Louis-Jules Vigneron ( fr. Louis-Jules Vigneron [1] ; April 10, 1827 , Paris - August 11, 1871 ) - French boxer .
Biography
He was a pupil of a certain Guerino and took part in competitions organized by Michel Lecourt and others. He gained fame when he defeated the “Stubborn” Rambo - a student of the famous coach, Louis Lebouche , who won more than once in boxing championships and was physically strong, but Vigneron was stronger than him. He also defeated Arpen the Terrible, who frantically attacked Louis with extravagant jumps, but to no avail. Vigneron calmly stopped him with a kick in the chest or in the face and four times dropped, dropping Arpen from the site. He climbed back, but again rolled down. After this fight, which took place in 1850, Louis became the champion. He also fought with a certain Mirabeau, a pimp from the Paris suburb of Belleville, who kept the entire suburb in fear for the right to open his own hall there. Before meeting Vigneron, Mirabeau did not know defeats, because he could deliver such strong blows that his fists were called iron. However, he did not succeed in defeating Louis and he gave up exhausting himself, allowing Vigneron to teach French boxing in Belleville.
In 1854, the English boxer Dixon, having heard about the invincible fighter Louis Vigneron, challenged him. He promised to knock out an opponent in less than three minutes, hoping that Louis's punches were much worse than kicks. Dixon did not take into account that before that he was defeated by Rambo, whom Vigneron had already defeated. In the battle, Louis immediately showed his superiority and invincibility, Dixon suffered a complete defeat. One unknown poet wrote about this fight in such a way: “... He attacks in a frenzy, his foot is thrust into the side, then on the forehead, a fast strong leg paralyzes the scope of the experienced fist ...” There were only a few worthy opponents who could resist Louis Vigneron. One of them is the English boxer Cunningham, he could beat his french fighter’s legs with his fists and even knocked down Vigneron four times during the match, but Louis, the English boxer, was unable to knock out. Another rival who was a student of Louis Vigneron since 1861 and a sparing partner, Joseph Charlemont, managed to fight him on equal terms. Louis Vigneron possessed a strength like Hercules or Samson , quick reaction and flexibility. He performed at the circus and at fairs with power tricks (this was one of his hobbies, except boxing).
One of his tricks was called “outstretched arms”, when for five minutes he held two weights on horizontally outstretched arms, each weighing 25 kilograms. He was also called the “gun man” because when he entered the arena, he carried a loaded gun weighing more than 300 kilograms on his shoulders and shot it with a real core, but on August 11, 1871, during the performance, Vigneron stumbled and lost his balance, then the breech of the barrel by force recoil smashed his head.
Notes
- ↑ Le Cimetière du Père Lachaise, par Jules Moiroux (French) . gallica.bnf.fr . Date of appeal February 15, 2018.