Jack johnson boxing wiki

The first African-American heavyweight champion, Jack Johnson dared to crash through the color bar that had created two classes of boxers since the sport's beginnings. A gaudy, bold character who lived just as he wanted, Johnson enraged the defenders of white supremacy with his refusal to accept anything less than equality.

He was beloved by blacks and some whites, but thoroughly hated and eventually conquered by those who saw him as a threat to America's divided society.

The son of a former slave, Johnson grew up poor in Galveston, Texas where at that time, blacks were forbidden to use the same sidewalks as whites.

He got a little schooling, then went to work on the docks and elsewhere.

Jack johnson boxing record

Johnson honed his fighting skills in "battle royals," racist spectacles in which several black men fought at once until the last man standing was declared the winner. White audiences then tossed coins to the victor. These crude free-for-alls were often the only venues available to black