George Bothner (catch wrestler)

George Bothner (June 5, 1867 - November 20, 1954) was an American catch-as-catch-can wrestler, actively working as a lightweight from the 1880s into the early twentieth century, and a trainer at the Knickerbocker Athletic Club and various other institutions. Bothner was notably called Lightweight Champion of America and was awarded the Police Gazette Silver Belt (their Lightweight Title), in addition to famously participating in many exhibition matches with heavyweights, including the likes of George Hackenschmidt, Tom Jenkins, and others, and cross-discipline bouts with jiu-jitsu fighters, including against Katsukuma Higashi (東勝熊) in 1905 and Taro Miyake (三宅タロー) in 1914.