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Jack Johnson..."Bad Nigger" by Tracy Callis
Jack
Johnson was the first black Heavyweight Champion and, as such, was the hero of
his race. His ability in the ring is unquestioned, possibly unequalled. He
could do it all, do it well, and do it with ease. His
personal conduct outside the ring (and many times within it) is a different
matter. Modesty and humility were no part of this man. He was extremely
arrogant and fun-loving and lived life at a reckless, carefree,
helter-skelter, “get out of my way”, breakneck speed and manner. His
behavior has been described as a public scandal and an irritant to white
America. As a result, he was easily the most hated champion. The effort to dethrone him brought about the search for the “Great White Hope” during his 1908-1915 reign and produced an array of talent that has rarely been matched in any other period. But, even they could not touch Johnson in his prime. Johnson
began a fight extremely cautious, quiet, and on the defensive (unless forced
otherwise). As he slowly and surely turned the tide of battle his way,
he became more aggressive and destructive in his style of fighting and abusive
with his tongue. He preferred to “punish” his man rather than knock him
out. Jack
gave the impression of holding back during a fight, never going all out, and
never pushing to the limit. “Dumb” Dan Morgan said, “I had the feeling
he could demolish an opponent any time he chose.” Yes, he could get rough if he wanted. He cracked “Fireman” Jim Flynn’s jaw, broke Stanley Ketchel’s teeth off at the gum, and flattened Bob Fitzsimmons and left him glassy eyed and mumbling to himself. He “beat up” Sam Langford, breaking his nose in the process, and left an old Jim Jeffries in a battered heap.
He
knocked Marvin Hart out of the ring, and knocked Tommy Burns down twice in the
first two rounds, broke his nose, and then taunted him for the next twelve
rounds before he got bored and finished him off. Jack
Dempsey described him as a combination of Jim Corbett and Joe Louis. Others
say he was as vicious as Dempsey but faster; smarter and more powerful than
Louis (see McCallum 1975 p 17).
Durant and Bettmann (1952 p 123) stated, “There was no denying Johnson’s ability. He was a superb boxer with a punishing blow in either hand and was amazingly fast for a big man.” Fleischer
and Andre (1975 pp 85 86) described him as cautious, tantalizing and having
great ring science. A fighter with the perfect stance, he was a master of
feinting a punch and carried punishing power in his stiff jabs. Cooper
(1978 p 9) wrote, “Many a time, Johnson could have knocked the guy out. But,
if his opponent was white he’d have to suffer.” He added (1978 p 17)
“his main object in life was to put the white man in his place.” This
writer believes that Johnson could have scored knockouts 75 percent of the
time had he not chosen to carry or punish his man. Lardner
(1972 p 172) called him the grinning Negro whose delight was in whipping
Caucasian fighters with taunts pouring from his mouth and described Johnson
(1972 p 170), “He fought in a stand-up style, careful never to be caught
off-balance … developed an effective snakelike left … and he fashioned the
greatest right uppercut in prizefight history.”
Keith
(1969 p 134) asserted that Johnson rarely shot lead punches but fought mostly
with counter-blows. However, Odd (1974 p 22) said, “Jack’s skill at
leading, picking his punches and whipping in precision blows was unequalled,
so too was his uncanny ability to deflect punches aimed at him.” He
went on to say that Johnson could make a foe miss by a fraction of an inch by
side-stepping or drawing his head back and called Johnson’s left jab
straight and true, his right cross sheer artistry, and his uppercuts
devastating. Gutteridge
(1975 p 94) stated, “Johnson was a master of defense. While his style gave
the impression that he was toying with an opponent, he had an explosive
leopard-like reflex which was often overwhelming.” Houston
(1975 p 20) wrote, “He was a master defensive boxer who tricked opponents
into making errors. Johnson fought with his hands held low, but had such fast
reflexes he could pick off a rival’s punches in mid-air.”
He
commented that Johnson’s cautious style made him unexciting to watch as he
often grabbed his opponent and tied up his arms. Nevertheless, Jack was nearly
unbeatable because it was so difficult to hit him cleanly. Because of his
tormenting style, opponents lunged recklessly to hit him while he placed his
counter blows. Durant
(1976 p 58) wrote, “… he was a genius in the ring. He was a flawless boxer
with an almost perfect defense, and he could hit hard with either hand. A
superb counter puncher, he was never off balance, always in a position to hit,
and he was a master of the art of feinting. Many competent ring critics
believe that he was the greatest fighter who ever lived.” Carpenter
(1975 p 45) said Johnson was the Muhammad Ali of his time and described him as
having a super-ego with the boxing wizardry to back it up. Bromberg
(1958 p 32) reported, “In overall ring assay, some have called him the
finest of the heavyweight champions. He had grace, know-how, and hitting
power.”
McCallum
(1974 pp 65 73) described Johnson as having a bullet head, wide face,
gold-toothed grin, with a magnificent physique and the arms and torso of a
gorilla. His strength is considered to be similar to that of James J.
Jeffries. McCallum also wrote (1975 p 17) that catfooted Johnson came about as
close to being an unbeatable fighter as ever lived. Durant (1976 p 58) quoted Nat Fleischer as saying, “In all-around ability he was tops. After years devoted to the study of heavyweight fighters, I have no hesitation in naming Jack Johnson as the greatest of them all. He possessed every asset” (also see Fleischer 1949 p 153). Nat
Fleischer ranked Johnson as the #1 All-Time Heavyweight. Charley Rose ranked
Jack as the #2 All-Time Heavyweight. The Ring (1999, p 129) ranked him
as the #9 All-Time Heavyweight and The Ring (2000, p 128) ranked him as the #5 All-Time
greatest fighter of the twentieth century (among all weight classes). In the
opinion of this writer, Johnson was the #2 Heavyweight of all time. References
Bromberg,
L. 1958. World’s Champs. Retail Distributors, Inc. Carpenter,
H. 1975. Boxing : A Pictorial History. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company. Cooper,
H. 1978. The Great Heavyweights. Secaucus, NJ: Chartwell Books, Inc. Durant,
J. 1976. The Heavyweight Champions. New York: Hastings House
Publishers. Durant,
J. and Bettmann, O. 1952. Pictorial History of American Sports.
Cranbury, NJ: A.S. Barnes and Company. Fleischer,
N. 1949. The Heavyweight Championship. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons Fleischer,
N. and Andre, S. 1975. A Pictorial History of Boxing. Secaucus, NJ:
Castle Books. Gilmore,
A. T. 1975. Bad Nigger! The National Impact of Jack Johnson. Port
Washington, NY: Kennikat Press Corp. Gutteridge,
R. 1975. Boxing : The Great Ones. London: Pelham Books Ltd. Houston,
G. 1975. SuperFists. New York: Bounty Books. Keith,
H. 1969. Sports and Games. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell and Company Lardner,
R. 1972. The Legendary Champions. New York: American Heritage Press McCallum,
J. 1974. The World Heavyweight Boxing Championship. Radnor, Pa: Chilton
Book Company. McCallum,
J. 1975. The Encyclopedia of World Boxing Champions. Radnor, Pa:
Chilton Book Company. Odd,
G. 1974. Boxing : The Great Champions. London: The Hamlyn Publishing
Group Limited. The
Ring. 1999. The 1999 Boxing Almanac and Book of Facts. Fort Washington,
Pa: London Publishing Co. The
Ring. 2000. “The 20 Greatest Fighters of the 20th Century by
William Detloff” contained in The 2000 Boxing Almanac and Book of Facts.
Fort Washington, Pa: London Publishing Co. |
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