He was based in St. Paul, Needham started his pro boxing career by challenging lightweight bare-knuckle champion Tommy Danforth to a fight.

The following year, Needham would challenge Tommy Ryan for the welterweight world title.

But he would end up losing after 76 rounds, in another one of the sport's longest matches.

He spent the final years of his life in the St. Peter State Hospital, before dying of throat cancer in 1922.

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