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Ace Hudkins- Boxer, The Nebraska Wildcat (August 30, 1905 – April 8, 1973)

Intro

Ace Hudkins was a colorful and well-known American boxer of the 1920’s. He was known for his ferocious style and for never being knocked out during his career. His boxing nickname was “The Nebraska Wildcat.”

Early Life

Ace Hudkins was born in Valparaiso, Nebraska on August 30, 1905. Ace had seven brothers and one sister. His brothers Clyde and Art would train and manage his boxing career, and his brother Ode would later run the office of the Hudkins Brothers Stables. A Lincoln Evening Journal article from 1926 claims, “Ace was a cocky 14 year old working in a pool hall, and mouthing off, when local boxer Harold Jolsmer teased him saying, ‘I wish you were a fighter so I could tame you with a few socks on the jaw.’ The red-head spouted back, ‘Maybe I don’t need to be a fighter to fix you!’”. With that challenge, Ace trained for two weeks and came back to beat Jolsmer.

Career

Ace’s boxing record is unique as he was never knocked out during his career. It is also unique because Ace fought in different weight classes, ranging from lightweight to light-heavyweight. Most of his success was out west at the Olympic Auditorium. During his career Charles Lindbergh came to see him, as did the many movie star fight fans in Hollywood in the 1920s. He also sparred with screen legend Rudolph Valentino. His boxing contemporaries were Jack Dempsey, Sergeant Sammy Baker, Ruby Goldstein, Joe Dundee and Mickey Walker.

Ruby Goldstein

On June 25, 1926, Ace fought Ruby Goldstein at Coney Island Stadium in Brooklyn, New York. To the surprise of many east coast fight fans who knew little about Ace, Ace knocked out the favored Goldstein in the fourth round.

Sergeant Sammy Baker

Ace had two notable bouts with Sammy Baker. The first was on June 16, 1927. Ace was so excited to box in front of the aeronautic hero Charles Lindbergh, who was attending and was a friend from his Nebraska days, that he wanted to present him with a gift. It was the only time Ace would lose with a TKO. After the fight, Ace left to attend his injuries, and had his gift presented by someone else. It was a golden boxing glove charm with the inscription, “From the Ace of the ring, to the ace of the air.” The second Sammy Baker fight was quite different. On July 25, 1927, Ace fought like a wildcat and beat Baker in what was called, “The Bloodiest Fight Ever Seen.”

Mickey Walker and a Controversial Ruling

Ace also had two notable bouts with Mickey Walker. The first fight was on June 21, 1928 and it was for the Middleweight Championship of the World. A record-breaking audience of 30,000 watched as Walker and Hudkins battled in the rain. In the end, the ruling was given to Walker. The audience booed and screamed. People who were sitting close to the ring sided with Hudkins. The second fight Ace had with Walker was uneventful, except for the publicity that it generated beforehand. Fight fans wanted a re-match. On October 29, 1929 Ace fought Walker and lost by points.

Life After Boxing

After retiring from the ring, Ace had run-ins with law enforcement. He was arrested for drunk driving numerous times, and shot during a bar fight. Ace’s friend Darryl F. Zanuck suggested that Ace get into the movie business.

Hudkins Ranch

Ace, Clyde, Art, and later Ode ran the Hudkins Stables, or “The Ranch” as it was called. They provided horses, wranglers, stuntmen, and carriages for the movies and television. They were the ones to sell Trigger to Roy Rogers. They worked on movies with John Wayne, James Cagney and many more.

Boxing Record

Ace won 64 fights, 25 of these were won by knock out. Ace was never knocked out, but he did lose 16 fights, 1 by a TKO. (A technical knockout is defined by Oxford Dictionary as, “the ending of a fight by the referee on the grounds of one contestant's inability to continue, the opponent being declared the winner.”) 12 of Ace’s fights were draws on account of points. For more information on Ace’s boxing career, please see his record at Boxrec.com.

Published Works

Kristine Sader, Ace Hudkins: Boxing with The Nebraska Wildcat USA, Kindle Direct Publishing, 2018 ISBN: 978-1-7328529-0-7