Raoul le Boucher

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Raoul le Boucher (1904)

Raoul le Boucher , actually Raoul Musson , (born January 15, 1883 in Châtillon-sur-Loire , † February 13, 1907 in Nice ) was a French wrestler .

biography

Raoul Musson was sent to Paris at an early age by his parents to do an apprenticeship in a slaughterhouse that he would later take over. There he came into contact with colleagues who did weight training and his talent for wrestling was discovered. At the age of 13 he became a student of Paul Pons , the first world champion wrestler in Greco-Roman style in 1898. After defeating all amateurs , he turned professional and made his debut as such at the age of 16. He quickly developed into one of the most successful wrestlers in France. He was deferred from military service because of “physical defects”.

Musson's traditional body measurements were 130 kilograms and 1.86 meters tall. Therefore, he went straight to the heavyweight class . His first big fight took place at the World Championships in Paris in 1899, which were held in two weight classes, but in which Raoul could not prevail. Le Boucher ( the butcher ) was chosen as the “battle name” .

In 1901 Raoul le Boucher had his breakthrough. He finished third in three top-class tournaments, and then played fights abroad. At the “Moscow Championships” he won against top wrestlers like Michael Hitzler and Gabriel Lasartesse . At the World Championships in the same year he was fourth at the Casino de Paris . His career then continued successfully: in 1903 he played the World Cup final with the Danish Jess Pedersen , again in Paris, but lost after two hours and three minutes. Repeatedly he fought against his teacher Pons, to whom he was mostly defeated. In July 1904 he traveled to Buenos Aires with Paul Pons, Simon Antonitsch , Leon Dumont and Anastace Anglio to take part in competitions there; at tournaments in Europe he achieved further good placements. He also worked as a cyclist: he stepped on 1 February 1903 the velodrome of Nice in a match against the runner Botta and was also "despite its 128 kg" a "good opportunity runner". In February 1906 he resigned as a wrestler, "temporarily" as it was called.

During his short career, Raoul le Boucher had apparently earned very well. According to the Wiener Neuigkeits-Welt-Blatt, he had married a rich American woman. On November 1, 1906, the Hamburg tourist paper read: “The well-known French wrestler Raoul le Boucher has retired for the time being and has bought a veritable castle from Maisons-Laffitte that is enclosed by a park several kilometers in length.” Despite his announcement With his resignation, Raoul challenged the world champion Iwan Poddubny to a fight, but it never came back.

In the winter of 1906/07, Raoul le Boucher stayed for several months on the Côte d'Azur , where he stayed in a hotel in Cap-d'Ail . Together with his brother-in-law, he went on many excursions in an open automobile and thus became a well-known figure in Nice and the surrounding area. In doing so, he contracted a severe flu; in a maddened fever, he always wanted to get up and fight the next wrestling match. His mother and two sisters, informed by telegram , arrived immediately. It took five strong men to carry him into a car that took him to a hospital. On February 13, 1907 ( Mardi Gras ) he died at the age of 24 in Nice "in the prime of his years of a malicious evil". The news world sheet reported that the cause of death was meningitis . He was buried in Maisons-Laffitte. In 1911 the automobile of the "so famous wrestler" was offered for sale in Paris.

literature

  • Professeur Desbonnet: Les Rois de la Lutte. Anecdotes et Récits sur la Lutte depuis les temap les plus reculés jusqu'a nos jours . Berger-Levrault & Cie / Librairie Athlétique, Paris 1910.

Web links

Commons : Raoul le Boucher  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Desbonnet, Les Rois de la Lutte , p. 114.
  2. ^ Championnat du Monde de Lutte 1898. In: Quentin-Lutte-Olympique. Retrieved April 3, 2017 (French).
  3. ↑ a b c d e biographies - Raoul le Boucher. In: wwf4ever.de. Retrieved April 3, 2017 .
  4. ↑ a b c (news) Welt Blatt, 1907-02-15, page 11. In: Austrian National Library. February 15, 1907, Retrieved April 4, 2017 .
  5. ↑ “Le Boucher has often been chosen as an epithet. There was a French wrestler by the name of Nicolas le Boucher who died the year Raoul was born. At the same time as Raoul, a wrestler named Constant le Boucher was fighting in the lightweight. "
  6. ^ New Wiener Tagblatt (daily edition), 1901-12-23, page 9. In: Austrian National Library. December 23, 1901, Retrieved April 4, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Illustrirte Sport Zeitung, 1903-03-01, page 6. In: Austrian National Library. March 1, 1903, Retrieved April 4, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Salzburger Volksblatt: independent. Daily newspaper f. City u. Land Salzburg, 1906-11-02, page 5. In: Austrian National Library. November 2, 1906, Retrieved April 4, 2017 .
  9. ↑ a b Desbonnet, Les Rois de la Lutte , p. 116.
  10. ↑ a b Illustrated (Austrian) Sportblatt, 1911-01-28, page 10. In: Austrian National Library. January 28, 1911. Retrieved April 4, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Le Boucher, Raoul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Musson, Raoul (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French wrestler
DATE OF BIRTH January 15, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Châtillon-sur-Loire
DATE OF DEATH February 13, 1907
Place of death Nice