Ace Hudkins was born in Nebraska in 1905 and began boxing at 12. He began fighting professionally in 1921 and boxed until he was 27. He was never knocked out and his nicknames were "The Wildcat" and "The Nebraska Wildcat. In 1925 and 1926 Hudkins and Clever Sencio were the top drawing cards at the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium. One of his most famous fights was a 1927 fight in New York a knockout of hot prospect Ruby Goldstein. It was Hudkins' toughness that most impressed his faithful fans; his fight against Sammy Baker was described as "the bloodiest fight ever seen. Even the referee was drenched in ruby red." Fighting from lightweight to light-heavyweight he won several California State Heavyweight Titles and was Southern California's biggest boxing drawing card in the 1920s. He died April 8 1973 in Los Angeles and was posthumously inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1995. This lot features an Everlast boxing headgear attributed to Ace Hudkins during the 1920s. Though well worn the padded black leather headgear with cotton webbing "crown" and leather skull "patch" headgear is in remarkably good shape. It even includes its original sewn-in chinstrap. In addition the lot features a pair of early well-worn Everlast satin boxing trunks (one black one purple) that are also attributed to Hudkins.

Includes Letter of Provenance from the Helms Athletic Foundation/LA84 Collection.