"In This Corner" (Garth Allen)

[Jim Eshelman]

[From the April 1958 American Astrology by Garth Allen]

Saying that he had noticed my reference to Nat Fleisher's Ring Record Book and Boxing Encyclopedia, a Mr. W.F. of Los Angeles wrote in a barbed inquiry as to why we were "afraid" - that's what the man said - to publish a statistical tally of the Sun's zodiacal distribution at the births of professional prizefighters. "It seems to me," he went on, "that you wouldn't let an opportunity like that go by. With all those birthdates of boxers at your disposal, perhaps you already tabulated them and found they didn't support your sidereal zodiac and you just keep mum about it?"

After further insinuation in this same vein, my teaser laid an interesting proposition on the line: "I have always kept an open mind about the sidereal zodiac. I would be satisfied that there is something to it if you could prove that there are more boxers born under Aries and Scorpio than under Taurus and Libra. Scorpio vs. Libra would be the real test, I believe, because Scorpio is the fighting sign and Libra is the peace-loving sign. I am aware that Joe Louis is Taurus in the Tropical and Aries in the sidereal, but one swallow does not make a summer and I think Joe Louis's stolidness and lack of expression are more fitting to the fixed Taurus. Let us see some real statistics, Mr. Allen, or are you afraid?"

Thy wish, W.F., is my command. Yes, I've had Fleisher's volume for some time and have long planned on the study you suggest. To be truthful about it, at first I was a little fearful that the figures would not stack up as neatly pro-Mars and anti-Venus as you demand, for two reasons, one mythological and the other psychological. The mythological reason is the traditional allocation of the sport of fisticuffs to Gemini, not only because Gemini is commonly associated with the hands, but because Pollux, of the fraternal team of Castor and Pollux, is the god and originator of boxing, as per the myth of the Twins. Then again, knowing that ack Dempsey is sidereal Gemini, I couldn't help thinking that Gemini would automatically stand out in the statistics at the expense of W.F.'s condition regarding the Mars-patronized constellations.

The psychological reason stemmed from the fact that sidereal Taurus natives have a penchant for activities and careers rooted in body-consciousness. The wholesomely-balanced, uninhibited Taurean takes an instinctive pleasure in display of skin - loves swimming and lolling nude or nearly nude in warm weather, prefers form-fitting clothing to drapelike garb, and cottons to anything and everything where the body, both its form and function, is the center of attraction. Of all the competitive sports, boxing is the most body-centered and body-displaying.

I have known several youths who loved to box, but gave it up because they couldn't abide being so nearly undressed before a throng of fully-clothed spectators. They were not Venus types. Then I also knew a Taurean young man who boxed his way to a local championship; he seemed to revel in being "on stage," in being seen and appreciated as a physical specimen. So I have long been under the impression that boxing would have a pretty good showing under the heading of sidereal Taurus, especially because Gene Tunney is a Taurean. And this impression gave me qualms when W.F. hurled his challenge. If Taurus stood out more than Aries, it would look like a home run for the tropical zodiac and explaining the psychological basis for it - good astrology though it might be - could be like grabbing for straws in the way of excuses.

[Jim Eshelman]

As things turned out, I had nothing to worry about, which my readers and W.F. can see for themselves. The table herewith shows the individual degree frequencies of the Sun's placement at Greenwich noon for every boxer in the Boxing Encyclopedia whose birthdate was given, a total of 1,113 men in all. [Large table of 360 degree totals.] The framework here is entirely tropical and the degrees are used as spaces and not points. That is, the degree called 1° is the space between 0°00' and 0°59' of each sign, and so on. The table that everybody is interested in, though, is the following tally of the actual numbers born under the twelve signs and the twelve constellations:

NATAL SUNS OF 1,113 PUGILISTS

Code: Select all

Division	Tropical	Sidereal
Aries		97		96
Taurus 		102		97
Gemini		96		102
Cancer		94		86
Leo		86		76
Virgo		76		100
Libra		106		74
Scorpio		72		90
Sagittarius	96		97
Capricorn	92		96
Aquarius	106		96
Pisces		90		104

The three highest in the tropical series are Aquarius, Libra, and Taurus. Hey, what's Libra doing in there? the lowest is Sco.. is Scorpio? And by a statistically significant ratio, too. In fact, the only "critical ratio" that is scientifically significant in the whole shebang of both zodiacs is this shortage of fighters born under tropical Scorpio.

[Jim Eshelman]

It doesn't take much gray matter to see that something is terribly wrong here, and to appreciate the utter failure of the tropical system in this distribution alone. Libra one of the leaders and Scorpio the scarcest of the lot! Again we see that whenever an actual test is conducted, the sidereal comes out ahead when the ballots are counted. In the sidereal division of the ecliptic, the lowest rating is Libra, in truth the least violence-prone of the zodiacal groups. Runner-up for lowest score is Leo, which sidereally is held to be a mild-mannered constellation or, as Manilius himself wrote it, "But plain and honest, all their thoughts sincere; pure as the sun, and like the water clear." Evidently the crudity of the boxing game is not attractive to Leonians. Also evidently, most astrological textbooks and articles need rewriting where Scorpio characteristics are concerned. And all the other "signs," for that matter.

Of all the signs, Scorpio is perennially caricatured as "the scrapper of the zodiac," the born fighter, of unparalleled courage to the point of scorning pain if a prize or cause is at stake, and on and on with similar stock phrases. One would suppose that, if astrology as taught is true, the sign Scorpio would be prominently represented ion the fighting profession. But it doesn't even approach its rightful share, its "average" expectancy. On the other hand, its celestial neighbor Libra is right in there punching.

Now let's not hear any talk that the "natural 7th sign" accords with the "natural 7th house," and the 7th is the house of war; and war is fighting, so Libra is a natural fighting sign, ad nauseum. What happened to "partnership, matrimony, union?" The whole structure of astrological doctrine and history is flatly opposed to such a modernly-evolved scheme to make discrepancies otherwise make sense. This house-sign swapping is of recent vintage and in astrology's vast literature there is not one shred of justification for it. Either the zodiacal divisions stand as represented or they don't. Are fighters essentially Martian or Venusian? The question is that simple.

[Jim Eshelman]

With mixed emotions I point with pride, born of suspicions confirmed, to sidereal Gemini's showing. In case after case we find that the ancient myths contain literal truths. Pollux, the god of boxing, is one of the constellated Twins. It may or may not mean anything that of the total 102 Geminian pugilists, 59 were born with the Sun in the last half of the constellation, against 43 in the first half - enough of a difference to warrant investigation. As for Virgo's high frequency, the ancient harping on the theme that Virgo is the "bravest" of the constellations (vide both Fagan and Dr. Neugebauer) seems to settle the issue. Physical agility and fearlessness are the two traits ascribed most often to Mercurian types in astrology's source materials.

Highest number of boxers in the sidereal sequence are Pisceans, not so deep a mystery as one might suppose upon realization that the sidereal concept of Pisces is a far cry from the clammy-handed, soulful-eyed stereotypes in tropical astrology. Pisces can be a real devil, hence its consignment to the pitchfork-wielding Neptune. The legend of imps and demons is directly connected with Neptune-Pisces symbolism. In Manilius' famous old poem, which we often find quotable, war is mentioned only three times, one of which is in his Pisces section: "To fight at sea, to stain the waves with blood, whilst war lies floating on the unstable flood." In fact, it is only under Pisces that he mentions bloodletting in battle, which is certainly provocative, because his other references to war speak rather of the excitement, clangor, and plunder. In any case, the sideral distribution makes astrological sense, whereas the tropical distribution contradicts "established" tropical theory. Par for the course, or what?

[Jim Eshelman]

Having "satisfied" our California friend as requested, as one smartypants to another, let us now take this chance to illustrate the practical value and vitality of such statistics to learn something useful. Too often we are content to note the highs and lows in a series and let it go at that, and thereby usually miss much that the figures teach us if we only go a few steps further in analysis. For example, in the table of degree frequencies, observe that the greatest clustering of births occurred with the Sun between 19° and 25° of Tropical Aquarius. When we find such a concentration (twice the normally expected number), it is always well to check for any possible fixed-star influence. In this case we find something even more, for this flurry of births of prizefighters centers on the 27th and 28th degrees of sidereal Capricorn, which you should automatically recognize as the implicit "throne of Mars" - the ancient exaltation degree of the warrior planet!

It is doubtful that one could find two established professions more completely at odds to each than boxing and religion. In the well-known Ternan-Miles study of personality and vocation, made at Stanford University many years ago, it was found that ministers were the least masculine and athletes the most masculine of some thirty vocational groups probed. The masculine-feminine categories were not those commonly conceived, the traits being more scientifically postulated. The masculine mind is objective, impersonal, and instinctual, while the feminine [for the purposes of the Ternan-Miles study - JAE] is subjective, personalized, and intuitive. Chest hair and fingernail length had nothing to do with this classification. In any event, let us use the solar sidereal distribution of 2,492 clergymen as a comparator for the 1,113 boxers, to learn in what essential ways ministers and priests differ zodiacally from professional pugilists.

While we're at it, comparisons with other groups might be enlightening. The natal Suns of the first 1,113 baseball players listed in the Turkin-Thompson Official Encyclopedia of Baseball have been tabulated. In addition, the Sun-constellation of 1,880 show business personalities (actors, singers, performers in general, etc.) form the basis for another statistical comparison. There's a surprise in store for us here. The following table shows the three comparator groups as governors of the expectancy of the number of fighters in each constellation, with the mathematical rating for the divergence between this substitute expectancy and what it really is. The results are graphed as figure 2.

[A table of numbers follows that is difficult for me to reliably copy from my aged photocopy. I have the 1958 original article and, at some point in the future, I'll probably be able to get better magnification, better light, and a better pair of glasses to copy it.

Figure 2 consists of three graphs. One compares "Boxers vs. Clergymen" with large, readily visible inequities between the high Gemini vs. low Leo [Clergymen are Leo high, Gemini low; boxers Gemini high, Leo low]. The second compares "Boxers vs. Ballplayers" with a very high Taurus [boxers excess] and fairly low Libra [baseball excess]. The third compares "Boxers vs. Entertainers" with nearly every sign about equal and very tiny variances high for Virgo [boxers excess] and low for Leo [entertainers excess].]

To those readers acquainted with statistical methods, the totals given are the chi-square values, which for 11 degrees of freedom are remarkably significant for the clerics and the ballplayers compared with boxers. Strangely, boxers compared with entertainers show no significant departures from expectancy and the chi-square value is a complete dud. This means that there is no real difference between the zodiacal patterns of the Sun's position for either entertainers or prize fighters.

This rings a bell in the minds of those students familiar with the basic findings of Constitutional Psychology, in particular, Dr. Sheldon's statement that actors and public performers are necessarily of the "somatotonic" temperamental type. The earmarks of the typical somatotonic are identical with the character traits and mannerisms traditionally associated with the Mars-ruled individual. Still, it is a big surprise to us that boxers differ far more from another group of professional athletes, the ballplayers, than from the rank and file of sow business people. In other words, zodiacal influences are not so much corporeal as temperamental, telling not so much what one actually does but how one feels toward other people and thinks of life. The boxer, like the aspirant to the stage or screen or tube, thinks in terms of conquering something - and being seen while at it. To put it simply, they both yearn to be seen in action. This, at least, is our first attempt at finding the common denominator that elusively exists in this situation.

How interesting it is that Gemini should rate the lowest for clergymen and so high for pugilists! But that is understandable, as per our earlier discussion. The only other sizable differences are but re-emphases of the tendency to avoid Leo and Libra, the most genteel of the constellations. But the differences with baseball players are fascinating, especially in regard to Taurus, the constellation having significantly low birth-patronage by artists of the mitt and bat. The explanation lies, we think, in what was already talked about near the beginning of this article, how that Taurus is the constellation of corporeal exhibition. Libra is lowest in this comparison, as it should be, since if a man is prone to docility and yet has athletic aspiration, he's much more bound to go for a sport like baseball than one necessitating violence.

[I have a slightly different explanation for this. Looking across a wider range of occupations, I find Libra tending to avoid those where one can get hurt or physically disfigured. Consider, for example, that Libra bottoms out for racecar drivers, a sport that isn't violent in any ordinary sense but has a reasonably high chance of getting damaged or disfigured. - JAE]

Now, one last thought about the Piscean emphasis in the pugilist profession, though the notion may be stretching things a bit to point out a strange similarity that is probably only a fortuitous one. Perhaps the zodiacal symbols, a la Freud and Jung, are psychological magnets to which natives of the constellations gravitate in variegated ways that ordinarily escape notice. Numerically, more professional boxers are born under the symbol of the Two Fishes tied together by a cord - and there is a striking resemblance between this classical pictograph and the appearances of a pair of boxing gloves tied together. Just as Cancerian Ben Hogan's hand gripping a golf club are his world-famous trademark, reminiscent of the pictograph of crab claws that symbolize this Sun-constellation, so there may be something significant in the way strapping natives of Pisces are unconsciously drawn to objects that ring a bell somewhere in their star-driven souls.

[JAE: At the time, this was a novel theory. Since then, we've had two very large studies of physicians with statistically significant excess of Sun in Gemini (the caduceus being symbol of the medical profession) and two moderately large studies showing lawyers tending to be born with Sun in Libra (the scales being symbol of the legal profession). All popes of the last thousand years have heavy Sun and Moon excesses in Taurus (the constellation long called "the pope, priest, or hierophant," and a high papal pronouncement being called a bull). Other examples include the statistical preference of upward-flying Sagittarius luminaries for aviation figures and celestial, stellar Aquarius of astronauts. The literal astrological symbols seem to provide a draw of their own.]

[mikestar13]

I find it interesting that in 1975 not knowing this writing of Bradley's, I replicated his results using Who's Who in Boxing, trying out the statistical methods from Profession and Birthdate.

[Jim Eshelman]

Which part replicated? Pisces, Gemini, not bad on Virgo, a hint at Capricorn?

[Jim Eshelman]

Something very interesting about this: Notice how he said the Gemini peak was biased, being heavily leaning to one half the sign? This threw off some other numbers. Of all the large studies, this is the only one I know that does NOT replicate the "30 zodiacs" results of showing that signs beginning at 1° Sidereal (around 24°) out-perform other groupings. It's skewed. The "best possible zodiac" from this one data set is one that begins at 12° Tropical (about 18° Sidereal - matching the irregularity he mentioned. The Capricorn hump also was very late-sign, not the sign as a whole so much as the concentration around the Mars exaltation degree.

Despite this, when the boxers study is collated with all the other large studies, they still produce a perfect "best fit is in signs that start at 1° Sidereal" model.

I know when I first read this study, I wondered if the Gemini result was showing that only the Pollux half (the later half) was boxing-prone - since he, and not Castor, reportedly invented boxing. I don't think that's so, but it was my thought at the time.

[mikestar13]

I didn't save the study or publish it, but IIRC it was in full accord with Bradley, probably a result of similar sample sizes. I did not tabulate degrees, as I was already convinced that the Fagan-Bradley values of the boundaries of the signs were correct, and was more testing the research methods than trying to make a deep study.

[SteveS]