Gobar Guha - Career

Career

Gobar embarked on a professional career in wrestling in 1910 at the age of eighteen. He debuted against Navrang Singh, the court wrestler of the Maharaja of Tripura, but he didn't take any money. In 1910, the John Bull Society of London organised a world wrestling championship bout to which wrestlers from all over the world including Gobar Goho and junior Gama of India were invited. In his first tour of Europe, Gobar fought bouts in Italy, Switzerland and England. Gobar went on a second tour of Europe in 1912 and returned home in 1915. During the trip he met Jack Johnson, the first black world heavyweight boxing champion at the wrestling tournament in Paris. Next he defeated Campbell, the highest-ranked wrestler of Scotland. His next bout was against Scottish strongman and wrestler Jimmy Esson of Aberdeen, who has been described by the great strongman and wrestler Georg Hackenschmidt as 'the Scotch Giant'. Esson was at the receiving end throughout the fight and in the end resorted to illegal boxing punches. Gobar remained undeterred and duly wrestled the 'giant' on to the ground. After the War, Gobar went on a third tour of Europe and the United States from 1920 to 1926. During this tour, he fought the bout of his lifetime, when he disposed off the then World Light Heavyweight Champion and catch wrestler Ad Santel on 30 August 1921 at the Coliseum in San Francisco. He became the first Asian to win a World Professional Wrestling Championship in the United States. In in his next bout he was pitted against the famous Ed 'Strangler' Lewis, considered by many to be the greatest ever professional wrestler. Lewis first tried his famous headlock on Gobar but to little effect. After a few rounds, Lewis managed to floor Gobar once, but the latter soon returned the compliment. Both fighters had registered two falls each, when Lewis resorted to foul play by hitting Gobar with a boxer’s punch. When the referee overlooked this offence, Gobar turned to the judges to remonstrate, but at this moment, Lewis floored Gobar with a resounding thump, causing him to hit his head on the boards and lose consciousness. In 1929, Gobar fought another memorable fight against the younger Gama at Park Circus, Kolkata in a bout that has since passed into the folklore of Indian wrestling. After a stirring fight which showcased all the moves of Indian wrestling, the older Gobar finally lost on a technicality.The akhada that was established by his ancestors at Masjidbari Street was reincarnated by Gobar Goho at Goabagan in 1936. Gobar Goho retired from professional wrestling in 1944.