First "fight of the century": how 110 years ago Jack Johnson defeated James Jeffries

The fight between Jack Johnson and James Jeffries is rightly considered one of the most important in boxing history. On July 4, 1910, the first ever black boxing world champion met with the former title holder, who was then called the “white hope”. As it turned out, this battle not only determined the name of the strongest fighter on the planet at that time, but also became an important event in the history of American and world sports.

At that time, Johnson owned the linear world heavyweight title for a year and a half. Until 1908, he fought exclusively for the belt among the "colored" (World Colored Heavyweight Title), but in December he won the right to face off with the holder of the absolute title - Tommy Burns. The battle was shot on camera, but in the 14th round the show was interrupted during the challenging attack of the applicant. His advantage was so overwhelming that it forced the police to intervene. Representatives of the authorities stopped recording the battle, entered the ring and handed Jack the honorary trophy.

Over the next ten months, Johnson held four title defenses. First, he drew a duel with Joseph Francis Hagan, known as Philadelphia Jack O'Brien, and then prevailed over Tony Ross, Al Kaufmann and Stanley Kitchen. The last battle ended with an early victory, while in the previous two fights he won by the decision of journalists. Currently, this method is no longer used, but at the beginning of the 20th century, newspaper men called a triumph if both athletes stood on their feet after the fight.

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It is worth noting that the public was not at all happy about Johnson's successes. The white population of the United States was extremely negative about the first black champion in history and longed for his defeat. This led to the fact that the former title holder Jim Jeffries received an appeal to resume his career. Even the famous writer Jack London called for this.

“Jim Jeffries must get out of his alfalfa farm and wipe Johnson's sparkling smile,” London said.

Faith in Jeffries was based on his invincibility and dominant performances throughout his career. He spent 21 matches, in which he won 19 victories, 14 of which were obtained by knockout. The remaining two battles ended in a draw. At the same time, the ex-champion himself did not really want to put on gloves again. By the time the fight was organized, it was already five years after his retirement, during which he practically did not engage in boxing. As a result, Jeffries, who usually weighed about a centner, gained another 36 kilograms. The 35-year-old athlete was clearly not in good shape, but still continued to be considered the "Great White Hope" - the only athlete who could break Johnson's hegemony.

At first, Jeffries was not eager to fight Johnson, but realizing that the hype around the fight promises to be huge, he agreed to consider this proposal. As a fee, he requested huge money at that time - $ 101 thousand (in terms of 2019 - $ 3.8 million), as well as the right to shoot a film and a bonus of $ 10 thousand.

"Fight of the Century" was scheduled for July 4, which coincided with the celebration of Independence Day. Initially, it was supposed to be held in San Francisco, but boxing opponents from Washington managed to get it canceled. However, the organizers did not calm down and decided to move the battle from California to Nevada - to the city of Reno. Jeffries disagreed with this decision and intended to refuse to participate, but promoter Tex Rickard hinted to him that in this case, the athlete risks becoming bankrupt. James changed his mind in time and continued preparations.

As it turned out later, Jeffries’s attempt to avoid the fight was due solely to his doubts about his own abilities. He understood that he was not able to get himself in proper shape and be ready to fight Johnson on equal terms. Yes, he managed to lose weight, but years of downtime affected the severity of his reaction and the strength of the blow, without which he could not cope with the champion. James was even forced to constantly change the schedule of open training sessions so that outsiders could not see in what poor condition he was. But Jack was aware of this, openly speaking on this subject in anticipation of a duel.

“Jeffries is too old and can't get in shape to fight anyone. He is exhausted, and he knows it like no other, ”Johnson said.

With the approach of the duel, more and more people expressed great interest in him, and for Johnson, almost the entire black population of the country was sick. In Pittsburgh, for example, they were planning to stage a ceremonial parade if Jack prevailed in the "fight of the century", but a similar request was rejected. The reason for this was the rumor that other citizens intend to sabotage the event by throwing bricks from the roofs of buildings at its participants.

On paper, Johnson's triumph was supposed to be a joyful event in the life of the entire black population of the United States. But there were those who believed that the champion’s success could do a disservice.

“If on Monday Jack Johnson marks Jim Jeffries, then for several weeks blacks in Richmond will sit on corn and water,” the Baltimore American newspaper wrote.

It is not known how the fate of African Americans from this town turned out, but there was no sensation. "Fight of the Century" took place in front of 20 thousand spectators, but it turned out to be extremely one-sided and ended with Johnson's confident victory. His opponent lacked the sharpness and power to resist the vis-a-vis, which was noticeable already in the middle of the fight. In the 14th round, Jeffries had a broken nose, and his forehead was swollen, and during the final, 15th three-minute he was on the floor of the ring. The referee stopped the bout and announced the triumph of the black boxer.

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110 years after the first significant success of a black boxer in the world, Johnson's achievements are forgotten by many. His name is remembered much less than Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard or Mike Tyson. Nevertheless, it is impossible to deny the fact that it was he who became a pioneer and allowed black boxers to fight with white opponents on equal terms.

“In truth, I heard more about Muhammad Ali. He is our contemporary. But I learned a lot about Jack Johnson. Ali's contribution was very serious, but Johnson was the first. It was a real event. I love history, and it was interesting to feel again what mood reigned at that time, to understand how far we had come, ”said The Guardian, former boxing champion Lennox Lewis.

According to the British, Johnson became the first great showman and gave the black people of the United States what they wanted.

“Just think what time he lived. It is unbelievable that he, being a black man, could travel the world, get into the police, leave America, go to Europe. In the end, he got old, like all of us, and was knocked out by Jess Willard, ”added Lewis.

At the same time, two-time winner of the Oscar for the best documentary film Ken Burns praised Johnson's contribution to the struggle for the rights of black people. Burns also directed a documentary about the athlete's “Unforgivable Blackness: The Rises and Falls of Jack Johnson.”

“In many ways, Johnson was the epitome of the struggle of African Americans for freedom in this country - economically, socially and politically. He refused to play according to the rules established not only by the white elite, but also by the black community. In this regard, he fought for freedom not as a black man, but as a person, ”Burns said.