MCCOY, KID SIGNATURE (TO KID FARMER)

HISTORY: Charles "Kid" McCoy, who was born Norman Selby (October 13, 1872 – April 18, 1940) was an American world champion boxer. Born in Moscow, Rush County, Indiana, McCoy would eventually weigh 160 pounds, stand 5' 11", and go on to a record 81 wins (55 by KO, with 6 losses, 9 no decision, and 6 disqualifications). McCoy was noted for his "corkscrew punch"–a blow delivered with a twisting of the wrist. According to McCoy, he learned the punch one evening while resting in someone's barn after a day of riding the rails. He noticed a cat strike at a ball of string and imitated its actions. Whether true or not, McCoy was known as a fast, "scientific" fighter who would cut his opponents with sharp blows. He reportedly would wrap his knuckles in mounds of friction tape, to better cut his opponents faces. He was listed # 1 Light Heavyweight of all time in Fifty Years At Ringside, published in 1958. He was also regarded as a formidable puncher, and was included in Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time. He defeated Dan Creedon on December 17, 1897 to win the Middleweight Championship of the World. McCoy's career was no less colorful outside the ring. He was married ten times, performed in theater, and went West to California during the birth of the movie industry there. He appeared in films and was friends with many movie stars of the day, including Charles Chaplin and director D.W. Griffith. Unfortunately, by the early 1920s McCoy was broke, addicted to alcohol and out of the movie industry. At this time however, McCoy was involved in a romance with a wealthy married woman, Teresa Mors. Apparently he swept her off her feet, for she filed for divorce from her husband. The Mors divorce was acrimonious, and dragged on until she was killed, in the apartment she shared with McCoy, by a single gunshot to the head on August 12, 1924. McCoy claimed Mrs. Mors committed suicide, while the prosecution claimed he murdered her for financial gain. Apparently, the jury was split between first degree murder and acquittal. In what is believed to have been a compromise verdict, McCoy was convicted of manslaughter. McCoy was sent to San Quentin, but was paroled from prison in 1932. Afterwards he worked for Ford Motor Company. McCoy took his own life in Detroit on April 18, 1940. Even his death was enigmatic. He committed suicide at the Hotel Tuller in Detroit by an overdose of sleeping pills, leaving a note behind. It read, among other things: "Everything in my possession, I want to go to my dear wife, Sue E. Selby... To all my dear friends... best of luck... sorry I could not endure this world's madness." In an apparent last attempt to drop his professional moniker, the note was pointedly signed as, "Norman Selby". Offered here is a large pencil signature of Kid McCoy done in 1910 to Kid Farmer.

FULL DESCRIPTION: This is a large pencil inscribed signature dated 1910 on the blank back of a picture printed on heavy stock. Minor spots. 4" x 7." Not creased or torn. Scarce signature.