Joe Shears

Born Joseph or Joe Shulman in the 1890s, he was born in Poland. When Joe Shulman was a year old, his family relocated from Poland to London, England.^[1]

Shears was the fighting moniker of Joe Schulman, and it was later taken on by his son Jerry and the rest of the family.^[2] Shears fought in England, Canada, and the United States before the First World War.

In 1908, he defeated George Jones in the first professional boxing match conducted in Belleville, Illinois.^[3] Shears fought an eight-round fight with Canadian boxer Frankie Fleming in 1910.^[1] He later competed in a match at New Bedford's Sharpshooters Hall in 1913.^[4]

When the First World War broke out in 1914, Shears enlisted as a member of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.^[5] After sailing to England in 1916, "Little Joe" Shears became the bantamweight champion of the Allied forces in France and England.^[6] In November 1916, English artist Laura Knight was commissioned to paint the physical training at Witley Camp in Surrey where the 156th Canadian Infantry Battalion was stationed.^[7] Joe Shears was encountered by Laura Knight outside of the camp barber's shed, where he accepted an offer to be her model. She described Shears as having a "bashed-in purple face, cauliflower ears, and a broken nose."^[8] Knight set up her easel and paints, the gym transformed into her art studio, with Shears acting as an attendant, model, and teacher.^[9] The two formed a friendship, and he regularly walked her back to the Angel Hotel in Godalming, three miles from the camp. After viewing her completed works, Joe proposed setting up a shop in Leicester Square to display and sell her drawings.^[10] Knight painted over 9 paintings which included a final large canvas, titled "Physical Training at Witley Camp" which featured the boxer.^[11] One piece illustrated Shears punching a double end bag, while another captured him training with Corporal W. Atkin in the gym.^[12]

Shears escaped a German prison camp by crawling through a sewer.^[13]

After the war, in 1919, he went back to boxing in Montreal. Weighing in at 116 pounds, the Canadian soldier defeated Young Demers in a six round bout in September 1919.^[14]

Jerry, Phil, Max, Al, and Joe Jr. were his five sons, all of whom became amateur boxers inspired by their father's example.^[15]

After stepping away from boxing, he worked as a taxi driver in Montreal. In March 1929, he joined 22 survivors from his regiment for a reunion and later escorted his friend Tom Patterson to New York before returning to Canada.^[16]