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
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.”
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.
Johnson
was elected to the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame in 1954 and the International
Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.
References
Bromberg, L.
1958. World’s Champs. Retail Distributors, Inc.
Carpenter, H. 1975. Boxing :
A Pictorial History.
Cooper,
H. 1978. The Great Heavyweights.
Durant,
J. 1976. The Heavyweight Champions.
Durant, J. and Bettmann,
O. 1952. Pictorial History of American Sports.
Fleischer,
N. 1949. The Heavyweight Championship.
Fleischer, N. and
Andre, S. 1975. A Pictorial History of Boxing.
Gilmore, A. T.
1975. Bad Nigger! The National Impact of Jack Johnson.
Gutteridge, R. 1975. Boxing :
The Great Ones.
Houston,
G. 1975. SuperFists.
Keith,
H. 1969. Sports and Games.
Lardner,
R. 1972. The Legendary Champions.
McCallum,
J. 1974. The World Heavyweight Boxing Championship.
McCallum, J. 1975.
The Encyclopedia of World Boxing Champions.
Odd,
G. 1974. Boxing : The Great Champions.
The
Ring. 1999. The 1999
Boxing Almanac and Book of Facts.
The
Ring. 2000. “The 20
Greatest Fighters of the 20th Century by William Detloff”
contained in The 2000 Boxing Almanac and Book of Facts.
