Emile Robinson

From The Great Outdoor Fight

Emile Robinson (b. 1894, d. 1958) was the 1924 Fight Champion. A former sailor, Emile's background is sketchy at best, but several others going into the fight affirmed that he had, in the words of fellow fighter Nathaniel Grimes, "put boot to arse on every deck and dock from here to Macau." Robinson, who found in his late twenties that he could no longer tolerate a constant environment of damp sea air, gained the attention of Fight promoters when he moved to California and won several bareknuckle boxing tournaments while working as a carpenter.

Although he went into the fight primarily known as a bareknuckle boxer, Robinson often employed the tactic of leaping at his opponent, thrashing with both fists and feet. Some have speculated that he must have learned the French kickboxing art of savate while a sailor, but this has never been confirmed. Because Leandro Sidower had crippled or killed so many of the Fight's top competitors before retiring to continue his seminary studies in the previous year, the Fight was wide open for a fighter like Robinson, with an unorthodox style and burly charisma, to make his mark. Robinson didn't disappoint.

Robinson's indelible signature upon the history of the Fight came in the form of what came to be known as the "Devil's Milkshake." Squaring off against Long Tony Romano, Robinson knocked Romano onto his face with a series of punches followed by a kick to the shins. Seeing that the hardheaded Romano was more angered than hurt by his assault, Robinson let out a terrible scream before leaping into the air and kicking his heels as he landed on Romano's back, with each foot planted firmly on one of Romano's kidneys. Romano projectile vomited a ten-foot trail of blood and mucus, then went limp. Although Romano survived, he would be plagued by nephrological troubles for the rest of his life. Others were at a loss for words to describe the grisly maneuver until Young Jude Surrency blurted out "Looked like a goddamn devil's milkshake, is what it looked like."