Dec 26, 2012

The Great White Hope

Jack Johnson was the first black man to hold the World Heavyweight Championship, in an era which did not celebrate such an accomplishment. A former champ, James Jefferies, was induced by $100,000 in 1910 to come out of retirement to challenge Johnson. Jefferies was called The Great White Hope. The story became a movie in 1970, starring James Earl Jones. By the time Joe Louis became champion three decades later, although the resentment was gone, he was still referred to as the Negro Champion and the Brown Bomber. A promo for Abe Simon's first Louis fight even refers to Simon as The White Heavyweight. Simon certainly was no bigot, his trainer for the fight was none other than the great Jack Johnson himself;">

2 comments:

  1. It has been great truly stuff, all these historical boxing articles.

    It is unfortunate that you do not receive more public compliments on your work.

    But, I am willing to wager such a lack bothers you none the least ...

    SITTING UP IN NOSE-BLEED SECTION, ENJOYING THE MAGNIFICENT SPECTACLE



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  2. @12:23, glad that you're enjoying them. the idea was to reprint most of the boxing posts during one month, and provide some continuity on the louis era.

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