. The picture is in o.k. shape, but when someone wrote Homer Smith on the photo, they wrote "Homer" on the photo, and Smith on the matting. The lower left hand corner of the picture is and creased about 3 1/2" up on the same corner. Please see photo below.torn about 3" over from the left edge.-Finally, there is a promotional poster with both Ted and Billy Marchant pictured. It tells of some of there prior boxing matches showing wins, losses and how many rounds the fight went. It also tells of both of them welcoming fights with other boxers, specifying which ones they would prefer to box. This poster is not in good shape. The entire top of it is torn and creased over. On the left hand side, about 4" from the top, there is a piece of the poster gone. On the left edge, about 5" up is a spot of some kind.  About 2 1/2" on the same edge, there is a tear that goes in about 1/2". On the bottom edge, about 4" in from the left side, there is a tear that goes into the poster about 1 1/2" in. The bottom right corner is bent and creased. PLEASE NOTE:   These items are being sold with a description given by  the daughter-in-law of Homer Smith. DnD Premium Sales can make no guarantees as to the validity of the items listed in the above auction. But we have sold many of these items for Mrs. Smith in the past and have no reason not to think her facts are true . Homer Smith was an accomplished boxer, who would often comment that of all of his achievements, his proudest was "I fought the 3 greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. Jack Dempsey, Jack Sharkey and Jack Johnson." Homer Smith was born May 28, 1893 on a farm near Kalamazoo, Michigan and died on May 6, 1971 in Pawpaw, Michigan. Buried in Glendale Cemetery. Death was caused from an abdominal aneurysm. He lived in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Grantwood, NJ and Ypsilanti, Mi. He also rented in south Dearborn, Michigan for two years while he worked as a plant protection employee at the Rouge plant for the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Mi. during World War II. One summer, his son, H. James Smith worked in the steel mill. The son seldom saw his father because they worked different shifts even though they slept in the same living quarters in Dearborn. At the age of 18, Homer Smith went into professional boxing. He journeyed approximately 3000,000 miles for his 187 fights He fought as many as 14 fights in one year. He received $0.75 for his first professional fight. The biggest purse for fighting he received was $5,100. He was paid $218 for the Jack Dempsey fight. One time famous sports writer Damon Runyoun referred to Homer Smith as "Old Weeping Willow from Pawpaw." In October 1936, Homer Smith (age 41) fought his 15 year old son, H. James Smith and a 4 round technical knock out at Pawpaw, Mi as reported by a national news service. In 1937 he coached Pawpaw;s Golden Gloves team. A January 19, 1960 Look Magazine article by Jack Dempsey related fight and human interest stories about Dempsey and Homer Smith. Dempsey in his biography refers to Homer Smith as "That clean living kid from Kalamazoo" because Homer Smith never smoked or drank. On April 25, 1968 Homer Smith was presented with a plaque by Ring 32, the Veteran Boxers Association at Carl's Chophouse in Detroit, Mi. The inscription presented to Homer Smith read, "Outstanding Michigan Heavyweight". On October 9, 1971 at the 19th annual dinner and reunion of the Old Time Boxer's Association, Ring 23 of the National Veteran Boxer's Association at Allentown, PA, Homer Smith was one of seven members honored in memoriam. During WWII, Homer Smith worked in plant production for the Ford Motor Company at the Rouge plant for 2 years. In his later years he worked in a real estate office in Ypsilanti, Mi. In WWI, he was on active duty, trucking ammo and supplies to a French Artillery training camp that had been used as a military training camp since the days of Napoleon Bonaparte. One week before the Armistice of WWI, he was transferred to the First Army in France the day the Armistice was sighned. A few days later, he was transferred to U.S. Second Army Headquarters. He inspected and drove tractors and trucks for 6 weeks. Then he boarded the U.S. Cruiser Montana on February 23rd, he had his first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty when he landed at Hoboken, NJ. He then went on to Camp Custer on the boat and at Fort Custer he fought an exhibition boxing fight for the entertainment of the troops. It was a direct result of the popularity of the boxing fights at Camp Custer that the Michigan Boxing Commission was born. There is now a Smith Recreation Hall at Camp Custer. These items are being sold by the widowed wife of H. James Smith, son of Homer Smith. All of these items were kept in the attic of their house in southeast lower Michigan. Unbeknownst to her, these items were kept by her husband after his father passed away in the early 1970's. She had always recalled stories that her husband used to tell of his father, but only recently has she become very diligent in genealogical studies of Homer Smith and the rest of the Smith family. If you have any questions regarding this auction, please feel free to ask Shipping: Buyer pays $7.99 careful shipping and handling with insurance (shipping weight of 2 lbs.) within the Continental United States. Please contact for international shipping estimates. Michigan residents add 6% sales tax. Personal checks must clear before shipping. This item is also available for local pickup for those in and around the Dearborn, MI area. Please contact for more details.   Please Note: If you have 0 feedback, you must contact us with name, address, and method of payment and receive a response from us before bidding or your bid will be retracted and you will be blocked from all DnD auctions in the future. This is a safeguard against potential scammers on eBay. International Bidders: Please note that we do not mark items as "gifts" or declare them for any less value than what they sell for. We will, however, mark an item as "used" if it is sold "used". 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