No. 196 Two flyweights landed the knockout punch at the same instant

On September 5, 1923, a flyweight bout in San Antonio ended with both boxers knocked out at the same instant. Gene La Rue, the Canadian flyweight champion, and Kid Pancho, the claimant of the Southern flyweight title, landed their finishing punches together. 1

The fight took place at the open-air Soledad Roof in San Antonio, where a drizzling rain fell around the ring. La Rue and Pancho were scheduled to box 12 rounds, with title claims on both sides giving the strange setting a serious competitive frame. 23

Rain already made the open-air bout an awkward contest. The fourth round made it a piece of boxing folklore.

In the fourth round, La Rue landed a left hand on Pancho's jaw. At the same instant, Pancho landed a right hand on La Rue's chin. The New York Times reported that both men fell face down and both were counted out. 2

The exchange was symmetrical in a way boxing almost never permits. One punch usually ends the contest while the other fighter remains standing, even if only long enough to hear the referee's count. In San Antonio, each fighter supplied the decisive punch and absorbed the other fighter's decisive punch in the same instant.

BoxRec lists the bout as a no contest and preserves the same punch description: La Rue's left reached the jaw as Pancho's right reached the chin. 3

A normal knockout gives the surviving fighter a result. This one gave the ring two fallen fighters, two completed counts, and no winner to raise a hand. The period report called the outcome a double knockout; the bout record treats it as a no contest. 23

That is the oddity worth remembering on September 5: two flyweights reached the same ending through opposite punches. The referee did not have to choose which blow mattered more. Both blows mattered, and the bout ended with neither boxer left standing.