Raoul le Boucher

Raoul le Boucher, was born Raoul Musson on January 15, 1883 in France. Early in his life, he was sent to Paris by his parents to become a slaughterhouse apprentice. It was there that he started to join his colleagues in weight training sesions. During those training sessions he would grapple with other in the gym and his talent for wrestling became apparant. At the age of 13, he became a student of Paul Pons who was the first wrestler world champion of Greco-Roman style wrestling in 1898. At only 16, he had defeated all of the amateur wrestler he gappled with had moved on to the professional ranks.
He quickly sored to the top of the sport and became one of France's most successful wrestlers. Because of his massive size being 280 pounds at 6'1", he started right away in the heavyweight class. His first major fight took place at the 1899 World Championships in Paris. This is where the name "le Boucher" (The Butcher) was coined. 1901 was his major breakthrough year. In three different high-profile tournaments he finished third resulting in "The Butcher" taking his skills to other countries. At the "Championnat of Moscow" he won against top wrestlers like Michael Hitzler and Gabriel Lasartesse. At the World Championships of 1901, he finished fourth in the Casino de Paris. In 1903, he competed agaist with Jess Pedersen in the Paris Wrestling World Cup finals, again in Paris, but lost after two hours and three minutes. On various occasions, he competed agaist, and on many occasions defeated, his teacher and mentor Paul Pons. In July 1904 he traveled with Paul Pons, Simon Antonitsch, Leon Dumont and Anastace Anglio to Buenos Aires to participate in various bauts throughout Europe. During these travels he consistently placed well. In February 1906 after a short but successful career he retired from wrestling. From many viewpoints, this seems to have been intended to be a temporary retirement in which it was reported he used the wealth he had gained to purchase a castle in Maisons-Laffitte. Shorty after, he challenged World champion Ivan Poddubny to a bout. The match never happened. In the winter of 1907 he caught a heavy flu. While suffering from the effects of this flu, he became extremely delirious and believed he needed to prepare for his "next bout". Finally, five strong men were able to get a hold of him and to carry him to a car that transported him to a hospital. On February 13, 1907 in Nice, France, he died at the age of 24. The news reported that the cause of death had been meningitis. He was buried in Maisons-Laffitte.