| Continued from Belgium Traditional
Wrestling & Greco-Roman Wrestling -PART 1 |
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| Public interest in wrestling in Paris had gone through
waves of enthusiasm since the end of the Napoleonic wars but by the
beginning of 1898 another temporary hiatus had taken place and the
sport had gone down market again. A number of small theatres and cafés
in Paris were holding regular wrestling contests but the most important
of these lesser establishments was, “la salle Gangloff…..On
désigne ainsi un café-concert, situé rue de la
Gaité à Montparnasse.” (La Salle Gangloff….One
points out a café-concert, situated on the Rue de la Gaité,
in Montparnasse) (Remy Saint-Maurice) |
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| The majority of the clièntele were prosperous
horse and grain merchants of the district, particularly l’Avenue
du Maine. In 1897 the manager, Horace Delattre organised “des
soirées athletique chaque Mercredi.” (athletic evenings
every Wednesday), these were an immediate success and Saint-Maurice
wrote “C’est dans les milieux populaires qu’on
voit le mieux combien ce sport tient au cœur des masses.”
(In this popular atmosphere one can see better how the sport remained
in the heart of the masses.) |
| Into this feverish atmosphere stepped the new sensation
Constant Le Boucher (Lavaux) who had already pinned Félix Bernard
and wrestled a draw with Paul Pons. He was engaged by Delattre and
in his first night in the theatre pinned all of his opponents. The
newspapers became obsessed with him; he seemed invincible and M. De
Lucenski, the very enterprising Director of the newspaper, “Journal
Des Sports” came to the Salle Gangloff to see what was
happening. He saw the astonishing affluence of the spectators who
were so passionately attracted to the wrestling and thought of how
to take this sport to all of Paris. |
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The prospect of a World Championship was now in the
air as a practical project. Paul Pons and Wladislaus Pytlasinski (1863/1938?)
of Poland had wrestled a draw in Russia, Gambier and Sabés
of Bordeaux, the Austrian Wetasa and above all the new sensation Constant
Le Boucher were all in Paris. De Lucenski put the proposal to the
Directors of the Casino de Paris, MM. Borney and Després who
enthusiastically agreed to the project. At last the sport first developed
among the chicanery always present in the circus or fairgrounds of
Europe was to be properly marketed and presented to the world stage.
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| In 1896 the amateur Olympic competition in Athens had
attracted only five competitors of a poor standard from four countries,
all the best wrestlers were professional. Then a first World Championship
tournament had been held in Brussels in 1897, and in August 1898 a
very successful European Championship tournament had been held in
Vienna as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Austro-Hungarian
Emperor Franz-Joseph I. Now the pick of the European strongmen, the
celebrities of circus and theatre would compete for the Championship
of the World, which was to be backed by a major sporting journal.
Greco-Roman wrestling was about to reach the zenith of its career
and until the First World War began it was the major sporting and
entertainment interest in every European city. |
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| The championship was held in November 1898; there were
thirty competitors and eventually Paul Pons and Pytlasinski met in
the final. After being caught in a vigorous Head-in-chancery or headlock
“une cravate un peu brusque” Pytlasinski complained of
spitting blood and conceded defeat (which seems at this distance to
be a trivial reason for a tough professional to withdraw when there
is a lot of money at stake.) Maurice Gambier placed third, Watesa
placed fourth and the newspapers stated that never before had such
crowds been seen in the Rue de Clichy. |
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The magazine, Le Vélo immediately organised another
tournament, “Le Grand Prix de la Ville de Paris” in the
Folies-Bergère. Constant le Boucher and Fernand Sabés
of Bordeaux, who had withdrawn from the championship entered. Pytlasinski,
Laurent le Beaucairois, Aimable de la Calmette, the newly arrived
Turks, Cour Derreli or more correctly, Kurt Derelli Mehmet Pehlivan
(1864/1939) and Kartanji plus many lesser lights joined them. Pytlasinski
won the first prize of 3,000 Francs and Constant le Boucher placed
second. These tournaments were not like modern events, which last
two or three days and in all there had been two months of continuous
high level wrestling in Paris. |
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In the 1899 World Championship also in Paris, Constant le Boucher
placed third behind Kara Ahmed (1870/1902) of Turkey and Laurent le
Beaucairois (born 1867) of France. He was lighter than many of his
opponents in the open or heavyweight categories and in the 1900 World
Championship he won the ‘Poids legers’ (lightweight) category
and placed second in the heavyweight championship to Laurent le Beaucairois. |
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| Continued on Belgium Traditional
Wrestling & Greco-Roman Wrestling -PART 3 |
