Early career During the first winter in Montana he began boxing with some of the locals, and soon caught the eye of the local fight promoters. and on January 7, 1911, in his first recorded fight, he knocked out Wat Adams in the second round, and after had had several bouts in Montana, North Dakota, and Canada, fighting seven times, winning seven fights, by stoppage. Of these such bouts included legendary iron-chinned
Joe Grim, earning a draw spending his energy in trying to knockout the "toughest man on earth". On December 18, 1911, Fury fought 25-year-old contender Jeff Clark (60–5–8, 30 KOs) in a non-title bout in
Springfield, Missouri. Following his defeat to Wuest, McCarty returned to achieve five consecutive knockouts in his defeats of Jim Harper, Bill Schultz, and Joe Hagan. In the fourth, Stewart landed his right on McCarty's jaw with all his might, resulting in his opponent dropping his hands and grinning. McCarty started off with a rush, taking Stewart by surprise and slamming him back against the ropes with a volley of left and right swings and straight punches. Following his loss to Stewart, McCarty began his journey towards the top of the heavyweight division by facing future
lineal champion Jess Willard (10–2–0, 7 KOs) at
Madison Square Garden on August 19, 1912. At the weigh-in, Luther, 20 at the time of the fight, weighed in at 203 and a one-quarter pounds, one of the heaviest he had weighed professionally; Willard, 30, came in heavier at 224 pounds. Both of McCarty's eyes were swollen when he left the right, and Willard carried a large bruise on his left cheek." Willard was given the verdict almost unanimously by the New York papers, and it was said in reports of the contest that McCarty was hardly able to land one telling blow on him. Undeterred by his previous two results, McCarty fought and beat Jim Barry, Jack McFarland and
Al Kaufman, by way of knockout. On December 10, 1912, McCarty fought against
Fireman Jim Flynn (60–16–20, 40 KOs) in
Vernon, California, with the winner to face
Al Palzer on January 1, 1913, for the
heavyweight championship of the world. McCarty weighed 205 pounds, marginally higher than his previous fights, with Flynn coming in at 190 pounds. McCarty improved his record to 16–2–3 with 14 stoppage wins, with a sixteenth-round technical knockout over Flynn. Flynn was an easy target for McCarty's best blows, including a left jab and a right-cross. Although Flynn was outclassed from the first round, he was first in trouble in the eighth-round when a short right sent him to the map for the count. Twice more before the end of the round Flynn went down, once rolling over on the floor three times before rising to his knee, where he crouched with blood pouring in a stream from his mouth and face, while Eyton tolled the seconds. At the official weigh-in, before the fight, Palzer tipped the scales at 218 pounds, while McCarty weighed 205 pounds. Prior to the fight, Palzer remarked: "I'll win any time between the first and the tenth. If the one good old punch doesn't do the work early in the fight I'll wear him down long before the limit. McCarty can't stand my pace. I'm in good shape and never was so confident in my life." A succession of lefts and rights to the head, which rocked Palzer to the bottom of his immense frame and caused blood to stream from cuts on his eyes and lips. Upon his defeat of Palzer, he was given a diamond-studded belt, valued at five thousand dollars, and was the recognised white heavyweight champion of the world. Speaking after the fight, McCarty said: "When I accepted the heavy-weight championship belt, I agreed to an unwritten clause that I should never fight a negro [...] Well, I'm going to live up to my contract.", and that he would not fight Johnson "under any circumstances.”" Although he appeared to be outclassed from the start, Flynn, rushed into clinch after clinch and succeeded in landing many blows on the champion at close quarters. Moran was considered to be a trial-horse, but he gave McCarty a tough fight, and demonstrated that McCarty lacked a true knockout punch. Nevertheless, McCarty survived the ten-round battle and won a newspaper decision according to
The New York Times. McCarty smiled as he entered the ring on May 24, 1913, while Pelkey looked grim and determined. McCarty's head shook and his neck muscles bulged. The blow struck McCarthy just below the heart, sending him reeling, to which he fell heavily to the floor. Everyone connected with the fight suffered, with Billy McCarney, and the referee, Ed W. Smith, the
Chicago Evening American sports editor, were arrested. Tommy Burns, the promoter, was indicted for manslaughter. Arsonists burned down Tommy Burns's Arena, and boxing was banned in Alberta. On learning of McCarty's death, "Pelkey broke down and cried like a child all the way to the police barracks. "I killed a man, I killed a man" were the only words that passed his lips for over an hour. Pelkey was arrested by the
North-West Mounted Police and charged with manslaughter, and although he was absolved from blame by the Coroner's report, the shock of having killed McCarty in the ring ruined Pelkey. He had become an uncomfortable man to have around, and was remembered in boxing history as the man who killed Luther McCarty. On June 4, 1913, according to the
Windsor Star, Pelkey was described as a broken man, with his nerves being torn to shreds by the events of the few preceding days: "He may never fight again, but if he does, there appears to be every possibility that the recollection of the one blow to McCarthy's chin will make him an easy mark for opponents." The
Star added that Pelkey declared that he was unsure what he would do, though he stated he wished to defend his title, but whether he would be able to or not was a matter for the future to decide. Offers by theatrical promoters flooded in to put Pelkey on stage, no doubt in re-creation exhibitions of this bout, all of which he seems to have refused. Reportedly Pelkey did not want to fight again, but was forced into it because of legal fees incurred to defend himself in the aftermath of the tragedy. Pelkey had lost his first four bouts when returning to the ring after McCarty's death, and lost his title to Jack Johnson's sparring partner,
Gunboat Smith. He could no longer defend himself in the ring, losing almost every bout after the McCarty fight, usually getting knocked out after a beating. Pelkey finally settled in
Ford City, Ontario to become a police officer and city councilman, and seemed to have recovered a semblance of redemption before contracting a
sleeping sickness that was sweeping Canada and died at the age of 36, having secured a draw against Young Peter Jackson three months prior. ==Personal life==