History remembers Percy Cove as larger than he was because of the way he lived his life: he took on all challengers, and never backed down from a fight. Even during his ultimate fight with the Germans in WWI. Cove battled till the bitter end and went down swinging.

Canada, like many parts of the world, didn't embrace boxing as quickly as some American states did. At the turn of the century the sweet science still held a certain taboo nature to it. There were exceptions, but overall, many Canadians didn't accept pugilism as a 'legit' profession. Since his family didn't approve of young Percy Chamberlain's choice to become a boxer, he left for Everett, Washington under the alias Percy Cove, so as to not shame his family name with his career. He fought out of the U.S. but always remained a loyal Canuck.

He was known as the 'Human Bed Slat' because of his skeletal like frame, and fought between bantamweight and featherweight throughout most of his career. He was born in Ottawa and attended St. Patrick's high school while learning to box at the O.A.A.C. After moving to America to turn pro, he had a baptism by fire. His first two bouts totaled 37 rounds, a knockout of then 6-0-1 Chris Musson followed by a 20 round decision loss to 6-1-0 Bobby Johnson. In his first seven fights, he had boxed 68 rounds. After the Johnson loss, he went undefeated in his next 10 bouts. He scored 7 knockouts, and avenged his loss to Johnson. In the beginning of 1907, during his 13th bout, he faced the great Jack Britton in New York. It was his first fight outside of Washington, and lost it by decision. But five days later, he was back in the ring with another future hall of famer, 21-1-3 Ad Wolgast, earning an eight round draw. Amazingly he fought two hall of famers in five days. Two days later, he fought a man that had never fought before or after; he was so anonymous that only his last name, ‘Stone’, is known. Percy knocked the man out in 6 rounds, but injured his hand in the process. After that fight, Percy would only win by knockout five more times. He had to best his foes with a lightning jab and good footwork more than his big punch. One day after the 'Stone' fight, he suffered his first stoppage loss.

Percy fought in the era of newspaper decisions and plentiful draws. It wasn't unusual to see a fighter with 20 draws on his record, something almost unheard of nowadays. Newspaper decisions were sports writers’ way of having a consensus winner, since some territories had the no-decision rule as a way of curbing gambling. The only way a fighter could win with the rule enacted was a KO, otherwise a no-decision was declared. Newspaper decisions, though important, were highly biased. Since Percy fought from coast to coast, and no one really knew where he was from, it’s reasonable to assume he was on the short end of a lot of these decisions or draws.

Over the next year he went 5-4-3 with a no-decision in his return bout with Britton. He returned to his homeland for three fights, even moving up in weight to snatch the Canadian Lightweight title. Then his biggest chance came for pugilistic glory: a shot at Monte Attell's World Bantamweight title. Percy said in a newspaper article before the fight that he considered himself the World champion. Percy had to get fights the hard way, never having the backing other fighters of his caliber had. Percy wanted the title, and fought for training expenses to get it, but he was stopped by Attell in the tenth round. This was only the second time he was stopped.

If you think he had peaked and was about to slide down, then think again. After that, he fought 29 more times, losing only three. He had a win and two draws with the former World Bantamweight champ, Jimmy Reagan. He fought a draw with future hall of famer, Battling Nelson. His two fight series with Tommy Clark was legendary: the first one was quoted by the Monroe Monitor as "one of the prettiest gloved contests imaginable". The second, the Snohomish County Tribune said "It was one of the best contests the club ever staged".

By the end of 1914 Cove was considered the Northwest Featherweight Champion. In his last fight on American soil, Percy Cove was knocked out by an opponent that he could have normally beaten. It was apparently the first time he had failed to get up before the 10 count. His mind was elsewhere. WWI had begun, and the call went out for young Canadians to sign up for the cause. Percy was coming home.

His mother had moved to Vancouver by then, and Percy went to see her. Before enlisting in the army, he had one last bout in his native land: a win that delighted his cheering Canadian fans. He then left for his greatest fight: the fight against the Germans. Percy Cove once again became Percy Chamberlain, and fought for six months in the 2nd Canadian machine gun company. Tragically, Canada lost something special on 13th of September, 1916. Percy Cove was killed in action.

The conflicting reports are almost endless. Various news articles on his fights say Percy Cove was from Seattle, or Everett, or Tacoma. Varying reports claimed he was a veteran of over 173 fights, or 177 fights, when only 62 were recorded. Noted for having a good, hard punch, he had a knockout ratio of only 19.35%. It is universally accepted that his height was a freakishly tall 5’11” for his weight. Columnists would write about him towering over opponents, but upon reading his military file, his actual height was 5’8” 1/4. His obituary quotes a regimental surgeon as stating Percy was shot 46 times, and dragged himself forward many yards after receiving enough wounds to kill three men. Through my research, I found Percy was sprayed by gunfire from four German guns on the 11th of September. Percy died on the 13th. Could he have lived two days after being shot 46 times? Was the surgeon embellishing, so struck was he by Percy's courage? It seems everyone saw him as greater than what his stature and record shows. The reason is simply that he was.

He finished his career 31-11-17 with 3 no-contests; captured the Canadian Lightweight title; faced three hall of famers and six world champions; fought for the Bantamweight World title; was the Northwest Featherweight champion and held victories over some of the best fighters of the time in his weight class including Jimmy Reagan, Dennis Kid McFadden, Leo Houck, and Tommy Love. On the 13th of September 1916, our nation lost a hero. Canada's little big man, Percy Cove.

If you wish to contact the author of this article, email Ryan Stead at FightNews Canada