In 1936, Battle Mountain folks enthusiastically anticipated a new feature in the usual schedule for the annual Fourth of July celebration. Highlighting the two-day event would be a major boxing tournament.
Fire Chief F.E. Williams told the local newspaper, "I do not know too much about prize fighting, but I will be in the front row cheering." Rene Lemaire could not wait to be "ringside shouting," and Joe Horton promised that the match was "worth seeing."
Their excitement centered on Henry Berry, a young black man who grew up in the town and was widely known as the "Joe Louis of Battle Mountain." An impressive amateur boxer, Berry did not disappoint, knocking out Mill Creek's Jimmy DoeDoe in the fifth round. Two months later, Berry scored a technical knockout over Nevada's amateur featherweight champion. Battle Mountain fight fans were jubilant.
Henry Littleton Berry was born in 1910 in Tenabo where his father, Henry Berry, Sr., was the mine's assayer, an unusual occupation for a black man in Nevada at that time. Henry and Evelyn Berry soon moved their large family to Battle Mountain.
According to the 1920 census, the Berry family lived on North First Street next to Selina Dusang whose home still stands on the northwest corner of North First and Reese. Henry Sr. worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Young Henry and three of his six older sisters attended Battle Mountain Grammar School. When the railroad attempted to fire the senior Berry before he could collect his retirement, townspeople rallied to his defense and saved his job. Retired in 1937, Henry Sr. and Evelyn lived out their lives in Battle Mountain.
Young Henry Berry began his amateur boxing career after lettering in high school basketball and track. A 1931 local fundraiser featured Berry and Joe Horton in a three-round match. Horton delivered some "straight punches to Berry's berry," but no winner was declared.
With Lander County District Attorney Howard E. Browne launching into "backhand contortions and hand springs" between matches, this charity tournament was pure entertainment.
Berry soon headlined more serious fight cards in nearby towns. At a 1935 Winnemucca tournament, his "clever style of boxing and a wicked right" defeated his opponent amidst the cheers of a large Battle Mountain crowd. Berry won several more fights during the next few years. By 1940, he had moved to Winnemucca, his wife's hometown, where he retired from boxing.
The story of Henry Littleton Berry is presented in honor of Black History Month, which is celebrated every February, and will also be included in the Battle Mountain history book commissioned by the Battle Mountain Cookhouse Museum.[[In-content Ad]]
