TWO-WEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION Katie Taylor and her manager Brian Peters have unveiled a headstone for Tom Molineaux, the African-American heavyweight boxing great who was one of his country’s first major sporting stars but died penniless in Galway in 1818.
Born into slavery in the US State of Virginia in 1784 per most accounts, Molineaux is believed to have ‘fought his way to freedom’ before emigrating to Europe at the age of 25 in search of prizefighting money. He is widely regarded as one of the best bareknuckle boxers of all time.
Upon the conclusion of his boxing career, Molineaux toured the UK and Ireland showcasing his skills in exhibition bouts. Galway would be his final landing spot: Molineaux reportedly suffered from tuberculosis and following a stint in debtors prison, became increasingly dependent on alcohol.
He is said to have died in the bandroom of the 77th Regiment at Shambles Barracks in Galway city on 4 August 1818. The drummers from the regiment had tended to Molineaux before his death and paid for his burial in an unmarked grave in St James’ Cemetery in Mervue.
World champion Katie Taylor has unveiled a headstone in Galway to honour the unmarked grave of an African-American heavyweight fighter, Tom Molineaux, who escaped slavery to become a world-class boxer before dying sick and destitute in Galway | Read more: https://t.co/RZgSewXFTr pic.twitter.com/vtnGshwvDI
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) December 18, 2019
Just over 200 years later, Katie Taylor was on hand to unveil a headstone in Molineaux’s honour, the culmination of a project funded by her manager, Peters, after he attended an exhibition in Galway City Museum to mark Molineaux’s 200th anniversary last year.
Molineaux is a direct ancestor of rap music star LL Cool J, who discovered as much when he had his lineage explored on a US TV show called Finding Your Roots in 2016.
He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame — the highest honour that can be bestowed upon a boxer — in 1997.
