By Daniel Echevarria: John Arthur (Jack) Johnson nick named the “Galveston Giant” was the very first African American “Heavyweight” champion from 1908 to 1915. It has been noted by Ken Burns an American film director and Producer that for more than thirteen years Jack Johnson was the most Famous and the most notorious African American on earth.
On February 25 1901 Johnson fought a popular heavyweight in Galveston Texas named Joe Choynski and both men were arrested because at the time prizefighting was illegal in Texas so they were both fined $5,000. Neither man was able to pay the fine so officers allowed the men to return home in the evenings with the condition that they would return to the jail to spar and train in the jail cell.
Choynski was said to have noticed the determination and talent in Johnson and taught him specifically the skills of “defensive boxing” stating and I quote “A man who can move like YOU should never have to take a punch”. After 25 days in jail the bail was reduced and both men were released and Johnson was quoted as saying he learned his boxing skills during that time in jail.
Now as quoted through Wikipedia which is interesting is how they defined Jack Johnson’s style which I myself clearly see Floyd Mayweathers shadow. Wikipedia states: “Jack Johnson’s style was very distinctive he developed a more patient approach than was customary in that day. Jack Johnson would basically play with his opponents and often carrying on random conversations with ringsiders at the same time as he was fighting.” Sound familiar?
By 1902, Johnson won at least 50 fights against both Black and White fighters but winning the “Full Title” was off limits to Black fighters. Sixteen Years later finally Blacks were allowed to win “full titles” and on Dec 26 1908 Jack Johnson defeated Canadian Boxer Tommy Burns in Australia.
After Johnson’s victory over Burns, racial animosity among whites ran so deep that they called for a “Great White Hope” to take the title away from the African American Johnson to which he was forced to fight a series of matches and each fighter was billed in the media as “Great White Hope” but all were defeated. With his much success in boxing, Johnson was an early example of a “celebrity boxer” always appearing in the press and on radio and Johnson also had expensive hobbies such as automobile collecting and racing along with tailored clothing as well as purchasing expensive jewelry and furs.
Jack Johnson was also constantly speaking on the social and economic place of Blacks in American society sound familiar? In 1910 former undefeated champion James J. Jeffries was forced out of retirement after he stated he was not interested in fighting Johnson but many people wanted to see Jack Johnson finally defeated so they badgered Jeffries for months and offered him $120,000 and he agreed to a fight that is in the history books as “Fight Of The Century.”
The fight took place July 4 1910 and in the 15th round Jeffries corner threw in the towel and Jack Johnson won again. The victory caused race riots that evening all across the United States and another “Great White Hope” was defeated. In the end since all else failed Jack Johnson was arrested later on Oct 18 1912 for a nonsense charge that violated the “Mann Act” which was “Transporting women across state lines for immoral purposes” which was a cover up due to the fact Jack Johnson always had love for “white women” and was not afraid to show it and in this case it was a woman by the name of Lucille Cameron.
So it seems history is repeating itself once again with an outstanding African American Boxer who undefeated and as such is destroyed in the media and called a “COWARD” and yet his style as boring as some may claim still has not been beaten in 42 fights.
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