jack johnson...

 

The third of nine children, Johnson was born to former slaves Henry and Tina Johnson.  Although Jack’s father had an atrophied right leg from his service in the Civil War, Jack described him as the “most perfect physical specimen that he had ever seen.”

After only five years of schooling, Jack went to work at the local docks. In a pattern seen again and again by physical culture legends, Jack found a mentor.  After taking a job at a race track in Dallas, a carriage painter named Walter Lewis introduced Jack to boxing.  Johnson also found another mentor when he moved to Manhattan and shared housing with the legendary welterweight boxer, Barbados Joe Walcott.  Working as a janitor at a gym, Jack saved enough to buy two pairs of boxing gloves.  This allowed him to spar whenever he could.

Johnson’s official debut as a pro boxer occurred on November 1, 1898 in Galveston, Texas with a knockout victory.  At the turn of the century, prize fighting was illegal in some states and Johnson ended up in jail on account of some of his early matches.  One such instance was Johnson’s fight against Joe Choynski in Galveston, Texas.  Not only did Johnson lose the bout, but professional boxing was against the law in Texas and both fighters ended up in jail without the means to cover their bail.  The sheriff made an arrangement with the boxers.  They could go home at night, as long as they had sparring sessions in the jail cell.  These sessions generated large crowds and from the experience, and with Choynski’s instruction, Jack learned a lot about the intricacies of defense in the ring.  Later, this would become a trademark element of Johnson’s boxing style.

In 1903, Jack won the World Colored Heavyweight Championship.  On December 26, 1908, Johnson broke racial barriers and carved new roads by winning the world heavyweight title.  When he successfully defended the title in 1910 against James Jeffries in the “Fight of the Century,” the victory resulted in riots across the country.

For the duration of his life, Jack was involved with a number of successful business and endorsement deals.  He also continued to fight.  He took his last exhibition match at 67 years of age.