“Professor” Walter Watson (1852-1912) was a charter member of The Lambs, elected in 1877. He was an English bare knuckle heavyweight boxer who fought between 1874 and 1884.
He was born in England about 1852 and immigrated to New York. Boxing was outlawed in most states at that time.
Among his opponents were W. C. McClellan and Mike Donovan. Watson went on to become an instructor of boxing of the London Amateur Boxing Association and the Olympic Athletic Club in San Francisco around 1888. It was there that he trained ‘Gentleman’ Jim Corbett, later to become the heavyweight champion in the 1890s. Corbett credited Watson for training him. Corbett, who was 16 years old when he met Watson, was told that if he would devote his whole time to boxing in three months, Corbett could lick anybody in the United States. It was from Watson that Corbett received the tutoring that brought out the outstanding skills that astounded followers of the ring.
Watson was for years recognized on the West Coast as one of the best boxers who ever drew on a glove. He was looked upon as the peer of champions, such as Mike Donovan, Professor Donaldson, and others of his day. When he retired from the Olympic Club he was succeeded by Eugene Van Coury, one of his pupils. Watson not only developed Corbett, but also Eddie Toy, Jack Cathcart, Patsy Duffy, Joe Choynski, Joe McAuliffe, and a host of others.
Watson also wrote about boxing for the San Francisco Call, was a boxing referee, and coach. In 1904 he married Margarette “Josie” Elitch of San Jose, and they had two children.
By 1905, the family was in New York and he worked for Columbia University as a boxing instructor. Walter Watson died in a New York hotel on July 9, 1912. He was 60 years old. Brooklyn boxing writer Bert Yoell wrote he was “probably one of the first to recognize that science could overcome brute strength in the ring. He was universally popular, and his death will be regretted deeply by all who knew him.” He is interred in the Cemetery of the Evergreens, Brooklyn
–Research by Shepherd Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, 2025.