George Latham was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia in July, 1881. He began his boxing career in 1895, fighting bare-knuckled in Michigan. He defeated Nat MacKay in seven rounds to win the Canadian Light-weight Championship.

In 1901, George fought and defeated Dick Hunt of Halifax in the last recorded bare-fisted bout in North America. In 1905, he knocked out and defeated the World Featherweight Champion, twice, and in 1909, he won the Lightweight Crown despite having a broken hand and nose.

Although George felt that he would have been able to earn a living with boxing alone, he still remained a painter and a watchman by trade. In the 1920s he also opened and operated various boxing academies in Halifax and Detroit.

Latham retired at the age of fifty-two, after a 37-year boxing career. By the time of his last fight in 1933, he was finally wearing padded gloves and won the fight by a knockout. George Latham passed away in 1970 at the Camp Hill Hospital in his native Halifax.