Short description
Jack Johnson (1878-1946), the first African-American heavyweight champion of the world, is a seminal and iconic figure in the history of race and sport in America. This book is the translation of a memoir, originally published in French, that covers Johnson's colourful life and battles, both inside and outside the ring.
Long description
Jack Johnson (1878-1946), the first African-American heavyweight champion of the world, is a seminal and iconic figure in the history of race and sport in America. This book is the translation of a memoir, originally published in French, never before translated and virtually unknown, by Jack Johnson.Originally published as a series of articles in 1911 and then in revised form as a book in 1914, it covers Johnson's colourful life and battles, both inside and outside the ring, up until and including his famous defeat of Jim Jeffries in Reno, on July 4, 1910, in one of the great ring battles of the early twentieth century. In addition to the fights themselves, the memoir recounts, among many other things, Johnson's brief and amusing career as a local politician in Galveston, Texas, his experience hunting kangaroo in Australia, and his epic bouts of sea-sickness. It includes portraits of some of the most famous boxers of the 1900-1915 era, such as Joe Choynski, Jim Jeffries, Sam McVey, Bob Fitzsimons, Philadelphia Jack O'Brien and Stanley Ketchel. Johnson comments explicitly on race and the colour line in boxing and in American society at large (in ways that he probably would not have in a publication destined for an American reading public).The text constitutes genuinely new, previously unavailable material and will excite readers interested in Jack Johnson, the history of boxing, and U.S. social history. In addition to providing information about Johnson's life, it is a fascinating exercise in self-mythologising that provides substantial insights into how Johnson perceived himself and wished to be perceived by others. Johnson's personal voice comes through clearly - brash, clever, theatrical, and invariably charming. The memoir makes it easy to see how and why Johnson served as an important role model for Muhammad Ali and why so many have compared the two.
Review
Christopher Rivers gives a revealing look at Jack Johnson when he was at the top of his profession. It is Jack Johnson as Jack Johnson wanted the world to see him--proud, humorous, defiant, and not too concerned with literal truth, or why he should scrape and bow to the mundane world of facts. He was, after all, his own creation. -Randy Roberts, Professor of History, Purdue University Author of Papa Jack: Jack Johnson and the Era of White Hopes