Tommy Burns
- Born
- 1881
- Died
- 1955
- Nationality
- Canada
- Career
- 1900–1920
The shortest heavyweight champion who travelled the world defending his title, then lost it to Jack Johnson.
Titles & Honours
- World Heavyweight Champion (1906–1908)
Career Timeline
1900–1920- Milestone
First recorded professional bout
vs Fred Thornton · W TKO
- Milestone
25th recorded win
vs Joe Wardinski · KO. Newspaper decisions excluded.
- Title history
Title reign begins
World Heavyweight Champion (1906–1908). Year from profile title history; exact title-winning bout not identified.
- Signature fight
vs Marvin Hart
W PTS · Pacific Athletic Club, Los Angeles, California, U.S.. Archive selection: one of the first three wins over distinct fighters profiled here, not an expert-selected signature fight.
- Signature fight
vs Philadelphia Jack O'Brien
W PTS · Naud Junction Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S.. Archive selection: one of the first three wins over distinct fighters profiled here, not an expert-selected signature fight.
- Milestone
Latest recorded bout
vs Joe Beckett · L RTD. Not necessarily the retirement date.
Derived from the current archive and profile honours. Title-reign years are not exact bout dates; title claims are not independently verified. Signature fights use existing profile selections, or clearly labelled wins over other archived fighters when no selections exist. Year-only dates retain their original precision.
Photo Archive
1 archival photographs under their original licences.
Fight-by-Fight Record
| Date | Result | Opponent | Method | Round | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1902-01-16 | W | Fred Thornton | TKO | 5 | Handloser Hall, Delray, Michigan , U.S. |
| 1902-02-05 | W | Billy Walsh | TKO | 5 | Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit , Michigan, U.S. |
| 1902-03-03 | W | Harry Peppers | RTD | 2 | Weyler's Hall, Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| 1902-03-05 | W | Archie Steele | DQ | 2 | Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| 1902-04-04 | W | Billy Walsh | PTS | 6 | Handloser Hall, Delray, Michigan, U.S. |
| 1902-04-18 | W | Ed Sholtreau | TKO | 1 | Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| 1902-05-16 | W | Ed Sholtreau | PTS | 10 | Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| 1902-06-27 | W | Dick Smith | KO | 2 | Nelson's Opera House, Mount Clemens , Michigan, U.S. |
| 1902-07-08 | W | Dick Smith | PTS | 10 | Mount Clemens, Michigan, U.S. |
| 1902-09-19 | W | Jack O'Donnell | KO | 11 | Butler, Indiana , U.S. |
| 1902-11-06 | W | Reddy Phillips | TKO | 9 | Lansing , Michigan, U.S. |
| 1902-12-26 | W | Tom McCune | KO | 7 | Light Guard Armory , Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| 1903-01-16 | L | Mike Schreck | PTS | 10 | Light Guard Armory, Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| 1903-02-13 | W | Jim O'Brien | PTS | 10 | Handloser Hall, Delray, Michigan, U.S. |
| 1903-03-25 | W | Dick Smith | KO | 3 | Delray Athletic Club, Delray, Michigan, U.S. |
| 1903-03-25 | W | Reddy Phillips | DQ | 2 | Delray Athletic Club, Delray, Michigan, U.S. |
| 1903-04-18 | W | Earl Thompson | KO | 3 | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| 1903-09-25 | W | Jim Duggan | KO | 9 | Amphidrome , Houghton , Michigan, U.S. |
| 1903-10-12 | W | Jack Hammond | KO | 3 | Soo Opera House, Sault Ste. Marie , Michigan, U.S. |
| 1903-10-24 | D | Billy Moore | PTS | 10 | Amphidrome, Houghton, Michigan, U.S. |
| 1903-11-08 | W | Jack Butler | KO | 2 | Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, U.S. |
| 1903-11-25 | W | Jack O'Donnell | KO | 11 | Evanston, Illinois , U.S. |
| 1903-12-31 | W | Tom McCune | PTS | 10 | Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| 1904-01-28 | W | Ben O'Grady | KO | 3 | Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| 1904-02-26 | W | George Shrosbree | KO | 5 | Battery D Armory, Chicago , Illinois, U.S. |
| 1904-02-27 | D | Mike Schreck | PTS | 6 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin , U.S. |
| 1904-03-18 | D | Tony Caponi | PTS | 6 | Battery D Armory, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| 1904-04-09 | W | Tony Caponi | PTS | 6 | Chicago Athletic Association, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| 1904-07-01 | W | Joe Wardinski | KO | 1 | Salt Lake City, Utah , U.S. |
| 1904-07-09 | W | Hans Erickson | KO | 3 | Kemmerer, Wyoming , U.S. |
| 1904-08-19 | W | Cyclone Kelly | KO | 4 | Germania Hall, Tacoma, Washington , U.S. |
| 1904-09-16 | D | Billy Woods | PTS | 15 | Seattle Theater, Seattle , Washington, U.S. |
| 1904-10-07 | L | Philadelphia Jack O'Brien | NWS | 6 | Panorama Building, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| 1905-01-31 | W | Joe Schildt | KO | 6 | Ballard , Seattle, Washington U.S. |
| 1905-03-07 | D | Jack Twin Sullivan | PTS | 20 | Tacoma Athletic Club, Tacoma, Washington U.S. |
| 1905-05-02 | W | Dave Barry | PTS | 20 | Germania Hall, Tacoma, Washington, U.S. |
| 1905-06-07 | D | Hugo Kelly | PTS | 10 | Light Guard Armory, Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| 1905-07-28 | D | Hugo Kelly | PTS | 20 | Light Guard Armory, Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| 1905-08-31 | W | Dave Barry | TKO | 20 | Woodward's Pavilion , San Francisco, California , U.S. |
| 1905-10-17 | L | Jack Twin Sullivan | PTS | 20 | Pacific Athletic Club, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| 1906-02-23 | W | Marvin Hart | PTS | 20 | Pacific Athletic Club, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| 1906-03-28 | W | James J Walker | KO | 1 | National Athletic Club, San Diego, California, U.S. |
| 1906-03-28 | W | Jim O'Brien | KO | 1 | National Athletic Club, San Diego , California, U.S. |
| 1906-10-02 | W | Fireman Jim Flynn | KO | 15 | Naud Junction Pavilion , Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| 1906-11-28 | D | Philadelphia Jack O'Brien | PTS | 20 | Naud Junction Pavilion , Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| 1907-05-08 | W | Philadelphia Jack O'Brien | PTS | 20 | Naud Junction Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| 1907-07-04 | W | Bill Squires | KO | 1 | Mission Street Arena, Colma , California, U.S. |
| 1907-12-02 | W | Gunner Moir | KO | 10 | National Sporting Club , London , England |
| 1908-02-10 | W | Jack Palmer | KO | 4 | Wonderland London, England |
| 1908-03-17 | W | Jem Roche | KO | 1 | Theatre Royal, Dublin , Ireland |
| 1908-04-18 | W | Jewey Smith | KO | 5 | Neuilly Bowling Palace, Paris , France |
| 1908-06-13 | W | Bill Squires | KO | 5 | Neuilly Bowling Palace, Paris, France |
| 1908-08-24 | W | Bill Squires | KO | 13 | Sydney Stadium , Sydney , Australia |
| 1908-09-03 | W | Bill Lang | KO | 6 | West Melbourne Stadium , Melbourne , Australia |
| 1908-12-26 | L | Jack Johnson | PTS | 14 | Sydney Stadium, Sydney, Australia |
| 1910-04-11 | W | Bill Lang | PTS | 20 | Sydney Stadium, Sydney, Australia |
| 1912-08-08 | W | Bill Rickard | TKO | 6 | Saskatchewan , Canada |
| 1913-04-02 | D | Arthur Pelkey | NWS | 6 | Manchester Arena, Calgary , Canada |
| 1914-01-26 | W | Battling Brandt | KO | 4 | Taft , California, U.S. |
| 1918-09-19 | W | Bob Bracken | KO | 4 | Prince Rupert, British Columbia , Canada |
| 1920-07-16 | L | Joe Beckett | RTD | 7 | Prince Rupert, British Columbia , Canada |
Showing 61 of 61 recorded fights · last updated 2026-10-15. Imported record tables are not independently verified and may be incomplete. Early-era logs include newspaper decisions (NWS), which are not counted in the official totals above.
Record notes
Fight record last retrieved: 2026-10-11. Title histories remain subject to archival review.
Historical-era totals differ between record-keeping conventions (newspaper decisions, exhibitions).
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