Jack Johnson. Johnson, Jack (boxer) Jack Edward Johnson
- Franklinton[d], Franklin, North Carolina, USA
Fight with Sam Langford
On April 26, 1906, meet in the ring with the young and medium-sized, but dangerous heavyweight Sam Langford. At that time, 28-year-old Johnson was approaching the peak of his career and was 13 cm taller and fifteen kilograms heavier than his 20-year-old opponent. The match ended in a convincing victory for Johnson, who knocked Langford down in the middle of the fight. Langford himself later said that this was the only time in his career when he was truly seriously beaten.
Championship fight with Tomy Burns
Jack Johnson vs Tommy Burns
No matter how much “Arthurchik” wanted to take his title from Tommy Burns, it was not easy for the black boxer in America. Johnson's experienced manager Sam Fitzpatrick saw only one opportunity for Jack - to organize a meeting with Tommy outside America, outside its borders. Such an opportunity could present itself during one of the champion's tours.
Tommy Burns himself was not very keen to meet the “Giant from Galveston”, knowing that he outweighed him and was 14.5 cm taller. As a result, Tommy Burns accepted an invitation to meet with Jack Johnson, if his troubles were compensated financially, he estimated the cost of time and effort at 6,000 pounds or 30,000 dollars. At that time it was a fabulous amount of money that no boxer had ever received for a fight. Tommy Burns, having named her, was absolutely sure that they would leave him alone. Imagine his shock when an enterprising businessman who loved boxing, Hugo Mackintosh, showed up. He was ready to satisfy the champion's desire. Hugo Mackintosh did not attach any importance to racial prejudice; the chances of profit were more important to him; he was a man of action. Of course, counting on a good sum, the businessman made the right decision.
On December 26, 1908, at the new stadium, just built in Sydney, Tommy Burns entered the square of the ring, and Johnson was already waiting for him in the opposite corner.
It took the black boxer several rounds for Tommy Burns's entire face to become covered in blood. Johnson did not set himself the goal of quickly cutting his opponent to pieces; on the contrary, he systematically tormented the current champion, on top of that, publicly commenting on everything that was happening in the ring. The fight was obviously unequal and the audience began to demand a stop to such bullying, but the referee was in no hurry to intervene. Only by the 14th round, after Tommy Burns did not have time to get up and again found himself under a hail of blows from the African-American, the police intervened and stopped the fight.
Jack Arthur Johnson became the first black winner of the world's most prestigious award in the most prestigious weight class. This bothered many Americans.
But Jack spends the next year proving his right to own this award, emerging victorious from all the fights offered to him. In the world of boxing, they began to frantically search for someone who could sell off the arrogance of the black man who was always smiling with his irritatingly cheerful, impudent smile.
Fight with James Jeffries
14th round of the Johnson-Jeffries fight.
The excitement around this fight was exceptionally great - 15,760 tickets were sold. Johnson's reward amounted to an unimaginable amount at that time - $120,000 (Jeffries received $90,000). This fight was filmed, and a significant part of the income of the fight organizers, including the already known Tex Rickard, was received from the sale of film rights. However, the hope did not come true. The attention of many was drawn to another ring hero, Jim Jeffries. But this champion, who had already lost his strength and dexterity, had not been in the squared circle of the ring for 5 years, much less not trained a farmer, was knocked down for the first time in a duel, and in the 15th round the fight was stopped - Johnson again triumphed. Tex Rickard served as referee for this fight.
Johnson fully compensated for his humiliation because of the color of his skin - every time he carried out a combination of blows, he loudly and politely addressed his opponent: “I sincerely hope, Jeff, that I didn’t hurt you.” Immediately after the fight, black pogroms swept across many states, racists lynched 11 people, and the film filmed during the battle was banned from showing by the authorities of most states. Jeffries himself most fairly assessed the result of the battle. In an interview the day after the fight, he literally said the following: “No matter how hard I tried, during the entire fight I never managed to hit Jack. If the fight had gone on for a thousand years, I still wouldn’t have gotten him.”
Fight with Jess Willard
On April 5, 1915, in Havana, Johnson met with Jesse Willard. Johnson had an advantage at the beginning of the fight, but by the 20th round the 37-year-old boxer’s strength began to leave him, and in the 26th round, after missing a right uppercut, he was knocked out.
There is a widespread belief that Johnson “lay down” under Willard so as not to go to prison. Jack later allegedly admitted to faking the knockout. As evidence, Jack showed a photograph of him lying on a platform, covering his eyes with his hand from the bright Cuban sun. The indefatigable boxing promoter Nat Fleischer, many years later, received from Jack Johnson a written confession, certified by all rules, that he “surrendered” the fight to Willard for an additional $50,000 in reward and the aforementioned promise of amnesty. We must pay tribute to Fleischer's nobility: he never made Johnson's confession public, saying that he acquired this document only to prevent it from falling into the hands of some less scrupulous journalist in matters of honor. Thus, until now no one has seen this confession, and Fleischer died in 1972 and took this secret with him to the grave. After Fleischer’s death, some of his comrades said that Fleischer himself suspected Johnson that he simply made up a story about giving up the battle in order to sell a letter of recognition and make money on it, as well as to exonerate himself for the defeat. There is film footage of this fight, impartial evidence that Jack Johnson was clearly in the lead for 20 rounds, but then suddenly began to show signs of increasing fatigue and eventually missed a strong right hand from his opponent, which ended the fight. If Jack Johnson really wanted to give up the fight, it is unlikely that he would have boxed for 26 rounds. In addition, scholars of boxing history have discovered a report on this fight, written by an Associated Press columnist immediately after its end, in which the journalist writes with undisguised surprise how Johnson, who had previously been lying motionless on the floor of the ring, quickly jumped to his feet as soon as the referee said "ten". But it is unlikely that we will ever be able to find out how everything really happened.
Possess a world championship belt.
The fight took place on December 26, 1908 in Sydney. Johnson, who had finally gotten hold of Burns, who had eluded him for more than a year, butchered Tommy easily and did it with obvious pleasure. The police interrupted this beating, stopping the fight in the 14th round. Burns was a brave and skilled boxer, but he was inferior in height to Jack Johnson and weighed 10 kg less than the black boxer.
Despite some slowness, Jack Johnson was good at the art of wearing down his opponent.. His height was 184 cm and his weight was 96 kg. This former longshoreman was a master of the now-forgotten art of the feint followed by a merciless, brutal left-handed strike. He knew how to put his opponent in the most disadvantageous position, had excellent defensive technique and moved very competently around the ring. Most experts agreed that he was the best heavyweight fighter in the world since the rivalry between James Corbett and John Sullivan (photo by John Sullivan). But sometimes he also had worthy rivals. So, Sam Langford gave Johnson a good beating in a fight in 1906, but lost the fight.
In 1907, Jack Johnson knocks out Robert Fitzsimmons in the second round.
Following his Australian triumph, Johnson fought a number of boxers in the United States. Among them were: Tony Ross, Jack O'Brien, Al Kaufman.
Then on October 16, 1909, in California, he fought Stanley Ketchel, the US middleweight champion. Katchel was much inferior in weight, height and arm length to Johnson, but he hoped for something. However, in the 12th round, Ketchel, noticing that Johnson had opened up, dealt him a strong blow to the jaw, knocking down the powerful heavyweight. Jack Johnson became enraged, quickly jumped to his feet, assumed a boxing stance and threw a left jab. This was the end of the fight for Stanley Ketchel. He fell backwards and the referee counted to nine - the fight was over.
After these victories, everywhere look for the proverbial "white hope" for Jack Johnson. Managers and entrepreneurs tried to find a fighter of the “Caucasian race,” that is, a white man, who could defeat Johnson, whose violent escapades and numerous affairs with white women had turned public opinion against him.
After serving a year in prison on charges fabricated by racists, Jack Johnson fled the United States to Europe in 1912, and later to South America. And promoters continued to scour the world in search of an outstanding white fighter who could become a serious opponent to Jack from Galveston.
Note that two years earlier Johnson fought with former world champion James Jeffries. Jeffries was instigated by friends, in particular, the famous writer Jack London, who personally saw in Sydney how Johnson easily “dismantled” Tommy Burns. They asked him to enter the ring again in order to return the championship title to a representative of the white race. Tex Rickard, who was both a promoter and a referee, organized a meeting between Jack Johnson and James Jeffries on July 4, 1910 in Reno, Nevada.
Jeffries, by then a mere shadow of his former self, was easy prey for "Galveston Giant" Johnson, who beat him as brutally as he had beaten Tommy Burns. James Jeffries' ordeal (photo by James Jeffries), exhausted, beaten and bloodied, ended midway through the 15th round.
This incident only redoubled the promoters' efforts to find someone who could take the championship belt away from the black man. The search for “white hope” was now in full swing. No wonder, since Johnson's triumph marked the end of more than a century of boxing - an era when white men were everywhere in the leading roles. Europeans and especially Americans at the beginning of the 20th century were for the most part staunch racists, hence the excitement.
All these "white hopes" flourished between 1910 and 1915, they formed an impressive company, a whole dozen of really good boxers. For a time it seemed that Frank Moran would be the most successful candidate, then the sports public's gaze focused on the excellent heavyweight Luther McCarthy. But in a fight with Arthur Pelkey, organized in Calgary (Canada), McCarthy fell unconscious from a blow in the first round, after which the judge declared a knockout. Luther died without regaining consciousness. An autopsy showed that the death of young McCarthy (he was 21 years old) was not caused by Pelkey's blow as such, but by the fact that this tall cowboy from Nebraska had previously suffered a serious neck injury in a fall from a horse.
Then on January 1, 1914, Gunbot Smith of New York knocked out Arthur Pelkey in a 15-round fight in San Francisco and also claimed the right to be called the “white heavyweight champion.” General insanity has reached its peak.
Jack Johnson left America after his fight with Jim Flynn in 1912 in Las Vegas. Jack won this fight, which was stopped by the sheriff in the 9th round. In France, he led a riotous lifestyle, squandered his fortune and in between had several fights with the next “white contenders” for the championship title. He then went to Buenos Aires, where he beat Jack Murray in three rounds.
At 37 years old, the champion, in poor physical shape, with a frustrated financial situation and suffering from nostalgia for a glorious past, was ripe to accept the challenge of some outstanding “white fighter”. Such a fight was organized for him by boxing manager Jack Curley and theatrical producer Harry Frazee. Their choice fell on "Giant" Jess Willard (photo by Jess Willard). And so, on April 5, 1915, the match between Jack Johnson and Jess Willard took place at the Oriental Park stadium on the outskirts of Havana, the capital of Cuba. Under the scorching Cuban sun, Johnson was knocked out in the 26th round.
The photo of this “knockout” (there is an opinion that Jack Johnson gave up the fight so that all charges against him would be dropped) became very famous in sports circles. It shows a dark-skinned professional boxer lying on the floor, as if resting and covering his eyes with gloves from sun rays, and the referee stands over him and counts. Johnson later stated that he lost the fight on purpose and cited this photograph as proof - they say it is clearly visible that he simply relaxed, lay down to rest, and used gloves to “protect his eyes from the scorching sun.”
If the contract had stipulated a fight of 20 rounds, and not 45 - the last fight of such a duration in boxing history, then Willard would not have been able to take the title from Johnson. Jack was clearly in the lead until the very end of the fight. For all 20 rounds, the “Galveston Giant” kept hitting Jess strong blows, however, he could not even knock him down. The expectation that Willard’s main advantage lies precisely in his size, weight, strength and endurance was fully justified.
Jess used the tactic of starving the enemy to death. He clumsily stomped around, figuring that sooner or later the terrible heat would exhaust the strength of both of them, but at the same time he would surpass the champion in endurance. That's how it all happened.
In the 9th round, Willard had a laceration on his right cheek and blood was oozing from his broken lips. From the 10th to the 20th round, Johnson made every effort to finish the fight with a knockout. But in the 21st round it became obvious that Johnson had already “floated” due to the heat and fatigue.
When the bell sounded to announce the start of the 26th round, he slowly walked out of his corner. Jess confronted Jack and delivered a powerful blow to the face. Johnson's head rocked back. Then the Kansas giant struck with his right to the body and immediately with his left in the same place, and when Johnson lowered his protective block lower, he knocked him down with a right to the jaw. Johnson lay on his back, covering his eyes with his gloves, as referee Jack Welsh brought the count to nine.
Johnson died on June 10, 1946, in a car accident in Raleigh, North Carolina. Like this biography of black legendary boxer Jack Johnson.
It is recommended to watch online for free a documentary about boxing, which talks about Jack Johnson's life stories. The documentary is called
Alternatives appear at a turning point in history. As a rule, a sharp historical turn is a turbulent, difficult, but also revolutionary time. It is always accompanied by discontent and sacrifice, while laying the foundation for the future. At this moment, a hero always comes, ready to challenge the existing, stagnant order. A person who is ready to make sacrifices and consequences for the sake of his goals and dreams.
Boxing history is no exception. Today we remember a man who was a symbol of protest against racial discrimination long before Muhammad Ali, a sounding board for American society almost a hundred years before Mike Tyson, and an unashamedly lavish lifestyle decades before Sugar Ray Robinson. This is Jack Johnson - a revolutionary, a rebel and a mocker, who turned the ears of all white America.
“I loved Jack for his courage. He faced the world without fear. There was nothing he was afraid of."(c) Irene Pino Johnson - Jack's last wife.
Chapter 1: The Making of a Hero
John Arthur Johnson (later Jack) was born in Galveston, Texas on March 31, 1878. His parents were former slaves and struggled to make ends meet. Jack was the first of six children. He grew up as a hyperactive child. To help the family, the eldest son quits school in the fifth grade and gets a job at the pier, since his hometown was a port. In addition, young Johnson worked in a stable in his spare time.
In the 1890s adolescence Jack Johnson became involved in fights between African-American children. It was kind of fun for the white people. Such fights usually took place in bars and alleys. The winner collected all the money that grateful spectators threw on the ground. In such battles, the tall Jack quickly earned himself a good reputation and received the sonorous nickname “the giant from Galveston.” (It is worth noting that in best years career, his height was 187 cm, and his weight was 93-94 kg - approx. ToFight).
He became a professional boxer in 1897, at the age of 20, and won the Texas state middleweight title in his first fight, defeating Charlie Brooks. After scoring a couple more victories, Jack Johnson was defeated by technical knockout in the fifth round at the hands of another African-American who declared himself the “black champion of the world,” John “Klondike” Haynes. Next year, Johnson has five fights, including a rematch against Haynes.
In 1901, Jack met in the ring with the oversized, but very skillful and experienced Joe Choynski. This same Choynski came at the invitation of members of the Galveston boxing community, who considered the young Johnson too cocky. Choinski celebrated his early victory in the third round. However, this fight was illegal; immediately after it ended, the fighters were arrested and imprisoned.
In prison, Joe Choynski became Johnson's friend and mentor, teaching him boxing techniques and tactical tricks. He told Jack: “A guy who can move like you should never take a hit.”. And Sheriff Henry Thompson even allowed passersby to enter the prison building and watch Choynski and Johnson sparring. In general, the fighters spent almost a month behind bars - from the end of February to March 22. Upon their release, they both immediately left Galveston.
The "Galveston Giant" moved to Colorado, having two fights there, and then thoroughly moved to California, where the laws regarding fighting were less strict. In 1903, Jack Johnson won his first title, defeating a fighter named Denver Ed Martin over 20 rounds. This title was called the "World Colored Boxing Title". Johnson made his first defense in just 21 days, but in general Jack defended him 17 times in 5 years.
The world generally recognized champion at that time was, who, however, refused to fight the “black” Johnson. In 1906 the situation changed. The new title holder was Canadian Tommy Burns, who immediately challenged champions of all races, countries and continents. Johnson had already won a number of significant victories by that time, including stopping Bob Fitzsimmons, for whom he once worked as a sparring partner, and defeating Sam Langford.
Jack Johnson continued to beat fighters who were somehow approaching a title shot against Burns. The public was not too fond of the somewhat viscous and dirty style of the African American, which was not very spectacular. Johnson, aware of his advantage in power over most opponents, acted reliably on defense, loved grabs and clinches, as well as peculiar blows with a downward-outward movement of the wrist, leaving scars and cuts on the skin of his opponents. The press called his style "cowardly and cunning", but at the time he was very effective.
In addition, Jack did not forget to insult his opponents, he mocked them not only before, but also during the fight. Often he addressed the public directly from the ring, most of whom hated him fiercely.
Finally, in 1908, a promoter named Hugh McIntosh offered champion Tommy Burns a whopping $30,000 to fight Johnson. The fight took place on December 26 in Sydney, Australia. Former champion Jeffries was invited as a referee, but he asked for too much money, and as a result, promoter McIntosh took over the refereeing duties. There were 20,000 spectators in the open stadium. Another 30,000, for whom there was no room, climbed trees, climbed walls, pillars and did everything they could to see the fight with their own eyes.
From the very beginning, Jack Johnson smiled sarcastically and teased his opponent: “Poor little Tommy, who taught you to hit? Your mother?". The fight was stopped in the fourteenth round when police burst into the ring to stop the beating of Burns. However, Tommy himself claimed that he could cope without their intervention. Johnson became the new heavyweight champion of the world. Moreover, he was the first African American to become the heavyweight champion of the world.
Tommy Burns - Jack Johnson
Chapter 2: Challenging racial norms
Having gained widespread fame, Jack became a target for much of the white public in America. An arrogant and proud black man, and even a heavyweight champion - this was unheard of. Many people expected his defeat.
Jack Johnson loved to highlight his wealth and flaunt his contempt for racial rules. He loved gambling and bought furs and expensive clothes. His passion for fast cars was especially pronounced (he repeatedly participated in auto racing without having any licenses) and white women (at that time, marriages between whites and blacks were illegal).
In 1911 he married a white woman from high society named Etta Terry Dureya, but their relationship was not easy, there were rumors that the boxer treated her cruelly. A year later, Etta committed suicide, largely due to public pressure. Three months later, Johnson married another white girl, much younger than him, Lucille Cameron. Her mother was furious; she repeatedly reported to the police about the alleged “kidnapping” of her daughter, but Lucille herself did not testify against her husband. They divorced in 1924 due to Jack's infidelity. His third wife was Irene Pinault.
FACT: On October 25, 1910, Jack challenged racing legend and record holder Barney Oldfield. Despite attempts by the motorsports sanctioning body to prevent the race from taking place, Johnson and Oldfield reached an agreement. They held two races of 5 miles each in Brooklyn. Oldfield finished first in both races.
Accustomed to challenging tradition and public opinion, Jack Johnson instantly became the subject of many stories and legends that spread widely among the boxing public. According to one of them, one day he was driving along a highway in Georgia and was stopped by a police officer. The policeman told Jack that he would have to pay a fine of $50 for speeding. Without hesitation, Johnson handed the policeman a $100 bill and said that no change was needed. When asked by an astonished policeman why 100 and not 50, the boxer replied calmly: “Because I will go back along the same road”.
The public rebelled, which also affected former champion peace - James Jeffries, who began to be inundated with letters and demands to fight Johnson. The famous writer Jack London did not stand aside either, who did not recognize Jack’s championship and in every possible way criticized his victory over Burns. Whites in the south of America even demanded to “lynch” the new champion.
Chapter 3: Johnson v. Jeffries
Jack Johnson did what he had to do - he carried out defense after defense. In 1909, he met the famous middleweight Stanley Ketchel. Stanley wanted a 45-round fight, but the Galveston Giant wanted a 20-round fight. We settled on the second option. However, the fight did not go the full distance. Ketchel found himself on the floor of the ring several times, but in the 12th round he managed to knock Johnson down with a powerful right blow. The African-American was shocked, but, having risen, he attacked Ketchel with lightning speed, knocking him out. At the same time, five of Stanley's teeth were knocked out at the roots as a result of this blow, and two of them remained on Jack's glove, where they were later discovered.
Johnson and Jeffries fought in Reno, Nevada on July 4, 1910, Independence Day. He received the status of “fight of the century”. It was attended by more than 16,000 people, among them many prominent boxers - John. L. Sullivan, Bob Fitzsimmons, Sam Langford and many others.
Out of habit, during the fight Johnson began to tease his opponent. The fight itself, like most of Jack’s fights, was tough and characterized by an abundance of clinches. In the 15th round, after missing several short blows, Jeffries for the first time in his entire professional career was knocked down. He managed to get up, but Johnson immediately threw him over the ropes with another blow. After the next knockdown, the referee decided to stop the fight.
Jeffries immediately admitted that he could not have beaten Johnson even at his peak. Jack's fee was a then-record $117,000. He has again “dissed” white America.
Chapter 4: Pursuit and the End of the Story
The result of the Johnson-Jeffries fight set off a wave of violence across the country. In New Orleans, a black man shouting "Hurray for Johnson" was brutally beaten by a mob of white men before police arrived to help. In Houston, an African American named Charles Williams was stabbed to death by a white man for rooting for Johnson. In Washington, Cincinnati and West Virginia, African Americans were subjected to widespread persecution. The day after the battle, federal newspapers published information about 26 killed and hundreds of wounded.
Jack Johnson was increasingly being bullied; newspapers wrote about his habits and lifestyle literally every day. This was a sensation because in the early 20th century, African Americans were barely mentioned in the “white press” unless they were dangerous criminals.
One day, the champion bought himself a leopard and began to go for a walk through the streets of New York, holding a gilded cane in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other.
In 1912, Johnson was arrested on trumped-up charges of violating the infamous Mann Act*. As mentioned just above, Lucille Cameron's second wife refused to testify against Jack, so a white prostitute named Belle Schreiber testified. Our hero really had connections with her, but even before the adoption of the Mann Act.
*The James Mann Act prohibited sexual coercion, harboring immigrant prostitutes, and more. During the period 1908-1912, kidnapping girls and forcing them into prostitution was a popular business. The text of the law itself was formulated so vaguely that it covered any movement from state to state with a girl, which could be interpreted as something immoral.
For this, the champion was sentenced to imprisonment for more than a year. As a result, Jack Johnson was forced to flee to Canada, and from there managed to get to France. There he continued to fight. In 1913 in Paris, he fought to a draw with Battling Jim Johnson, the first championship fight between two African-American heavyweights in boxing history. John lived in Europe for about seven years and then returned to the United States. He surrendered at the border and ended up in prison, but fought there too.
After serving a year, Johnson continued to perform in the ring, but age took its toll. Jack began to lose more and more often. One of the significant battles recent years was a duel with the giant Jess Willard, in which Johnson had an advantage in most rounds, but in the 26th segment of the fight he missed a blow and was knocked out. He fought his last fight in April 1931, at that time he was over 50 years old.
After finishing his career, our hero tried to become the coach of the rising star Joe Louis, however, Louis's managers believed that Johnson's reputation would not benefit their ward. Jack made money from his name as best he could - he starred in several films, told his life story and gave sports forecasts.
The former champion died in a car accident in North Carolina in 1946 on the way to one of the fights of the legendary Joe Louis. Jack and his friend walked out of a diner where he had been refused service on the basis of race, got into his car and sped down the highway. As reported, the boxer managed to avoid a collision with an oncoming truck, but at the same time he crashed into a pole.
The passenger managed to survive, but Jack did not. He died in the hospital largely due to the fact that, due to racial laws, white doctors could not hospitalize him urgently.
At that time, Johnson was 68 years old. He is buried in Chicago, next to the grave of his first wife. In 1990, Jack Johnson's name was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Several documentaries have been made about him.
“The system wins the moment it manages to make people love their prison.”(c) Frederic Beigbeder
Jack Johnson was ahead of his time. His neglect was enough to live for his own pleasure, while everything around him prevented this. His courage was enough to shake up the established foundations and force them to reckon with themselves. The “Galveston Giant” paved the way for Muhammad Ali and other individuals ready to defend their rights.
"Don't let your dreams remain just dreams"(c) Jack Johnson
Prepared by Alexander Amosov
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Jack Arthur Johnson was born on March 31, 1878 in Galveston, Texas, into a poor black family, and was forced to work from an early age. He left home as a teenager and went through many careers before taking up boxing. It quickly became clear that this was his calling. He began performing as a professional boxer at the age of 16, but little information has been preserved about his first fights. At first, he boxed with varying success until he sufficiently mastered technical skill. He delved into the secrets of defense especially persistently.
In 1906, when the heavyweight champion was Canadian Tommy Burns, who defeated Marvin Hart, Johnson already had over 50 fights, including only three losses. He managed to defeat such serious opponents as Frank Chiles, George Gardner, Sam McVie, Sam Langford, Joe Jeannette, Jim Flynn and former world champion Bob Fitzsimmons. Johnson received two nicknames: “The Giant from Galveston” and, as the blacks called him, “Little Arthur”, or “Arthurchik”.
“Arturchik” at that time weighed about 88 kg with a height of 186.5 cm, and was distinguished by the strength of a bear and the agility of a cat. He really wanted to get Burns' title, but in America it was not easy for a black man to get a championship fight.
But Burns was not at all eager to fight with the “Giant from Galveston,” who was heavier, 14.5 cm taller and, moreover, “colored.” In the end, he agreed to a meeting with Johnson on the condition that he would receive at least 6,000 pounds ($30,000) for his troubles. At that time, this was a staggering amount that had never been paid to boxers for a fight. Burns called her, confident that now he would be left alone. To his amazement, there was an enterprising businessman and boxing enthusiast, Hugo Mackintosh, who accepted the champion's demand. McIntosh was not worried about the racial issue, since he was a man of action, counted on a solid sum and was not mistaken. On December 26, 1908, in a large stadium recently erected on the outskirts of Sydney, Burns went to fight Johnson.
After several rounds, Burns looked pitiful, with blood all over his face.
Johnson did not at all strive to end the match quickly; he systematically smashed his opponent and mocked him out loud in every possible way. The public began to demand an end to the unequal battle, but the referee was in no hurry to intervene. Only in the 14th round, when Burns barely got up and again found himself under an avalanche of blows from the black man, did the police interrupt the meeting. For the first time in the history of boxing, a black man became the world champion in the most prestigious, heavy weight category, and many Americans could not come to terms with this.
Johnson continued to perform in the ring for the rest of his life until he died in a car accident on June 10, 1946. A legendary boxer who had the broadest technical capabilities and powerful blows. He contributed a lot to the development of fighting tactics in the ring. The development of boxing as an art is associated with his name. He came up with the idea of preliminary development of combination actions and, through skillful maneuvers in the ring, creating conditions for their successful implementation. On the lists best boxers Those times, developed by the famous American boxing figure Nat Fleischer, the name of John Johnson is listed at number 1.
Based on materials from the book by A. Rexha
