WILLIE "KO" BRENNAN
MIDDLEWEIGHT/Buffalo, New York
1910-1920

In the first few decades of the twentieth century, baseball and boxing were by far the most popular sports in America. Perhaps the best fighter in Buffalo during the years of 1910-1920 was a man by the name of William M. Brenner, who fought under the name of Willie (KO) Brennan, so as to draw on the Irish-American's love for boxing.

A list of Brennan's opponents during this period reads like a boxing Who's Who. He traded punches with eight world champions, and many top contenders of his day. He fought Harry Greb, who many consider the greatest middleweight of all time, 3 times in no-decision bouts, two of which were in a 10 day span in 1916. Greb later remarked that "those fights with that Dutchman (Brennan) were some of the toughest I've had." Brennan's best fighting weight was 154, but he made 148 ringside for Ted (Kid) Lewis, Jack Britton, Jimmy Duffy, and Kid Curley.

As youngmen, Brennan and Herman Smith went to Coney Island in 1909, where they waited on tables, and fought whenever they could get bouts. Many of these fights were unrecorded, but Brennan scored 31 knockouts in his first 40 fights, and thus got his nickname. By 1912, Kayo was fighting top contenders such as Mike Gibbons and George Chip. Brennan's fight with Chip was considered one of the

best bouts ever witnessed in Buffalo, as they went at each other like two wildcats for 10 rounds. Less than
a year later, Chip knocked out Frankie Klaus to win the world middleweight title.

No one knows for sure how many professional fights Willie had, but it had to be well over 175 bouts, not counting those he had in the Service. His record in 1914 shows that he fought a "suicide" schedule of 6 bouts in 8 nights, in 6 different cities. Fighting in Philadelphia, Buffalo, and Columbus, Brennan then took the train back to Buffalo for the weekend, and then shoved off for Windsor, Ontario, Cincinnati, and Joplin, Missouri where he fought on 3 successive nights.

K.O. Brennan's fighting career was interrupted by World War I, and he served in the Army overseas for 21/2years in 1917-1919. He came back to resume boxingin 1920, but at age 32, he only fought a few more times. He claimed he had over 300 fights and was never knocked down.

After Brennan retired from the ring, he refereed wrestling matches, and operated taverns bearing his name, first at Broadway and Jefferson Ave., and later at Jefferson and East Ferry St. He loved hunting and fishing, and at one time belonged to 6 different clubs. Kayo Brennan died in 1975 at age 87.

The Buffalo Veteran Boxers Association is proud to induct Willie (KO) Brennan in its Hall of Fame.