By John F. McKenna (McJack): John Arthur (Jack) Johnson, AKA “The Galveston Giant”, AKA“Lil Artha” was one of those larger than life Heavyweight Champions who comes along once in a generation. Johnson was born on March 31, 1878 in Galveston, Texas. He was the son of former slaves Henry and Tina Johnson who worked at blue collar jobs to provide for their six children. Young Jack dropped out of school after five or six years of education to get a job as a dock worker in Galveston and as a youth he began to exhibit an interest in boxing.

As great fighters often do, Jack Johnson developed a style that was unique to him. He learned to fight defensively in a style that was years ahead of it’s time. He would wait patiently for his opponent to make a mistake and then capitalize on it. America was a very racist country at the time and his style was referred to by many boxing writers as cowardly. “Gentleman” Jim Corbett on the other hand, whose style was not all that different from “Lil Artha’s”, was considered a ring genius just ten years prior. Johnson frequently tormented and taunted his opponents He seemed to enjoy torturing opponents rather than knocking them out. He always gave the impression that he could knock his opposition out whenever he chose to. Part of the problem was that Johnson was far superior to anyone he fought and he would toy with his opponents rather than try to end the fight.

Johnson was trained by the great light heavyweight fighter Joe Choynski. Choynski, who scored a KO victory over Johnson earlier in his career, had one of the more interesting nick names in boxing. He was called “Chrysanthemum Joe” because of his blonde hair. Choynski instilled his scientific approach to boxing on Johnson. That is, to diffuse the power of your opponent, then wreak havoc on him. Choynski was not only “Lil Artha’s” trainer, he was also his sparring partner and good friend. In 1901 when Johnson was still young and on the way up the fistic ladder he fought Choynski in Galveston, Texas. Choynski knocked out Johnson with a left hook in the 3rd round. Johnson and Choynski were imprisoned for 23 days because it was illegal for a black man and white man to engage in a boxing match. While in prison “Chrysanthemum Joe” tutored Johnson on the nuances of defensive boxing. The metamorphosis took place while Jack Johnson was in prison that ultimately led to him becoming one of the greatest Heavyweight Champions of all time.