123. Today in 1920s Turkey: 13 November 1926 (Sports and Boxing among the Youth)
(Photograph and news snippet, Karagöz, 13 November 1926, no. 1947, page 2.)
English:
Sports in Anatolia: Across the country a great interest in sports and physical exercise has emerged among the youth. We hope that we, too, will soon have strong and skillful athletes whose names will be known in Europe. Our picture shows boxer Ali Rıza Bey from İzmir. There are many of our youths training boxing. Boxing, which is the best exercise, is necessary in the life struggle of a civilized person. During the war years we saw a scrawny Englishman knock down 3-4 towering laborers thanks to Boxing.
Caption: Boxer Ali Rıza Bey
Türkçe:
Anadolu’da Spor: Memleketin her tarafında gençler arasında spora, idmana karşı büyük bir merak uyanmaya başladı. Ümit ederiz ki yakın zamanlarda bizim de Avrupa’da ismi geçecek kuvvetli ve mahir sporcularımız olacak. Resmimiz İzmirli boksör Ali Rıza Bey’i gösteriyor. Boks’a çalışan gençlerimiz pek çoktur. En iyi bir idman olan “Boks” hayat mücadelesinde medeni bir insana lazımdır. Mütareke zamanında çelimsiz bir İngiliz’in “Boks” sayesinde dağ gibi üç dört hamalı yere serdiğini gördük.
Altyazı: Boksör Ali Rıza Bey
Comments
Although not as prevalent as soccer/football in the 1920s, boxing was quickly gaining traction in Turkey where other combat sports such as wresting had long enjoyed popularity as a spectator sport. This story includes both a brief text explaining the increased interest Anatolian youth are showing in sports, especially boxing as well as a photograph of a particularly successful boxer. The background of the photograph has been cropped to include only the bare upper body of a young man with boxing gloves. He stands in a classic boxing stance, both defensive and offensive. His chin is tucked into his shoulder to protect his face while his left arm extends forward, delivering a clean, straight jab. The text includes the wish that one day a Turkish fighter’s name would exceed the boundaries of the country and to gain international fame.
The bi-weekly journal Karagöz often included at the bottom of its inner pages (2 and 3) stories from across the country (i.e., outside of Istanbul) that focused on positive social developments or remarkable individuals. Broadly speaking, their purpose is to inform the readership about activities from other parts of the country while also presenting stories of exemplary behaviors, aspirations, and activities. No longer than 100 words, these brief narratives are usually paired with a compelling, captioned photograph and betray a moralizing tone. Today in 1920s Turkey has covered a number of other examples of this genre of “news” from Karagöz. They can be found here:
#6: Li’l Mehmet the Paperboy
#7: The Huntress
#43: A Local Colorful Character
#49: Paperboys and Supply & Demand
#114: Provincial Town Purchases Its Very Own Airplane
#115: Four Valiant Lads Cycle from Izmir to Istanbul.
Sports have emerged as a recurring subject in the 1920s. For other sports-related content covered by Today, see:
#7: The Huntress on sharp-shooting
#44: Football Before Females on soccer/football
#77: The Cartoonist’s Armoury Part 2 of 3 on soccer/football
#102: Female Swimmers in 1928 Summer Olympics on the Olympics
#107: Not-So-Back-to-School Edition on in-school physical education
#115: Four Valiant Lads Cycle from Izmir to Istanbul on long-distance cycling
(Entire page, Karagöz, 13 November 1926, no. 1947, page 2.)