[1] Fighting at 114 1/2 pounds, he took the world title from reigning champion Harry Forbes on August 13, 1903, at the Mechanics Pavilion in San Francisco in a second-round knockout of a match scheduled for twenty rounds.

[2] Not long before his first attempt at the bantamweight championship, on April 11, 1902, Neil fought a grueling fifteen-round draw against Eddie Hanlon, who was only seventeen at the time.

[2] Neil took the world title from reigning champion Harry Forbes on August 13, 1903, at the Mechanics Pavilion in San Francisco in a second-round knockout of a match scheduled for twenty rounds.

Forbes had been a two to one betting favorite prior to the bout due to his standing as reigning champion, though many boxing fans still backed Neil to win.

[2] Six months later, on February 28, 1906, he knocked out Tenny in the fourteenth round at the Mechanics Pavilion in San Francisco, a frequent venue for Neil.

[7] On July 4, 1906, Neil would move up a class and take a shot at the World Featherweight Championship against the exceptional reigning champion Abe Attell, who had held the title since 1902, but would retain it for an additional six years.

[10] In his ill-advised comeback to the ring on November 22, 1907, Neil lost badly to the accomplished boxer Owen Moran at the Dreamland Rink in San Francisco.

As noted by The San Francisco Call, of his eight-month hiatus from boxing, "it is this letup which is the factor that is hard to estimate in figuring upon his chances."

Though sometimes taking on top talent, such as Young Brit, and Monte Attell, Neil lost 13 of 21 of his better publicized bouts after his loss to Moran.

[2] On June 19, 1909, Neil would unsuccessfully attempt to retake the then vacant World Bantamweight Title from Monte Attell, brother of Abe, but lose in an eighteen of twenty-round knockout in Colma, California.