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Jack Johnson (boxer)
Encyclopedia
John Arthur Johnson (March 31, 1878 – June 10, 1946), nicknamed the “Galveston Giant,” was an American boxer
. At the height of the Jim Crow era, Johnson became the first African American
world heavyweight boxing champion (1908–1915). In a documentary about his life, Ken Burns
notes, "for more than thirteen years, Jack Johnson was the most famous and the most notorious African-American on Earth." Johnson attests that his success in boxing came from the coaching he received from Joe Choynski
, whom became his cellmate after the pair were arrested for fighting in Texas; where boxing was illegal at the time. The ageing Choynski saw natural talent and determination in Johnson and taught him the nuances of defence; stating A man who can move like you should never have to take a punch.
, the second child and first son of Henry and Tina "Tiny" Johnson, former slaves who worked at blue-collar jobs to raise six children and taught them how to read and write. Henry Johnson traced his ancestry back to the Coromantees
who came from modern-day Ghana
. Johnson dropped out of school after just five or six years of education to get a job as a dock worker in Galveston.
Johnson fought the aging Joe Choynski, who knocked him out, but whilst they spent time after the fight in prison together, talked much about boxing. There is a photo existing of them both behind bars. Joe, who also became his friend and sparring partner, taught him a lot. Johnson's boxing style was very distinctive. He developed a more patient approach than was customary in that day, basically playing with his opponents, often carrying on a conversation with ringsiders at the same time as he was fighting. Johnson would begin a bout cautiously, slowly building up over the rounds into a more aggressive fighter. When annoyed, he often fought to punish his opponents rather than knock them out, endlessly avoiding their blows and striking with swift counters. He always gave the impression of having much more to offer and, if pushed, he could punch powerfully. There are films of some of his fights in which he can be seen holding up his opponent, who otherwise might have fallen, until he recovered.
Those were the days when the (mostly white) patrons liked value for money, and it was a habit, especially for black boxers, to make the fight last a respectable time. With the many bouts a fighter engaged in, it was commonplace to have fought the same opponent as many as a dozen or even more times. So it is highly likely that the results of many of these fights were "pre-arranged," and also pre-determined to last a goodly number of rounds.
Johnson's style was very effective, but it was criticized in the press as being cowardly and devious. By contrast, world heavyweight champion "Gentleman" Jim Corbett
had used many of the same techniques a decade earlier, and was praised by the press as "the cleverest man in boxing."
By 1902, Johnson had won at least 50 fights against both white and black opponents. Johnson won his first title on February 3, 1903, beating "Denver" Ed Martin over 20 rounds for the World Colored Heavyweight Championship
. His efforts to win the full title were thwarted, as world heavyweight champion James J. Jeffries
refused to face him then. Black and white boxers could meet in other competitions, but the world heavyweight championship was off limits to them. However, Johnson did fight former champion Bob Fitzsimmons
in July 1907, and knocked him out in two rounds. There is a report that Johnson even fought and KO'd Jim Jeffries' brother Jack, and taunted him about it to force a fight, with no success.
Johnson finally won the world heavyweight title on December 26, 1908, a full six years after lightweight champion Joe Gans
became the first African American boxing champion. Johnson's victory over the reigning world champion, Canadian Tommy Burns
, in Sydney, Australia, came after stalking Burns around the world for two years and taunting him in the press for a match. The fight lasted fourteen rounds before being stopped by the police in front of over 20,000 spectators. The title was awarded to Johnson on a referee's decision as a knockout.
After Johnson's victory over Burns, racial animosity among whites ran so deep that it was called out for a "Great White Hope
" to take the title away from Johnson. As title holder, Johnson thus had to face a series of fighters each billed by boxing promoters as a "great white hope," often in exhibition matches
. In 1909, he beat Frank Moran
, Tony Ross, Al Kaufman, and the middleweight champion Stanley Ketchel
. The match with Ketchel was originally thought to have been an exhibition, and in fact it was fought by both men that way, until the 12th round, when Ketchel threw a right to Johnson's head, knocking him down. Quickly regaining his feet, and very annoyed, Johnson immediately dashed straight at Ketchell and threw a single punch, an uppercut, a punch for which he was famous, to Ketchel's jaw, knocking him out. Several of Ketchell's teeth were also knocked out with some sticking in Johnson's glove. The filmed fight shows Johnson wiping the teeth off his glove with a smirk. His fight with Philadelphia Jack O'Brien
was a disappointing one for Johnson: though weighing 205 pounds (93 kg) to O'Brien's 161 pounds (73 kg), he could only achieve a six-round draw with the great middleweight.
In 1910, former undefeated heavyweight champion James J. Jeffries
came out of retirement and said, "I feel obligated to the sporting public at least to make an effort to reclaim the heavyweight championship for the white race. . . . I should step into the ring again and demonstrate that a white man is king of them all." Jeffries had not fought in six years and had to lose well over 100 pounds to get back to his championship fighting weight. Indeed, initially Jeffries had no interest in the fight being quite happy as he was. But those who wanted to see Johnson ground into the dirt badgered him unmercifully for months, and also offered him an unheard sum of money, reputed to be about $120,000.
The fight took place on July 4, 1910 in front of 20,000 people, at a ring built just for the occasion in downtown Reno, Nevada
. Johnson proved stronger and more nimble than Jeffries. In the 15th round, after Jeffries had been knocked down twice for the first time in his career, the referee stopped the fight before Jeffries could be knocked out.
The "Fight of the Century" earned Johnson $65,000 and silenced the critics, who had belittled Johnson's previous victory over Tommy Burns as "empty," claiming that Burns was a false champion since Jeffries had retired undefeated.
that evening—the Fourth of July
—all across the United States, from Texas and Colorado
to New York and Washington, D.C. Johnson's victory over Jeffries had dashed white dreams of finding a "great white hope" to defeat him. Many whites felt humiliated by the defeat of Jeffries.
Blacks, on the other hand, were jubilant, and celebrated Johnson's great victory as a victory for racial advancement. Black poet William Waring Cuney later highlighted the black reaction to the fight in his poem "My Lord, What a Morning." Around the country, blacks held spontaneous parades and gathered in prayer meetings.
Some "riots" were simply blacks celebrating in the streets. In certain cities, like Chicago, the police did not disturb the celebrations. But in other cities, the police and angry white citizens tried to subdue the revelers. Police interrupted several attempted lynching
s. In all, "riots" occurred in more than 25 states and 50 cities. About 23 blacks and two whites died in the riots, and hundreds more were injured.
as being worthy of preservation.
In the United States, many states and cities banned the exhibition of the Johnson-Jeffries film. The movement to censor Johnson's victory took over the country within three days after the fight. It was a spontaneous movement. Two weeks after the match former President Theodore Roosevelt
, an avid boxer and fan, wrote an article for The Outlook
in which he supported banning not just moving pictures of boxing matches, but a complete ban on all prize fights in America. He cited the "crookedness" and gambling that surrounded such contests and that moving pictures have "introduced a new method of money getting and of demoralization."
, a working cowboy from Kansas who started boxing when he was twenty-seven years old. With a crowd of 25,000 at Oriental Park Racetrack
in Havana, Cuba, Johnson was knocked out in the 26th round of the scheduled 45 round fight. Johnson, although having won almost every round, began to tire after the 20th round, and was visibly hurt by heavy body punches from Willard in rounds preceding the 26th round knockout. Johnson is said by many to have spread rumors that he took a dive, but Willard is widely regarded as having won the fight outright. Willard said, "If he was going to throw the fight, I wish he'd done it sooner. It was hotter than hell out there."
Johnson was an early example of the celebrity athlete in the modern era, appearing regularly in the press and later on radio and in motion pictures. He earned considerable sums endorsing various products
, including patent medicine
s, and indulged several expensive hobbies such as automobile racing and tailored clothing, as well as purchasing jewelry and furs for his wives. He even challenged champion racer Barney Oldfield
to a match auto race at the Sheepshead Bay, New York one mile (1.6 km) dirt track. Oldfield, far more experienced, easily out-distanced Johnson, ending any thoughts the boxer might have had about becoming a professional driver. Once, when he was pulled over for a $50 speeding ticket (a large sum at the time), he gave the officer a $100 bill; when the officer protested that he couldn't make change for that much, Johnson told him to keep the change, as he was going to make his return trip at the same speed. Johnson was also interested in opera
(his favorite being Il Trovatore
) and in history — he was an admirer of Napoleon Bonaparte, believing him to have risen from a similar origin to his own. In 1920, Johnson opened a night club in Harlem; he sold it three years later to a gangster, Owney Madden
, who renamed it the Cotton Club.
Johnson constantly flouted conventions regarding the social and economic "place" of blacks in American society. As a black man, he broke a powerful taboo
in consorting with white women, and would constantly and arrogantly verbally taunt men (both white and black) inside and outside the ring. Johnson was pompous about his affection for white women, and imperious about his physical prowess, both in and out of the ring. Asked the secret of his staying power by a reporter who had watched a succession of women parade into, and out of, the champion's hotel room, Johnson supposedly said "Eat jellied eels
and think distant thoughts".
Johnson was married three times. All of his wives were white, a fact that caused considerable controversy at the time. In January 1911, Johnson married Etta Terry Duryea. A Brooklyn socialite and former wife of businessman Charles Duryea
, she met Johnson at a car race in 1909. Their romantic involvement was very turbulent. Beaten many times by Johnson and suffering from severe depression, she committed suicide in September 1912, shooting herself with a revolver
.
Less than three months later, on December 4, 1912, Johnson married Lucille Cameron. After Johnson married Cameron, two ministers in the South recommended that Johnson be lynched. Cameron divorced him in 1924 because of infidelity.
The next year, Johnson married Irene Pineau. When asked by a reporter at Johnson's funeral what she had loved about him, she replied, "I loved him because of his courage. He faced the world unafraid. There wasn't anybody or anything he feared."
Johnson had no children.
against "transporting women across state lines for immoral purposes" due to her being an alleged prostitute and due to Johnson being black. Cameron, soon to become his second wife, refused to cooperate and the case fell apart. Less than a month later, Johnson was arrested again on similar charges. This time, the woman, another alleged prostitute named Belle Schreiber, with whom he had been involved in 1909 and 1910, testified against him. In the courtroom of Kenesaw Mountain Landis
, the future Commissioner of Baseball who perpetuated the baseball color line
until his death, Johnson was convicted by an all-white jury in June 1913, despite the fact that the incidents used to convict him took place prior to passage of the Mann Act. He was sentenced to a year and a day in prison.
Johnson skipped bail and left the country, joining Lucille in Montreal
on June 25, before fleeing to France. For the next seven years, they lived in exile in Europe, South America and Mexico
. Johnson returned to the U.S. on July 20, 1920. He surrendered to Federal agents at the Mexican border and was sent to the United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth
to serve his sentence September 1920 as Inmate #15461.
While incarcerated, Johnson found need for a tool that would help tighten loosened fastening devices, and modified a wrench for the task. He patented his improvements on April 18, 1922, as US Patent 1,413,121. He was released on July 9, 1921.
There have been recurring proposals to grant Johnson a posthumous presidential pardon. A bill requesting President George W. Bush
to pardon Johnson in 2008, passed the House, but failed to pass in the Senate. In April 2009, Senator John McCain
, along with Representative Peter King
, filmmaker Ken Burns
and Johnson's great-niece, Linda Haywood, requested a presidential pardon for Johnson from President Barack Obama
. On July 29, 2009, Congress passed a resolution calling on President Obama to issue a pardon.
and John Ballcort, in a benefit fight card for U.S. War Bonds.
On June 10, 1946, Johnson died in a car crash on U.S. Highway 1
near Franklinton, North Carolina
, a small town near Raleigh
, after racing angrily from a diner
that refused to serve him. He was taken to the closest black hospital, Saint Agnes Hospital
in Raleigh. He was 68 years old at the time of his death. He was buried next to Etta Duryea Johnson at Graceland Cemetery
in Chicago. His grave was initially unmarked, but a stone that bears only the name "Johnson" now stands above the plots of Jack, Etta, and Irene Pineau.
and the World Boxing Hall of Fame
. In 2005, the United States National Film Preservation Board
deemed the film of the 1910 Johnson-Jeffries fight "historically significant" and put it in the National Film Registry
.
Johnson's skill as a fighter and the money that it brought made it impossible for him to be ignored by the establishment. In the short term, the boxing world reacted against Johnson's legacy. But Johnson foreshadowed one of the most famous boxers of all time, Muhammad Ali
. In fact, Ali often spoke of how he was influenced by Jack Johnson. Ali identified with Johnson because he felt America ostracized him in the same manner because of his opposition to the Vietnam War
and affiliation with the Nation of Islam
.
In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante
listed Jack Johnson on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans
.
, starring James Earl Jones
as Johnson (known as Jack Jefferson in the movie), and Jane Alexander
as his love interest.
In 2005, filmmaker Ken Burns
produced a 2-part documentary about Johnson's life, Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
, based on the 2004 nonfiction book of the same name by Geoffrey C. Ward.
Folksinger and blues musician Leadbelly
references Johnson in a song
about the Titanic: “Jack Johnson wanna get on board, Captain said I ain't hauling no coal. Fare thee, Titanic, fare thee well. When Jack Johnson heard that mighty shock, mighta seen the man do the Eagle rock. Fare thee, Titanic, fare thee well” (The Eagle Rock was a popular dance at the time). In 1969, American folk singer Jamie Brockett
reworked the Leadbelly song into a satirical talking blues called "The Legend of the U.S.S. Titanic." It should be noted there is no convincing evidence that Johnson was in fact refused passage on the Titanic because of his race, as these songs allege.
Miles Davis
's 1971
album entitled A Tribute to Jack Johnson
was inspired by Johnson. The end of the record features the actor Brock Peters
(as Johnson) saying:
Miles Davis and Wynton Marsalis
both have done soundtracks for documentaries about Johnson. Several hip-hop activists have also reflected on Johnson's legacy, most notably in the album The New Danger
, by Mos Def
, in which songs like "Zimzallabim" and "Blue Black Jack" are devoted to the artist's pugilistic hero. Additionally, both Southern punk rock
band This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb
and alternative country
performer Tom Russell
have songs dedicated to Johnson. Russell's piece is both a tribute and a biting indictment of the racism Johnson faced: “here comes Jack Johnson, like he owns the town, there's a lot of white Americans like to see a man go down… like to see a black man drown.”
Johnson was referenced in the film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
and he is mentioned in the 1940 book Native Son
by author Richard Wright
. Furthermore, 41st street in Galveston is named Jack Johnson Blvd.
Wal-Mart
created a controversy in 2006 when DVD shoppers were directed from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
and Planet of the Apes
to the "similar item" Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
.
Ray Emery
of the Philadelphia Flyers
of the NHL sported a mask with a picture of Johnson on it as a tribute to his love for boxing.
In the trenches of World War One, Johnson's name was used by British troops to describe the impact of German 150 mm heavy artillery shells which had a black colour. In his letters home to his wife, Rupert Edward Inglis (1863–1916), who was a former rugby international and now a Forces Chaplain, describes passing through the town of Albert
:
In Joe R. Lansdale
's short story The Big Blow, Johnson is featured fighting a white boxer brought in by Galveston, Texas's boxing fans to defeat the African American fighter during the 1900 Galveston Hurricane. The story won a Bram Stoker Award
and was expanded into a novel.
Johnson is the subject of the biographical comic book The Original Johnson, by writer/artist Trevor Von Eeden
.
In 2011, Jack Johnson was featured on EA Sports
Fight Night Champion
as downloadable content on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Johnson was part of the "Legends Pack" with Jack Dempsey
, Floyd Patterson
, Joe Louis
, and Rocky Marciano
.
Johnson is a major character in the novel The Killings of Stanley Ketchel (2005), by James Carlos Blake
.
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
. At the height of the Jim Crow era, Johnson became the first African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
world heavyweight boxing champion (1908–1915). In a documentary about his life, Ken Burns
Ken Burns
Kenneth Lauren "Ken" Burns is an American director and producer of documentary films, known for his style of using archival footage and photographs...
notes, "for more than thirteen years, Jack Johnson was the most famous and the most notorious African-American on Earth." Johnson attests that his success in boxing came from the coaching he received from Joe Choynski
Joe Choynski
Joseph Bartlett "Joe" Choynski was an American boxer who fought professionally from 1888 to 1904.-Boxing career:"Chrysanthemum Joe", the son of a Polish immigrant that settled in California in 1867, weighed no more than 176 lb throughout his career but regularly fought heavyweights. He was...
, whom became his cellmate after the pair were arrested for fighting in Texas; where boxing was illegal at the time. The ageing Choynski saw natural talent and determination in Johnson and taught him the nuances of defence; stating A man who can move like you should never have to take a punch.
Early life
Johnson was born in Galveston, TexasGalveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
, the second child and first son of Henry and Tina "Tiny" Johnson, former slaves who worked at blue-collar jobs to raise six children and taught them how to read and write. Henry Johnson traced his ancestry back to the Coromantees
Coromantee people
Coromantee people, also called Coromantins or Coromanti people was the designation for recent Caribbean and South American people who were enslaved and brought from the Gold Coast or modern day Ghana. Coromantins were from several Akan ethnic groups – Ashanti, Fanti, Akyem, etc. – presumably taken...
who came from modern-day Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
. Johnson dropped out of school after just five or six years of education to get a job as a dock worker in Galveston.
Johnson fought the aging Joe Choynski, who knocked him out, but whilst they spent time after the fight in prison together, talked much about boxing. There is a photo existing of them both behind bars. Joe, who also became his friend and sparring partner, taught him a lot. Johnson's boxing style was very distinctive. He developed a more patient approach than was customary in that day, basically playing with his opponents, often carrying on a conversation with ringsiders at the same time as he was fighting. Johnson would begin a bout cautiously, slowly building up over the rounds into a more aggressive fighter. When annoyed, he often fought to punish his opponents rather than knock them out, endlessly avoiding their blows and striking with swift counters. He always gave the impression of having much more to offer and, if pushed, he could punch powerfully. There are films of some of his fights in which he can be seen holding up his opponent, who otherwise might have fallen, until he recovered.
Those were the days when the (mostly white) patrons liked value for money, and it was a habit, especially for black boxers, to make the fight last a respectable time. With the many bouts a fighter engaged in, it was commonplace to have fought the same opponent as many as a dozen or even more times. So it is highly likely that the results of many of these fights were "pre-arranged," and also pre-determined to last a goodly number of rounds.
Johnson's style was very effective, but it was criticized in the press as being cowardly and devious. By contrast, world heavyweight champion "Gentleman" Jim Corbett
James J. Corbett
James John "Gentleman Jim" Corbett was an Irish-American heavyweight boxing champion, best known as the man who defeated the great John L. Sullivan. He also coached boxing at the Olympic Club in San Francisco...
had used many of the same techniques a decade earlier, and was praised by the press as "the cleverest man in boxing."
By 1902, Johnson had won at least 50 fights against both white and black opponents. Johnson won his first title on February 3, 1903, beating "Denver" Ed Martin over 20 rounds for the World Colored Heavyweight Championship
World Colored Heavyweight Championship
The World Colored Heavyweight Championship was a belt issued to black boxers in the early twentieth century. This was the only heavyweight championship available to blacks prior to Jack Johnson being crowned World Heavyweight Champion...
. His efforts to win the full title were thwarted, as world heavyweight champion James J. Jeffries
James J. Jeffries
James Jackson Jeffries was a world heavyweight boxing champion.His greatest assets were his enormous strength and stamina. Using a technique taught to him by his trainer, former welterweight and middleweight champion Tommy Ryan, Jeffries fought out of a crouch with his left arm extended forward...
refused to face him then. Black and white boxers could meet in other competitions, but the world heavyweight championship was off limits to them. However, Johnson did fight former champion Bob Fitzsimmons
Bob Fitzsimmons
Robert James "Bob" Fitzsimmons , was a British boxer who made boxing history as the sport's first three-division world champion. He also achieved fame for beating Gentleman Jim Corbett, the man who beat John L. Sullivan, and is in The Guinness Book of World Records as the Lightest heavyweight...
in July 1907, and knocked him out in two rounds. There is a report that Johnson even fought and KO'd Jim Jeffries' brother Jack, and taunted him about it to force a fight, with no success.
Johnson finally won the world heavyweight title on December 26, 1908, a full six years after lightweight champion Joe Gans
Joe Gans
Joe Gans was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Gans was rated as the greatest lightweight boxer of all time by boxing historian and Ring Magazine founder, Nat Fleischer and was known as the "Old Master". He fought from 1891 to 1909.Gans started boxing professionally about 1891 in Baltimore...
became the first African American boxing champion. Johnson's victory over the reigning world champion, Canadian Tommy Burns
Tommy Burns (boxer)
Tommy Burns , born Noah Brusso, is the only Canadian born world heavyweight champion boxer. The first to travel the globe in defending his title, Tommy made 11 title defenses despite often being the underdog due to his size. Burns famously challenged all comers as Heavyweight Champion, leading to...
, in Sydney, Australia, came after stalking Burns around the world for two years and taunting him in the press for a match. The fight lasted fourteen rounds before being stopped by the police in front of over 20,000 spectators. The title was awarded to Johnson on a referee's decision as a knockout.
After Johnson's victory over Burns, racial animosity among whites ran so deep that it was called out for a "Great White Hope
James J. Jeffries
James Jackson Jeffries was a world heavyweight boxing champion.His greatest assets were his enormous strength and stamina. Using a technique taught to him by his trainer, former welterweight and middleweight champion Tommy Ryan, Jeffries fought out of a crouch with his left arm extended forward...
" to take the title away from Johnson. As title holder, Johnson thus had to face a series of fighters each billed by boxing promoters as a "great white hope," often in exhibition matches
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
. In 1909, he beat Frank Moran
Frank Moran
Charles Francis "Frank" Moran was an American boxer and film actor who fought twice for the Heavyweight Championship of the World, and appeared in over 135 movies in a 25 year film career.-Sports career:...
, Tony Ross, Al Kaufman, and the middleweight champion Stanley Ketchel
Stanley Ketchel
-External links:**...
. The match with Ketchel was originally thought to have been an exhibition, and in fact it was fought by both men that way, until the 12th round, when Ketchel threw a right to Johnson's head, knocking him down. Quickly regaining his feet, and very annoyed, Johnson immediately dashed straight at Ketchell and threw a single punch, an uppercut, a punch for which he was famous, to Ketchel's jaw, knocking him out. Several of Ketchell's teeth were also knocked out with some sticking in Johnson's glove. The filmed fight shows Johnson wiping the teeth off his glove with a smirk. His fight with Philadelphia Jack O'Brien
Philadelphia Jack O'Brien
Joseph Francis Hagan was light heavyweight boxing champion of the world.-Biography:...
was a disappointing one for Johnson: though weighing 205 pounds (93 kg) to O'Brien's 161 pounds (73 kg), he could only achieve a six-round draw with the great middleweight.
The "Fight of the Century"
James J. Jeffries
James Jackson Jeffries was a world heavyweight boxing champion.His greatest assets were his enormous strength and stamina. Using a technique taught to him by his trainer, former welterweight and middleweight champion Tommy Ryan, Jeffries fought out of a crouch with his left arm extended forward...
came out of retirement and said, "I feel obligated to the sporting public at least to make an effort to reclaim the heavyweight championship for the white race. . . . I should step into the ring again and demonstrate that a white man is king of them all." Jeffries had not fought in six years and had to lose well over 100 pounds to get back to his championship fighting weight. Indeed, initially Jeffries had no interest in the fight being quite happy as he was. But those who wanted to see Johnson ground into the dirt badgered him unmercifully for months, and also offered him an unheard sum of money, reputed to be about $120,000.
The fight took place on July 4, 1910 in front of 20,000 people, at a ring built just for the occasion in downtown Reno, Nevada
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
. Johnson proved stronger and more nimble than Jeffries. In the 15th round, after Jeffries had been knocked down twice for the first time in his career, the referee stopped the fight before Jeffries could be knocked out.
The "Fight of the Century" earned Johnson $65,000 and silenced the critics, who had belittled Johnson's previous victory over Tommy Burns as "empty," claiming that Burns was a false champion since Jeffries had retired undefeated.
Riots and aftermath
The outcome of the fight triggered race riotsMass racial violence in the United States
Mass racial violence, also called race riots can include such disparate events as:* attacks on Irish Catholics, the Chinese and other immigrants in the 19th century....
that evening—the Fourth of July
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
—all across the United States, from Texas and Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
to New York and Washington, D.C. Johnson's victory over Jeffries had dashed white dreams of finding a "great white hope" to defeat him. Many whites felt humiliated by the defeat of Jeffries.
Blacks, on the other hand, were jubilant, and celebrated Johnson's great victory as a victory for racial advancement. Black poet William Waring Cuney later highlighted the black reaction to the fight in his poem "My Lord, What a Morning." Around the country, blacks held spontaneous parades and gathered in prayer meetings.
Some "riots" were simply blacks celebrating in the streets. In certain cities, like Chicago, the police did not disturb the celebrations. But in other cities, the police and angry white citizens tried to subdue the revelers. Police interrupted several attempted lynching
Lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...
s. In all, "riots" occurred in more than 25 states and 50 cities. About 23 blacks and two whites died in the riots, and hundreds more were injured.
Film of the bout
A number of leading American film companies joined forces to shoot footage of the Jeffries-Johnson fight and turn it into a feature-length documentary film, at the cost of $250,000. The film was distributed widely in the U.S. and was exhibited internationally as well. As a result, Congress banned prizefight films from being distributed across state lines in 1912; the ban was lifted in 1940. In 2005, the film of the Jeffries-Johnson "Fight of the Century" was entered into the United States National Film RegistryNational Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
as being worthy of preservation.
In the United States, many states and cities banned the exhibition of the Johnson-Jeffries film. The movement to censor Johnson's victory took over the country within three days after the fight. It was a spontaneous movement. Two weeks after the match former President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, an avid boxer and fan, wrote an article for The Outlook
The Outlook (New York)
The Outlook was a weekly magazine, published in New York City.-History:In 1900, the ranking weekly journals of news and opinion were The Independent , The Nation , the Outlook , and in a different class or with a different emphasis, The Literary Digest .-Notable contributors:*Theodore Roosevelt...
in which he supported banning not just moving pictures of boxing matches, but a complete ban on all prize fights in America. He cited the "crookedness" and gambling that surrounded such contests and that moving pictures have "introduced a new method of money getting and of demoralization."
Loss of the title
On April 5, 1915, Johnson lost his title to Jess WillardJess Willard
Jess Willard was a world heavyweight boxing champion. He won the heavyweight title from Jack Johnson in April 1915 and lost it to Jack Dempsey in July 1919....
, a working cowboy from Kansas who started boxing when he was twenty-seven years old. With a crowd of 25,000 at Oriental Park Racetrack
Oriental Park Racetrack
Oriental Park Racetrack in Marianao, Havana, Cuba was a thoroughbred horse racing facility operated during the winter months by the Havana-American Jockey Club of Cuba...
in Havana, Cuba, Johnson was knocked out in the 26th round of the scheduled 45 round fight. Johnson, although having won almost every round, began to tire after the 20th round, and was visibly hurt by heavy body punches from Willard in rounds preceding the 26th round knockout. Johnson is said by many to have spread rumors that he took a dive, but Willard is widely regarded as having won the fight outright. Willard said, "If he was going to throw the fight, I wish he'd done it sooner. It was hotter than hell out there."
Personal life
Testimonial
In promotion and of advertising, a testimonial or show consists of a written or spoken statement, sometimes from a person figure, sometimes from a private citizen, extolling the virtue of some product. The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the sales-pitches attributed to ordinary...
, including patent medicine
Patent medicine
Patent medicine refers to medical compounds of questionable effectiveness sold under a variety of names and labels. The term "patent medicine" is somewhat of a misnomer because, in most cases, although many of the products were trademarked, they were never patented...
s, and indulged several expensive hobbies such as automobile racing and tailored clothing, as well as purchasing jewelry and furs for his wives. He even challenged champion racer Barney Oldfield
Barney Oldfield
Berna Eli "Barney" Oldfield was an automobile racer and pioneer. He was born on a farm on the outskirts of Wauseon, Ohio. He was the first man to drive a car at 60 miles per hour on an oval...
to a match auto race at the Sheepshead Bay, New York one mile (1.6 km) dirt track. Oldfield, far more experienced, easily out-distanced Johnson, ending any thoughts the boxer might have had about becoming a professional driver. Once, when he was pulled over for a $50 speeding ticket (a large sum at the time), he gave the officer a $100 bill; when the officer protested that he couldn't make change for that much, Johnson told him to keep the change, as he was going to make his return trip at the same speed. Johnson was also interested in opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
(his favorite being Il Trovatore
Il trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
) and in history — he was an admirer of Napoleon Bonaparte, believing him to have risen from a similar origin to his own. In 1920, Johnson opened a night club in Harlem; he sold it three years later to a gangster, Owney Madden
Owney Madden
Owney "The Killer" Madden was a leading underworld figure in Manhattan, most notable for his involvement in organized crime during Prohibition. He also ran the famous Cotton Club and was a leading boxing promoter in the 1930s.-Early life:Owen Vincent Madden was born at 25 Somerset Street, in...
, who renamed it the Cotton Club.
Johnson constantly flouted conventions regarding the social and economic "place" of blacks in American society. As a black man, he broke a powerful taboo
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
in consorting with white women, and would constantly and arrogantly verbally taunt men (both white and black) inside and outside the ring. Johnson was pompous about his affection for white women, and imperious about his physical prowess, both in and out of the ring. Asked the secret of his staying power by a reporter who had watched a succession of women parade into, and out of, the champion's hotel room, Johnson supposedly said "Eat jellied eels
Jellied eels
Jellied eels is a traditional English dish that originated in the 18th century, primarily in London's East End. The dish consists of chopped eels boiled in a spiced stock that is allowed to cool and set, forming a jelly...
and think distant thoughts".
Johnson was married three times. All of his wives were white, a fact that caused considerable controversy at the time. In January 1911, Johnson married Etta Terry Duryea. A Brooklyn socialite and former wife of businessman Charles Duryea
Charles Duryea
Charles Edgar Duryea was the engineer of the first-ever working American gasoline-powered car. He was born near Canton, Illinois, the son of George Washington Duryea and Louisa Melvina Turner and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but spent most of his life working in Springfield, Massachusetts...
, she met Johnson at a car race in 1909. Their romantic involvement was very turbulent. Beaten many times by Johnson and suffering from severe depression, she committed suicide in September 1912, shooting herself with a revolver
Revolver
A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...
.
Less than three months later, on December 4, 1912, Johnson married Lucille Cameron. After Johnson married Cameron, two ministers in the South recommended that Johnson be lynched. Cameron divorced him in 1924 because of infidelity.
The next year, Johnson married Irene Pineau. When asked by a reporter at Johnson's funeral what she had loved about him, she replied, "I loved him because of his courage. He faced the world unafraid. There wasn't anybody or anything he feared."
Johnson had no children.
Prison sentence
On October 18, 1912, Johnson was arrested on the grounds that his relationship with Lucille Cameron violated the Mann ActMann Act
The White-Slave Traffic Act, better known as the Mann Act, is a United States law, passed June 25, 1910 . It is named after Congressman James Robert Mann, and in its original form prohibited white slavery and the interstate transport of females for “immoral purposes”...
against "transporting women across state lines for immoral purposes" due to her being an alleged prostitute and due to Johnson being black. Cameron, soon to become his second wife, refused to cooperate and the case fell apart. Less than a month later, Johnson was arrested again on similar charges. This time, the woman, another alleged prostitute named Belle Schreiber, with whom he had been involved in 1909 and 1910, testified against him. In the courtroom of Kenesaw Mountain Landis
Kenesaw Mountain Landis
Kenesaw Mountain Landis was an American jurist who served as a federal judge from 1905 to 1922 and as the first Commissioner of Baseball from 1920 until his death...
, the future Commissioner of Baseball who perpetuated the baseball color line
Baseball color line
The color line in American baseball excluded players of black African descent from Organized Baseball, or the major leagues and affiliated minor leagues, until Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization for the 1946 season...
until his death, Johnson was convicted by an all-white jury in June 1913, despite the fact that the incidents used to convict him took place prior to passage of the Mann Act. He was sentenced to a year and a day in prison.
Johnson skipped bail and left the country, joining Lucille in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
on June 25, before fleeing to France. For the next seven years, they lived in exile in Europe, South America and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Johnson returned to the U.S. on July 20, 1920. He surrendered to Federal agents at the Mexican border and was sent to the United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth
United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth
The United States Penitentiary , Leavenworth was the largest maximum security federal prison in the United States from 1903 until 2005. It became a medium security prison in 2005.It is located in Leavenworth, Kansas...
to serve his sentence September 1920 as Inmate #15461.
While incarcerated, Johnson found need for a tool that would help tighten loosened fastening devices, and modified a wrench for the task. He patented his improvements on April 18, 1922, as US Patent 1,413,121. He was released on July 9, 1921.
There have been recurring proposals to grant Johnson a posthumous presidential pardon. A bill requesting President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
to pardon Johnson in 2008, passed the House, but failed to pass in the Senate. In April 2009, Senator John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
, along with Representative Peter King
Peter T. King
Peter T. "Pete" King is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party. King's central Long Island district includes parts of Nassau and Suffolk counties....
, filmmaker Ken Burns
Ken Burns
Kenneth Lauren "Ken" Burns is an American director and producer of documentary films, known for his style of using archival footage and photographs...
and Johnson's great-niece, Linda Haywood, requested a presidential pardon for Johnson from President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
. On July 29, 2009, Congress passed a resolution calling on President Obama to issue a pardon.
Later life
Johnson continued fighting, but age was catching up with him. He fought professionally until 1938 at age 60 when he lost 7 of his last 9 bouts, losing his final fight to Walter Price by a 7th-round TKO. It is often suggested that any bouts after the age of 40 -which was a very venerable age for boxing in those days- be not counted on his actual record, since he was basically performing to make a living, for money. He also indulged in what was known as "cellar" fighting, where the bouts, unadvertised, were fought for private audiences, usually in cellars, or other unrecognised places. There are photographs existing of one of these fights. Johnson made his final ring appearance at age 67 on November 27, 1945, fighting three one minute exhibition rounds against two opponents, Joe JeanetteJoe Jeanette
Jeremiah "Joe" Jeannette is considered one of the best African-American heavyweight boxers of the early 20th century.-Early life and career:...
and John Ballcort, in a benefit fight card for U.S. War Bonds.
On June 10, 1946, Johnson died in a car crash on U.S. Highway 1
U.S. Route 1 in North Carolina
U.S. Route 1 is an north–south United States highway that runs for from the South Carolina state line, near Rockingham, to the Virginia state line, near Wise...
near Franklinton, North Carolina
Franklinton, North Carolina
Franklinton is a town in Franklin County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,745 at the 2000 census. It is home to a plant operated by Novozymes. Novozymes North America Inc...
, a small town near Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
, after racing angrily from a diner
Diner
A diner, also spelled dinor in western Pennsylvania is a prefabricated restaurant building characteristic of North America, especially in the Midwest, in New York City, in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey, and in other areas of the Northeastern United States, although examples can be found throughout...
that refused to serve him. He was taken to the closest black hospital, Saint Agnes Hospital
St. Augustine's College (Raleigh)
Saint Augustine's College is a historically black college located in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. The college was founded in 1867 in Raleigh, North Carolina by prominent Episcopal clergy for the education of freed slaves.- History :...
in Raleigh. He was 68 years old at the time of his death. He was buried next to Etta Duryea Johnson at Graceland Cemetery
Graceland Cemetery
Graceland Cemetery is a large Victorian era cemetery located in the north side community area of Uptown, in the city of Chicago, Illinois, USA. Established in 1860, its main entrance is at the intersection of Clark Street and Irving Park Road...
in Chicago. His grave was initially unmarked, but a stone that bears only the name "Johnson" now stands above the plots of Jack, Etta, and Irene Pineau.
Legacy
Johnson was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1954, and is on the roster of both the International Boxing Hall of FameInternational Boxing Hall of Fame
The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame is located in Canastota, New York, United States, within driving distance from the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown and the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta...
and the World Boxing Hall of Fame
World Boxing Hall of Fame
The World Boxing Hall of Fame is located in Riverside, California, United States, in Southern California. The WBHF is one of two recognized international boxing halls of fame with the other being the International Boxing Hall of Fame , with the IBHOF being the more widely recognized...
. In 2005, the United States National Film Preservation Board
National Film Preservation Board
The United States National Film Preservation Board is the board selecting films for preservation in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. It was established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988...
deemed the film of the 1910 Johnson-Jeffries fight "historically significant" and put it in the National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
.
Johnson's skill as a fighter and the money that it brought made it impossible for him to be ignored by the establishment. In the short term, the boxing world reacted against Johnson's legacy. But Johnson foreshadowed one of the most famous boxers of all time, Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
. In fact, Ali often spoke of how he was influenced by Jack Johnson. Ali identified with Johnson because he felt America ostracized him in the same manner because of his opposition to the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and affiliation with the Nation of Islam
Nation of Islam
The Nation of Islam is a mainly African-American new religious movement founded in Detroit, Michigan by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad in July 1930 to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African-Americans in the United States of America. The movement teaches black pride and...
.
In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante
Molefi Kete Asante
Molefi Kete Asante is an African-American scholar, historian, and philosopher. He is a leading figure in the fields of African American studies, African Studies and Communication Studies...
listed Jack Johnson on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans
100 Greatest African Americans
100 Greatest African Americans is a biographical dictionary of the one hundred historically greatest African Americans , as assessed by Molefi Kete Asante in 2002.-Criteria:...
.
Popular culture
Johnson's story is the basis of the play and subsequent 1970 movie The Great White HopeThe Great White Hope
The Great White Hope is a 1967 play written by Howard Sackler, later adapted in 1970 for a film of the same name. The play was first produced by Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. and debuted on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on October 3, 1968 for a run of 546 performances, directed by Edwin Sherin...
, starring James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
as Johnson (known as Jack Jefferson in the movie), and Jane Alexander
Jane Alexander
Jane Alexander is an American actress, author, and former director of the National Endowment for the Arts. Although perhaps best known for playing the female lead in The Great White Hope on both stage and screen, Alexander has played a wide array of roles in both theater and film and has committed...
as his love interest.
In 2005, filmmaker Ken Burns
Ken Burns
Kenneth Lauren "Ken" Burns is an American director and producer of documentary films, known for his style of using archival footage and photographs...
produced a 2-part documentary about Johnson's life, Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson is a documentary by filmmaker Ken Burns based on the nonfiction book of the same name by Geoffrey C. Ward ....
, based on the 2004 nonfiction book of the same name by Geoffrey C. Ward.
Folksinger and blues musician Leadbelly
Leadbelly
Huddie William Ledbetter was an iconic American folk and blues musician, notable for his strong vocals, his virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the songbook of folk standards he introduced....
references Johnson in a song
The Titanic (song)
"The Titanic" is a folk song and children's song most known for being sung in the United States at summer camp...
about the Titanic: “Jack Johnson wanna get on board, Captain said I ain't hauling no coal. Fare thee, Titanic, fare thee well. When Jack Johnson heard that mighty shock, mighta seen the man do the Eagle rock. Fare thee, Titanic, fare thee well” (The Eagle Rock was a popular dance at the time). In 1969, American folk singer Jamie Brockett
Jamie Brockett
A New England-based folk singer, Jaime Brockett enjoyed cult status in the 1969-early 1970s era. On his debut album, Remember the Wind and the Rain, he plays guitar, banjo, and dulcimer...
reworked the Leadbelly song into a satirical talking blues called "The Legend of the U.S.S. Titanic." It should be noted there is no convincing evidence that Johnson was in fact refused passage on the Titanic because of his race, as these songs allege.
Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
's 1971
1971 in music
-Events:*February 1 – after months of feuding in the press, Ginger Baker and Elvin Jones hold a "drum battle" at The Lyceum.*February 8 – Bob Dylan's hour-long documentary film, Eat the Document, is premièred at New York's Academy of Music...
album entitled A Tribute to Jack Johnson
A Tribute to Jack Johnson
A Tribute to Jack Johnson is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released February 24, 1971 on Columbia Records. It also serves as the soundtrack for a documentary by Bill Cayton about the heavyweight world champion boxer Jack Johnson....
was inspired by Johnson. The end of the record features the actor Brock Peters
Brock Peters
Brock Peters was an American actor, best known for playing the role of Tom Robinson in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird...
(as Johnson) saying:
Miles Davis and Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
both have done soundtracks for documentaries about Johnson. Several hip-hop activists have also reflected on Johnson's legacy, most notably in the album The New Danger
The New Danger
The New Danger is the second studio album by American hip hop artist Mos Def, released October 19, 2004 on Rawkus and Geffen Records in the United States. The album was also released in Canada and continental Europe through Geffen, and it featured distribution in the United Kingdom on Island Records...
, by Mos Def
Mos Def
Dante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...
, in which songs like "Zimzallabim" and "Blue Black Jack" are devoted to the artist's pugilistic hero. Additionally, both Southern punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb
This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb
This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb was a folk-punk band from Pensacola, Florida, USA. Their first recording was released in 1997 on Ghostmeat Records. Their later releases have been on Plan It X Records and No Idea Records, but now appear on their own label Plan-It X South. This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb...
and alternative country
Alternative country
Alternative country is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music...
performer Tom Russell
Tom Russell
Thomas George "Tom" Russell is an American singer-songwriter. Although most strongly identified with the Texas Country music tradition, his music also incorporates elements of folk, Tex-Mex, and the cowboy music of the American West. Many of his songs have been recorded by other artists, including...
have songs dedicated to Johnson. Russell's piece is both a tribute and a biting indictment of the racism Johnson faced: “here comes Jack Johnson, like he owns the town, there's a lot of white Americans like to see a man go down… like to see a black man drown.”
Johnson was referenced in the film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, or simply Anchorman, is a 2004 American comedy film, directed by Adam McKay and starring Will Ferrell. The film, which was also written by Ferrell and McKay, is a tongue-in-cheek take on the culture of the 1970s, particularly the then-new Action News format...
and he is mentioned in the 1940 book Native Son
Native Son
Native Son is a novel by American author Richard Wright. The novel tells the story of 20-year-old Bigger Thomas, an African American living in utter poverty. Bigger lived in Chicago's South Side ghetto in the 1930s...
by author Richard Wright
Richard Wright (author)
Richard Nathaniel Wright was an African-American author of sometimes controversial novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction. Much of his literature concerns racial themes, especially those involving the plight of African-Americans during the late 19th to mid 20th centuries...
. Furthermore, 41st street in Galveston is named Jack Johnson Blvd.
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
created a controversy in 2006 when DVD shoppers were directed from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 2005 film adaptation of the 1964 book of the same name by Roald Dahl. The film was directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket and Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka...
and Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes (2001 film)
Planet of the Apes is a 2001 American science fiction film, based on Pierre Boulle's novel and a remake of the 1968 film of the same name. Tim Burton directed the film, which stars Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Clarke Duncan, Paul Giamatti, and Estella Warren. It tells the...
to the "similar item" Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson is a documentary by filmmaker Ken Burns based on the nonfiction book of the same name by Geoffrey C. Ward ....
.
Ray Emery
Ray Emery
Ray Emery , often nicknamed Razor or Sugar Ray, is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender, currently with the Chicago Blackhawks. He formerly played for the Anaheim Ducks, Philadelphia Flyers, and the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League and Atlant Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey...
of the Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
of the NHL sported a mask with a picture of Johnson on it as a tribute to his love for boxing.
In the trenches of World War One, Johnson's name was used by British troops to describe the impact of German 150 mm heavy artillery shells which had a black colour. In his letters home to his wife, Rupert Edward Inglis (1863–1916), who was a former rugby international and now a Forces Chaplain, describes passing through the town of Albert
Albert, Somme
Albert is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.It is located about halfway between Amiens and Bapaume.-History:Albert was founded as a Roman outpost called Encre, in about 54 BC...
:
We went through the place today (2 October 1915) where the Virgin Statue at the top of the Church was hit by a shell in January. The statue was knocked over, but has never fallen, I sent you a picture of it. It really is a wonderful sight. It is incomprehensible how it can have stayed there, but I think it is now lower than when the photograph was taken, and no doubt will come down with the next gale. The Church and village are wrecked, there’s a huge hole made by a Jack Johnson just outside the west door of the Church.
In Joe R. Lansdale
Joe R. Lansdale
Joe R. Lansdale is an American author and martial-arts expert. He has written novels and stories in many genres, including Western, horror, science fiction, mystery, and suspense...
's short story The Big Blow, Johnson is featured fighting a white boxer brought in by Galveston, Texas's boxing fans to defeat the African American fighter during the 1900 Galveston Hurricane. The story won a Bram Stoker Award
Bram Stoker Award
The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented by the Horror Writers Association for "superior achievement" in horror writing. The awards have been presented annually since 1987, and the winners are selected by ballot of the Active members of the HWA...
and was expanded into a novel.
Johnson is the subject of the biographical comic book The Original Johnson, by writer/artist Trevor Von Eeden
Trevor Von Eeden
Trevor Von Eeden is a comic book writer/artist who, known for his work on such DC Comics books as Black Lightning, Batman, and Green Arrow, as well as Marvel Comics books such as Power Man and Iron Fist, and the biographical series The Original Johnson.-Early life:According to Von Eeden, he...
.
In 2011, Jack Johnson was featured on EA Sports
EA Sports
EA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...
Fight Night Champion
Fight Night Champion
Fight Night Champion is a boxing video game developed by EA Canada and published by EA Sports. It is the fifth entry in the Fight Night series and was released on March 1, 2011 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360...
as downloadable content on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Johnson was part of the "Legends Pack" with Jack Dempsey
Jack Dempsey
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first...
, Floyd Patterson
Floyd Patterson
Floyd Patterson was an American heavyweight boxer and former undisputed heavyweight champion. At 21, Patterson became the youngest man to win the world heavyweight title. He was also the first heavyweight boxer to regain the title. He had a record of 55 wins 8 losses and 1 draw, with 40 wins by...
, Joe Louis
Joe Louis
Joseph Louis Barrow , better known as Joe Louis, was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949. He is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time...
, and Rocky Marciano
Rocky Marciano
Rocky Marciano , born Rocco Francis Marchegiano, was an American boxer and the heavyweight champion of the world from September 23, 1952, to April 27, 1956. Marciano is the only champion to hold the heavyweight title and go undefeated throughout his career. Marciano defended his title six times...
.
Johnson is a major character in the novel The Killings of Stanley Ketchel (2005), by James Carlos Blake
James Carlos Blake
James Carlos Blake is an American writer of novels, novellas, short stories, and essays. His work has received extensive critical favor and several notable awards...
.
Professional boxing record
| 73 Wins (40 knockouts, 30 decisions, 3 disqualifications), 13 Losses (7 knockouts, 5 decisions, 1 disqualification), 10 Draws, 5 No Contests | |||||||
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Rd., Time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exhibition | 73-13-10 |  John Ballcort |
Exh | 3 | November 27, 1945 |  New York CityNew York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... , NY New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... |
|
| Exhibition | 73-13-10 | Joe Jeanette |
Exh | 3 | November 27, 1945 | New York City New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... , NY New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... |
|
| Loss | 73-13-10 | Walter Price |
KO | 7 | September 1, 1938 |  BostonBoston Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had... , MA Massachusetts The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010... |
|
| Win | 73-12-10 | Dick Anderson |
KO | 3 | November 29, 1932 |  Chicago, ILIllinois Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,... |
|
| Win | 72-12-10 | Brad Simmons |
KO | 2 | April 28, 1931 |  WichitaWichita, Kansas Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area... , KS Kansas Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south... |
|
| Loss | 71-12-10 | Brad Simmons |
Decision | 10 | March 4, 1931 |  TulsaTulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's... , OK Oklahoma Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state... |
|
| Loss | 71-11-10 | Bill Hartwell |
TKO | 6 | May 15, 1928 |  Kansas CityKansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties... , MO Missouri Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It... |
|
| Loss | 71-10-10 | Bearcat Wright |
KO | 5 | April 16, 1928 | Topeka Topeka, Kansas Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was... , KS |
|
| Loss | 71-9-10 | Brad Simmons |
Decision | 10 | September 6, 1926 | Ponca City Ponca City, Oklahoma Ponca City is a small city in Kay and Osage counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, which was named after the Ponca Tribe. Located in north central Oklahoma, it lies approximately south of the Kansas border, and approximately east of Interstate 35. 25,919 people called Ponca City home at the... , OK |
|
| Loss | 71-8-10 | Battling Norfolk |
Decision | 10 | July 1, 1926 | Unknown | |
| Loss | 71-7-10 | Bob Lawson |
TKO | 7 | May 30, 1926 |  JuárezCiudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez , officially known today as Heroica Ciudad Juárez, but abbreviated Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande... , MEX Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... |
|
| Win | 71-6-10 | Pat Lester |
Decision | 15 | May 2, 1926 | Nogales Nogales, Sonora Heroica Nogales , more commonly known as Nogales, is a city and its surrounding municipality on the northern border of the Mexican State of Sonora. The municipality covers an area of 1,675 km², and borders to the north the city of Nogales, Arizona, United States, across the U.S.-Mexico border... , MEX |
|
| Win | 70-6-10 | Homer Smith |
Decision | 10 | February 22, 1924 |  MontrealMontreal Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America... , CAN Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
|
| Win | 69-6-10 | Jack Thompson |
Decision | 12 | May 20, 1923 |  HavanaHavana Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous... , CUB Cuba The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city... |
|
| Win | 68-6-10 | Farmer Lodge |
KO | 4 | May 6, 1923 | Havana, CUB |
|
| Win | 67-6-10 | Joe Boykin |
KO | 5 | May 28, 1921 | Leavenworth Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth is the largest city and county seat of Leavenworth County, in the U.S. state of Kansas and within the Kansas City, Missouri Metropolitan Area. Located in the northeast portion of the state, it is on the west bank of the Missouri River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was... , KS |
|
| Win | 66-6-10 | Jack Townsend |
KO | 6 | April 15, 1921 | Leavenworth, KS |
|
| Win | 65-6-10 | Jack Johnson |
Decision | 4 | November 25, 1920 | Leavenworth, KS |
|
| Win | 64-6-10 | Frank Owens |
KO | 6 | November 25, 1920 | Leavenworth, KS |
|
| Win | 63-6-10 | George Roberts |
KO | 3 | September 28, 1920 | Tijuana Tijuana Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics... , MEX |
|
| Win | 62-6-10 | Bob Wilson | KO | 3 | April 18, 1920 | Mexicali Mexicali Mexicali is the capital of the State of Baja California, seat of the Municipality of Mexicali, and 2nd largest city in Baja California. The City of Mexicali has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the population of the entire metropolitan area reaches 936,826.The city... , MEX |
|
| Win | 61-6-10 | Marty Cutler |
KO | 6 | September 28, 1919 | Mexico City, MEX |
|
| Win | 60-6-10 | Tom Cowler | KO | 15 | August 10, 1919 | Nuevo Laredo Nuevo Laredo Nuevo Laredo is a city located in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Río Grande, across from the United States city of Laredo, Texas. The 2010 census population of the city was 373,725. Nuevo Laredo is part of the Laredo-Nuevo... , MEX |
|
| Win | 59-6-10 | Bob Roper |
Decision | 10 | June 22, 1919 | Mexico City, MEX |
|
| Win | 58-6-10 | Bill Flint | KO | 2 | February 12, 1919 |  MadridMadrid Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan... , ESP Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... |
|
| Win | 57-6-10 | Blink McCloskey |
Decision | 4 | April 3, 1918 | Madrid, ESP |
|
| Win | 56-6-10 |  Arthur Cravan |
KO | 6 | April 23, 1916 | Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of... , ESP Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... |
|
| Win | 55-6-10 |  Frank Crozier |
TKO | Unknown | March 23, 1916 | Madrid, ESP |
|
| Loss | 54-6-10 | Jess Willard Jess Willard Jess Willard was a world heavyweight boxing champion. He won the heavyweight title from Jack Johnson in April 1915 and lost it to Jack Dempsey in July 1919.... |
KO | 26 , 1:26 | April 5, 1915 | Havana, CUB |
|
| Win | 54-5-10 | Jack Murray |
KO | 3 | December 15, 1914 |  Buenos AiresBuenos Aires Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent... , ARG Argentina Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires... |
|
| Win | 53-5-10 | Frank Moran Frank Moran Charles Francis "Frank" Moran was an American boxer and film actor who fought twice for the Heavyweight Championship of the World, and appeared in over 135 movies in a 25 year film career.-Sports career:... |
Decision | 20 | June 27, 1914 | Paris, FRA France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
|
| Draw | 52-5-10 | Jim Johnson Battling Jim Johnson "Battling" Jim Johnson was an American boxer. Johnson was a contender in the heavyweight division during the 1910s, fighting the likes of Sam Langford, Joe Jeanette, Sam McVea, Harry Wills and Kid Norfolk on numerous occasions... |
Draw | 10 | December 19, 1913 | Paris, FRA |
|
| Win | 52–5–9 | Jim Flynn Fireman Jim Flynn Andrew Chiariglione, usually known as Fireman Jim Flynn, was an American boxer of the early twentieth century.-Biography:... |
TKO | 9 | July 4, 1912 |  Las VegasLas Vegas, New Mexico Las Vegas is a city in San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. Once two separate municipalities both named Las Vegas, west Las Vegas and east Las Vegas , divided by the Gallinas River, retain distinct characters and separate, rival school districts. The population was 14,565 at the 2000... , NM New Mexico New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S... |
|
| Win | 51–5–9 | James J. Jeffries James J. Jeffries James Jackson Jeffries was a world heavyweight boxing champion.His greatest assets were his enormous strength and stamina. Using a technique taught to him by his trainer, former welterweight and middleweight champion Tommy Ryan, Jeffries fought out of a crouch with his left arm extended forward... |
TKO | 15 , 2:20 | July 4, 1910 |  RenoReno, Nevada Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area... , NV Nevada Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its... |
|
| Win | 50–5–9 | Stanley Ketchel Stanley Ketchel -External links:**... |
KO | 12 | October 16, 1909 |  ColmaColma, California Colma is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, at the northern end of the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 1,792 at the 2010 census. The town was founded as a necropolis in 1924.... , CA California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area... |
|
| Win | 49–5–9 | Al Kaufmann |
Decision | 10 | September 9, 1909 | San Francisco, CA |
|
| Win | 48–5–9 | Tony Ross |
Decision | 6 | June 30, 1909 |  Pittsburgh, PAPennsylvania The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to... |
|
| Draw | 47–5–9 | Jack O'Brien Philadelphia Jack O'Brien Joseph Francis Hagan was light heavyweight boxing champion of the world.-Biography:... |
Draw | 6 | May 19, 1909 | Philadelphia, PA |
|
| Win | 47–5–8 |  Tommy BurnsTommy Burns (boxer) Tommy Burns , born Noah Brusso, is the only Canadian born world heavyweight champion boxer. The first to travel the globe in defending his title, Tommy made 11 title defenses despite often being the underdog due to his size. Burns famously challenged all comers as Heavyweight Champion, leading to... |
Decision | 14 | December 26, 1908 |  Sydney, AUS |
|
| Win | 46–5–8 | Ben Taylor | TKO | 8 | July 31, 1908 | Plymouth Plymouth Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound... , ENG England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental... |
|
| Win | 45–5–8 | Jim Flynn |
KO | 11 , 1:30 | November 6, 1907 | San Francisco, CA |
|
| Win | 44–5–8 | Sailor Burke Sailor Burke Charles Prasser also known as Sailor Burke was a New York City welterweight champion boxer who fought against Jack Johnson in 1907. His last fight was in 1916 against Jess Willard.... |
Decision | 6 | September 12, 1907 |  BridgeportBridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area... , CT Connecticut Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately... |
|
| Win | 43–5–8 | Kid Cutler |
KO | 1 | August 28, 1907 | Reading Reading, Pennsylvania Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,... , PA |
|
| Win | 42–5–8 | Bob Fitzsimmons Bob Fitzsimmons Robert James "Bob" Fitzsimmons , was a British boxer who made boxing history as the sport's first three-division world champion. He also achieved fame for beating Gentleman Jim Corbett, the man who beat John L. Sullivan, and is in The Guinness Book of World Records as the Lightest heavyweight... |
KO | 2 | July 17, 1907 | Philadelphia, PA |
|
| Win | 41–5–8 | Bill Lang Bill Lang Bill Lang was an Australian professional boxer who held the national heavyweight title. He was also an Australian rules footballer who played with Richmond in the Victorian Football League .... |
TKO | 9 | March 4, 1907 | Melbourne, AUS |
|
| Win | 40–5–8 | Peter Felix Peter Felix (boxer) Peter Felix was a boxer from Australia.Peter Felix was born on 17 July 1866 on the West Indian Island of St.Croix, the same birthplace as the immortal Peter Jackson, who he claimed to be his first cousin... |
KO | 1 | February 19, 1907 | Sydney, AUS |
|
| Draw | 39–5–8 | Joe Jeanette Joe Jeanette Jeremiah "Joe" Jeannette is considered one of the best African-American heavyweight boxers of the early 20th century.-Early life and career:... |
Decision | 10 | November 26, 1906 |  PortlandPortland, Maine Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000... , ME Maine Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost... |
|
| Win | 39–5–7 | Jim Jeffords |
Decision | 6 | November 8, 1906 | Lancaster Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities... , PA |
|
| Win | 38–5–7 | Joe Jeanette |
Decision | 6 | September 20, 1906 | Philadelphia, PA |
|
| Draw | 37–5–7 | Billy Dunning |
Draw | 10 | September 3, 1906 | Millinocket Millinocket, Maine Millinocket is a former mill town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,203 at the 2000 census. Millinocket is both a forest products and recreational area.-History:... , ME |
|
| Win | 37–5–6 | Charlie Haghey |
KO | 2 | June 18, 1906 | Gloucester Gloucester, Massachusetts Gloucester is a city on Cape Ann in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is part of Massachusetts' North Shore. The population was 28,789 at the 2010 U.S. Census... , MA |
|
| Win | 36–5–6 | Sam Langford Sam Langford Sam Langford was a Black Canadian boxing standout of the early part of the 20th century. Called the "Greatest Fighter Nobody Knows," by ESPN. He was rated #2 by The Ring on their list of "100 greatest punchers of all time". Langford was originally from Weymouth Falls, a small community in Nova... |
Decision | 15 | April 26, 1906 | Chelsea Chelsea, Massachusetts Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. It is the smallest city in Massachusetts in land area, and the 26th most densely populated incorporated place in the country.-History:... , MA |
|
| Win | 35–5–6 | Black Bill |
KO | 7 | April 16, 1906 | Wilkes-Barre Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the county seat of Luzerne County. It is at the center of the Wyoming Valley area and is one of the principal cities in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 Census... , PA |
|
| Win | 34–5–6 | Joe Jeanette |
Decision | 15 | March 14, 1906 |  Baltimore, MDMaryland Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east... |
|
| Win | 33–5–6 | Bob Kerns |
KO | 1 | January 26, 1906 | Topeka, KS |
|
| Win | 32–5–6 | Joe Jeanette |
Decision | 3 | January 16, 1906 | New York City, NY New York New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east... |
|
| NC | 31–5–6 | Joe Jeanette |
No decision | 6 | December 2, 1905 | Philadelphia, PA |
|
| Win | 31–5–6 | Peter Jackson |
Decision | 12 | December 1, 1905 | Baltimore, MD |
|
| Loss | 30–5–6 | Joe Jeanette |
Disqualification | 2 | November 25, 1905 | Philadelphia, PA |
|
| Win | 30–4–6 | Joe Grim |
Decision | 6 | July 24, 1905 | Philadelphia, PA |
|
| Win | 29–4–6 | Sandy Ferguson Sandy Ferguson Sandy Ferguson was a professional boxer. Ferguson eventually moved to Chelsea, Massachusetts, where he began his professional career in 1898. Ferguson won his first three fights with ease, defeating Sid West on points twice and Paul Watson via first-round knockout... |
Disqualification | 7 | July 18, 1905 | Chelsea, MA |
|
| Win | 28–4–6 | Morris Harris |
Decision | 3 | July 13, 1905 | Philadelphia, PA |
|
| Win | 27–4–6 | Black Bill |
KO | 1 | July 13, 1905 | Philadelphia, PA |
|
| Win | 26–4–6 | Jack Munroe |
Decision | 6 | June 26, 1905 | Philadelphia, PA |
|
| NC | 25–4–6 | Joe Jeanette |
No decision | 6 | May 19, 1905 | Philadelphia, PA |
|
| Win | 25–4–6 | Walter Johnson |
KO | 3 | May 9, 1904 | Philadelphia, PA |
|
| Draw | 24–4–6 | Joe Jeanette |
Draw | 3 | May 9, 1904 | Philadelphia, PA |
|
| Win | 24–4–5 | Black Bill |
KO | 4 | May 2, 1904 | Philadelphia, PA |
|
| Win | 23–4–5 | Jim Jeffords |
KO | 4 | April 25, 1905 | Philadelphia, PA |
|
| Loss | 22–4–5 | Marvin Hart Marvin Hart Marvin Hart was the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion from July 3, 1905 to February 23, 1906.- Career :... |
Decision | 20 | March 28, 1905 | San Francisco, CA |
|
| Win | 22–3–5 | Ed Martin |
KO | 2 | October 18, 1904 | Los Angeles, CA |
|
| Win | 21–3–5 | Frank Childs |
Decision | 6 | June 2, 1904 | Chicago, IL |
|
| Win | 20–3–5 | Sam McVey Sam McVey Sam McVey or Sam McVea was a Hall of Fame heavyweight boxer during the early 20th century. He fought out of Oxnard, California. McVey ranked alongside Sam Langford and Joe Jeanette as one of the top black fighters during a famed career that took him across the globe... |
KO | 20 | April 22, 1904 | San Francisco, CA |
|
| Win | 19–3–5 | Black Bill |
Decision | 6 | February 15, 1904 | Philadelphia, PA |
|
| NC | 18–3–5 | Sandy Ferguson |
No contest | 5 | February 6, 1904 | Philadelphia, PA |
|
| Win | 18–3–5 | Sandy Ferguson |
Decision | 20 | December 11, 1903 | Colma, CA |
|
| Win | 17–3–5 | Sam McVey |
Decision | 20 | October 27, 1903 | Los Angeles, CA |
|
| Win | 16–3–5 | Sandy Ferguson |
Decision | 6 | July 31, 1903 | Philadelphia, PA |
|
| Win | 15–3–5 | Joe Butler |
KO | 3 | May 11, 1903 | Philadelphia, PA |
|
| Win | 14–3–5 | Sandy Ferguson |
Decision | 10 | April 16, 1903 | Boston, MA |
|
| Win | 13–3–5 | Sam McVey |
Decision | 20 | February 26, 1903 | Los Angeles, CA |
|
| Win | 12–3–5 | Ed Martin |
Decision | 20 | February 5, 1903 | Los Angeles, CA |
|
| Win | 11–3–5 | Fred Russell |
Disqualification | 8 | December 4, 1902 | Los Angeles, CA |
|
| Win | 10–3–5 |  George GardinerGeorge Gardiner (boxer) George Gardner , was a famous Irish-born American boxer who was the first undisputed Light - Heavyweight Champion of the World. He held claims to both the World Middleweight Title as well as the World Heavyweight Title. Gardner is one of the biggest names in boxing history and one of the most... |
Decision | 20 | October 31, 1902 | San Francisco, CA |
|
| Win | 9–3–5 | Frank Childs |
TKO | 12 | October 21, 1902 | Los Angeles, CA |
|
| Win | 8–3–5 | Pete Everett |
Decision | 20 | September 3, 1902 |  VictorVictor, Colorado Victor is a Statutory City in Teller County, Colorado, United States. The population was 445 at the 2000 census.Victor is in the heart of Colorado's gold country, home to two of the major gold mines in the Cripple Creek mining district... , CO Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains... |
|
| Draw | 7–3–5 | Hank Griffin |
Draw | 20 | June 20, 1902 | Los Angeles, CA |
|
| Win | 7–3–4 | Jack Jeffries |
KO | 5 | May 16, 1902 | Los Angeles, CA |
|
| Win | 6–3–4 | Joe Kennedy |
KO | 4 | March 7, 1902 | Oakland Oakland, California Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724... , CA |
|
| Win | 5–3–4 | Dan Murphy |
KO | 10 | February 7, 1902 | Waterbury, CT |
|
| Draw | 4–3–4 | Hank Griffin |
Draw | 15 | December 27, 1901 | Oakland, CA |
|
| Loss | 4–3–3 | Hank Griffin |
Decision | 20 | November 4, 1901 | Bakersfield Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively.... , CA |
|
| Draw | 4–2–3 | Billy Stift |
Draw | 10 | April 26, 1901 | Denver, CO |
|
| Loss | 4–2–2 | Joe Choynski Joe Choynski Joseph Bartlett "Joe" Choynski was an American boxer who fought professionally from 1888 to 1904.-Boxing career:"Chrysanthemum Joe", the son of a Polish immigrant that settled in California in 1867, weighed no more than 176 lb throughout his career but regularly fought heavyweights. He was... |
KO | 3 | May 25, 1901 |  GalvestonGalveston, Texas Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of... , TX Texas Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in... |
|
| Draw | 4–1–2 | Jim Scanlon |
Draw | 7 | January 14, 1901 | Galveston, TX |
|
| Win | 4–1–1 | Klondike |
TKO | 14 | December 27, 1900 |  MemphisMemphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers.... , TN Tennessee Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area... |
|
| Draw | 3–1–1 | Klondike |
Draw | 20 | June 25, 1900 | Galveston, TX |
|
| Win | 3–1 | Jim McCormick |
Disqualification | 6 | April 20, 1900 | Galveston, TX |
|
| NC | 2–1 | William McNeill |
No decision | 4 | April 9, 1900 | Galveston, TX |
|
| NC | 2–1 | Jim McCormick |
No decision | 15 | March 21, 1900 | Galveston, TX |
|
| Loss | 2–1 | Klondike |
TKO | 5 | May 8, 1899 | Chicago, IL |
|
| Win | 2–0 | Ed Johnson |
KO | 5 | November 20, 1897 | Galveston, TX |
|
| Win | 1–0 | Charley Brooks |
KO | 2 | November 1, 1897 | Galveston, TX |
|
External links
- Jack Johnson at Flickr Commons
- Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, a 2 part film by Ken Burns and PBS 2005.
- Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, A Review on Ken Burns' Documentary.
- Extended biography of Jack Johnson
- "The Johnson-Jeffries Fight and Censorship of Black Supremacy", by Barak Orbach.
- Famous Texans - Jack Johnson
- John (Jack) Arthur Johnson
- Harlem 1900-1940: Schomburg Exhibit Jack Johnson
- ESPN.com: Jack Johnson
- Cyber Boxing Zone - Jack Johnson
- Interview with Jack Johnson biographer Geoffery C. Ward
- CBS News - A Pardon for Jack Johnson
- http://www.johnsonjeffries2010.com/index.php
- Jack Johnson and wife Lucille Cameron