Jack Johnson Research Paper

He takes a step in the ring dodges the hits. He dodges one last time and throws a punch straight to the jaw. Jack Johnson is the winner of the match. Boxing is what this Black Heavy weight champion is known for. It started way back in March 31, 1878 John Arthur Johnson was born to Henry and Tina Johnson. He grew up in Galveston, Texas with his eight other siblings. Even though his name is John he goes by the name of Jack or his nickname Galveston Giant. Jonson grew up not knowing there was a superior skin color. Him and his white friends would play together, eat together, and stay at each other’s houses. Johnson’s parents were former slaves but then both worked blue color jobs which was a janitor and dishwasher. They did these jobs so their

Haynes May, 8 1899 for his third pro fight and Black Hercules. These fights took place in Chicago. During this fight Klondike won but later on in 1900 Johnson won. He did not take Klondike’s unrecognized title as “Black Heavyweight Champ”. The fights brought him later on to Joe Choynski is Galveston February 25, 1901. The fight was a prize fight which was illegal at the time in Texas. Johnson had lost on a knock out but they both were arrested. The bail was set for $5,000 which at the time neither had. They had been permitted to go home but with a catch they had to fight in jail cell where large crowds would come and watch. They were in jail for 23 days until the bail amount came to a affordable amount. During his time in jail Johnson had learned his skills and made friends with

While doing so he had become “World colored Heavyweight Champ” and “World Heavyweight Champion”. He had the “fight of the Century” against James J. Jeffries on July 4, 1910. Jeffries had come out of retirement just to fight Johnson. Jeffries was the former undefeated heavyweight champion. During the 15 round of the fight Jeffries corner pulled him out of the fight because Johnson managed to knock him down twice which had never been done before. Johnson had stated that he knew after he threw the uppercut in the 4th round he knew the fight was over. Johnson said this “I knew what that look meant. The old ship was sinking.” There were riots after the “fight of the century” because it had poked a whole in the white dream and blacks found hope in it. From this fight in more than 25 states and 50 cities there were riots. By the end over 12 Americans had died. Though Johnson never saw it he had made it into the Boxing hall of fame in 1954. He was also put on the roster for “International Boxing Hall of Fame” and the “World of Boxing Hall of Fame”. His boxing films became historical in 2005 by the United States National Film Preservation Board. A lot of people found his legacy important and had his story turned into movies, had paintings done, songs wrote about him, and the list goes on. He became one the “100 Greatest African Americans.” His whole life is a legacy and that’s where he will be