John Frederic Coulon (February 12, 1889 – October 29, 1973) was a Canadian-American professional boxer who was the world bantamweight champion from March 6, 1910, when he wrested the crown from England's Jim Kendrick, until June 3, 1914, when he was defeated by Kid Williams in Vernon, California.

He began fighting as an amateur in Chicago two years earlier, once appearing in Kid Howard's Gymnasium, weighing barely one hundred pounds for some bouts.

Counting newspaper decisions, the hall-of-famer, according to Boxrec, is listed as losing only eleven times in 91 fights, but he claimed to have fought over 300 total bouts.

[6] After an important win against Jim Kendrick in 19 rounds on February 18, 1910, in New Orleans, Louisiana, he later defeated him again in a nineteen-round battle in the same city where he won by technical knockout.

The reporter for the article felt O'Leary was weakened in his attempt to make the 112 pound fighting weight, and thus had a disadvantage in the bout.

[7] On year after his win against Kendrick, many sources consider his 20 round points decision over Frankie Conley on February 26, 1911 in New Orleans, Louisiana, as bestowing the World Bantamweight Title for the first time at age 22.

[8] In March and April 1911, Coulon fought Phil McGovern and Harry Forbes in ten round no decision title matches in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

[10][11] As a boxer who became a performer, his June 11, 1912, bout with Frankie Hayes in New Haven, Connecticut, was not exceedingly rare in this era of boxing.

Bouts of this type often left the audience and law enforcement officials wondering if a "fix" was involved due to pressures from gamblers or organized crime to effect an outcome favorable to their betting.

[13] Coulon indisputedly lost the World Bantamweight Title when Kid Williams stopped him in a lop-sided victory ending in a third-round knockout on June 9, 1914, in Vernon, California.

He boxed twice in France after his service stint with Charles Ledoux and Emile Juliard in 1920, and retired from the ring that year with a total record including newspaper decisions of 67 wins, 11 losses, 12 draws, with 1 no-contest.

The trick was that Coulon would feign a struggle, grabbing the opponent by the back of the neck and right arm and applying pressure to a nerve there.

[18][19] On July 27, 1921, at the end of his boxing career, Coulon married his diminutive Irish wife of over fifty years, Marie Maloney (1892–1984), a native Chicagoan.

[22] Coulon's professional career was over when they met, but together they saw many of the great boxers train at their gym down through the years — these included Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney, Jim Braddock, Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Muhammad Ali."

A cult movie of the sixties, Medium Cool, filmed scenes at the gym, where Coulon briefly appeared, a tiny old man captured forever on celluloid.

He knew every heavyweight champion since the Great John L. Sullivan, trained hundreds of fighters and was a revered celebrity in Chicago during the 1960s.