By John F. McKenna (McJack): Finally a “White Hope” was found who was a legitimate threat to Jack Johnson’s reign as Heavyweight Champion. Jess Willard, a rugged, confident, hard working cowboy from Kansas, who had started his boxing career just six years prior, challenged Johnson for the title. Big Jess at 6’6”, 245 lbs had nowhere near Johnson’s skill as a fighter. What he did possess was a great deal of strength and stamina. The fight between Jack Johnson and Jess Willard was scheduled for 45 rounds and was held on April 5, 1915 (Johnson vs Willard – YouTube) in Havana, Cuba.
Jack Johnson
Flashback: Jack Johnson Profiled – Pt 2
By John F. McKenna (McJack): Johnson won the World Heavyweight Colored Championship in 1903, but his shot at the World Heavyweight Championship was still five years away. With over fifty fights under his belt, Johnson began in earnest to pursue the big prize. Finally in 1908 Johnson, after years of following Heavyweight Champion Tommy Burns halfway around the world, caught up to him in Sydney, Australia.
Flashback: Jack Johnson Profiled – Pt 1
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.
Johnson vs. Jefferies: 100 year anniversary on July 4th
By Sam Gregory: July 4th, 2010 marks the 100 year anniversary of what has become known as “The fight of the twentieth century”, the heavyweight fight between reigning heavyweight champion Jack Johnson and former heavyweight champion Jim Jefferies that took place on July 4th, 1910 in Reno, Nevada.
This year the professional boxing community, boxing fans, historians, political leaders, and the city of Reno will be celebrating this historic event.
Most of what you’ll read on the internet this weekend will be about the fight, the fighters and the centennial celebration. What I’ve written in this article is why the fight happened, what lead up to the fight and why it was such an important part of pugilistic history.
Obama ducks out of pardoning Jack Johnson – Boxing News
By Sam Gregory: On December 26, 1908 Jack Johnson became the first African American heavyweight champion of the world by defeating Tommy Burns at Rushcutter’s Bay, Sydney, Australia. At the time Johnson was the obvious contender to fight Burns for the title however; Johnson was constantly denied his chance to fight for the title because of his race. Johnson had to literally follow Burns around the world, taunting the champion at ringside until finally Burns agreed to give Johnson the chance to fight for the heavyweight title.
Boxing: Jack Johnson and Racial Favoritism – Rebuttal
By Wayne Lord: How can people deduce that Jack Johnson’s pardon is a racial and useless? The first few responses to Brock Kaiser’s article prove that what was written is dead on! This is no different than men commenting on childbirth. Until a man can actually have a baby and endure it like a woman, we have no right to tell them what the pain is really like.
Jack Johnson and Racial Favoritism
By Brock Kaiser: There is a saying that sometimes the more things change, the more they actually stay the same. Race was once again ushered into the forefront in boxing this week as the United States Congress approved a resolution this past Wednesday urging a posthumous presidential pardon for Jack Johnson, who in 1908 shocked the world by becoming the sport’s first black heavyweight champion.
Pardon Long Overdue for Jack Johnson
By Sam Gregory: Renewed efforts are underway to clear the name of Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion of the world, for a conviction of violation of the Mann Act; a law prohibiting black men from transporting white woman across state lines. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., and Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, plan to introduce resolutions before Congress this week calling on President Barack Obama to pardon Johnson.