Jack Dempsey's Boxing Career

Johnson was not the first ever black boxer. While there was some black involvement in the sport, there was not much viewing interest coming from the black population. Up until 1908 white boxers refused to fight black opponents. Ironic how tunes change to the cha-ching of dollar signs. The beginning of the twentieth century saw a decline in boxing popularity and Sam Fitzpatrick capitalized on it. He decided that there was no time like the present for change. He set up a match between champion Tommy Burns and this unbeatable negro. Burns thought this would be an easy way to line his pockets with cash, so he agreed.

Boxing, an official sanctioned sport in the early 20th century, is a sport that is known as one of the most violent and physically demanding sports on the earth. Professional boxers that get paid to fight must be in top shape in order to preform at the highest level. Being a professional boxer is a tough life. Boxers train hard for many months leading up to one fight and either win, lose, knock out the opponent or even get knocked out. The sport has been around for centuries, but has most recently taken off over the last 100 years. It is a multibillion dollar industry with fighters taking home hundreds of thousands of dollars if not even millions of dollars for big matches. In his novel Papa Jack, Roberts tells the story of the famous African American boxer Jack Johnson. He details the boxers rise to fame and fortune and his downward spiral that would soon follow. In Papa Jack, Roberts displays life of a professional boxer through firsthand accounts with events that happened during Johnson’s life and shows how boxing not only influenced his life but also how he influenced the African American community.

Clarence Henry was a big name in boxing (he is a member of the World Boxing Hall of Fame-elected the year before he died- and while boxing, he won various heavyweight titles). He was a heavyweight fighter, who packed a heavy punch despite his light weight of 185 pounds (he was also six feet, one inch tall). He fought in a total of 41 fights, six losses, one draw, nineteen knockout wins (34 total wins). Some of the fighters Henry beat include: Jimmy Bivins, Willie Bean, “Irish” Bob Murphy, Albert Thompson, Charlie “Doc” Williams, and Rusty Payne.

His life came to an unfortunate end on June 10, 1946 when he died in an automobile accident in Raleigh, North Carolina, at the age of 68. Jack Johnson arguably the best heavyweight of his generation. He started boxing at a young age. He won his first title in 1903 and won the world heavy weight title seven years later. He later fled the country from breaking the law of marrying a white woman. After a car crash his life came to an end but his legacy lived on and he became a figure of blacks in sports and in Black

Elliott J. Gorn’s The Manly Art is a unique book that tells readers the origins of boxing in American culture. The book was published in 1986 by Cornell University Press, the book discussed the development of boxing and American society. Gorn takes sport history, a commonly misunderstood and misinterpreted topic and wrote a book that not only was easy to read but allowed readers to gain knowledge on the sport. Gorn says “To understand prize fighting, I have discovered, is necessarily to understand something about nineteenth-century America. Ideology, ethnicity, social class formation, violence, urbanization, gender roles, religious world views, productive relationships, all are a part of sports history in general and boxing in particular.” (Gorn, pg. 12)

Tommy Burns was the new heavy weight champion and like Jefferies, he to was denying Johnson a shot at the title. This time Johnson was not having it. He followed Burns for two years from San Francisco to New York from Paris to London, mocking him to fight him. Burns would just state that Johnson was yellow, eventually it was said that King Henry himself called Burns a bluffer, I guess this got to Burns for in the end he agreed to fight Johnson for 30,000 dollars win, lose, or draw. This

James Burke, also known as James Burke or the Deaf Un, was born December 8, 1809, in England. He was born with deafness (He can’t hear). He grew up living in a very poor family. His mother and father died when he was at a very young, so he really had no parents to help him with his boxing career. He worked on the River Thames as a waterman, before he had started his actual career. He started boxing professionally in 1828. Five years later, on May 30th he fought Simon Byrne (the Irish champion) for the World Heavyweight championship and won, the fight had lasted a total of three hours and six minutes, but the previous WHC (World Heavyweight Champion), Jem Ward,

Did you know that Joe Louis’s mom made him take violin lessons, but Joe would secretly take is boxing gloves with him to practice boxing (Joe Louis)? Joseph Louis Barrow, also known as Joe Louis and the “Brown Bomber,” was a heavyweight boxer that held the champion crown for over 12 years (Joe Louis The Official Website). He had his time of struggles and hardships, but he never let them get in the way of his determination and hard work for what he loved.

When he was young, many people tried to stop him from boxing, but Robinson did not listen to them. When Robinson started fighting top-tier boxers, many people started doubting him and thought he wouldn’t make it. He overcame this and fought to the top. I loved it because it was an inspirational story. It explained how he grew up from living in poverty in Detroit, to making millions and being known from all over the world. In the book Shropshire said, “Robinson dreamed of being a champ, but most black men of the day were simply striving to make life better” (Shropshire 24). This shows how he was discriminated against for being an African American and couldn’t get the privileges he wanted. Despite the racial discrimination against him, he set out to follow his dreams. He was introduced to boxing when he was 7 years old, and he started boxing by 1936 when he was 15. By the time he was 19, he had a professional record. He retired in 1952, only to come back three years later and regain his title. By the time he died from diabetes, he had a record of 128-1-2. He had the best record of anyone in the league.

     When we finally got to the fight, they weighed me in and my coach told me to start putting on my boxing gear.  I wore black trunks with a red flame going down the right leg and an black tank top.  After I put on my gear I started to wait till it was my turn to fight. I started to eat some cashews, but I was too nervous to eat. After a while, it was finally my turn to fight my coach wrapped my hands up and warmed me up.  My coach and I started heading towards the ring so I could fight.  When the bell rung, I rushed towards my opponent and started throwing all the combinations I knew.  By the time that I knew, the fight was over in the first 55 second in the first round. I shook my opponent’s hand and his coach’s hand. I was so happy I won and got a trophy my dad was so proud of me.

He was shipped overseas by the Army. He spent 8 months there and then was flown to Ft. Lewis in Washington. After spending sometime there and becoming board he decided to add a little excitement by volunteering for amateur fights. He was issued a two-week furlough (Beals, 2016). He told his uncle about the amateur fights in Washington. Shortly after that a friend of the family who was a promoter organized a local boxing match between Rocky and an amateur heavyweight champion named Henry Lester. As the bout took place Rocky became exhausted since he was smoking two packs of camels a day. The third round was where Rocky took it to street fighting and kneed his opponent in the groin and received a disqualification by the referee. After that he went back to Ft. Lewis where he cut of the smoking and beer drinking. He also maintained a diet with plenty of exercise to prepare for the triple elimination heavy weight series, for the AAU championship in Oregon. He won the first two with dramatic first round knockouts, during that time he injured his hand and knuckles. For the last round he was only able to fight with one hand and ended up losing. As he progressed he ended up becoming a professional boxer and ended up retiring undefeated. On his 46th birthday Rocky was tragically killed in a plane crash in 1969 (Beals, 2016).

The society during the 14th-16th century viewed women as unimportant compared to men, which led to the belief that women were witches.

Cassius clay, one of the world’s most distinguished boxers, was born in Louisville, Kentucky on January 7, 1942. Clays work ethic was apparent even in the early years of his life. As a child, he raced the school bus to school each morning. His friends would wave to him as the lead fluctuated based on the school bus’ stops. This work ethic extended to the classroom. Because of a learning disability, Clay had to work extra hard in school to not fall behind. Clay grew up with racial segregation all around him. These injustices sparked a passion in him to change the way people viewed African Americans: “I wanted to show that color didn’t matter”(Muhammad Ali: An American Legend). Clay’s boxing career began because of an incident when he was 12 years old. He and a friend rode their bikes to the Columbia Auditorium for The Louisville Home Show. When they were ready to go home, Clay discovered that his bike was stolen. Filled with rage, Clay wanted to retaliate. He found police officer, Joe Martin, who told him, “You better learn how to fight before you start challenging people that you’re gonna whoop” (Hauser 18). Martin became his coach, and although Clay never found the thief, he found a love of boxing that would continue throughout his life. Between the ages of 12 and 18, Clay

In 1919, Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia. His family being sharecroppers, Jackie's mother, Mallie, raised Jackie and his four other siblings.(JackieRobinson.com) Being the only black family on the block, his family faced discrimination and racism from neighbors all around. From a humble beginning, Jackie was an outstanding athlete.(larrylester42.com) Jackie was promoted from Washington Junior High. Later, he entered John Muir High School after his junior high career. Recognizing his athletic ability, Robinson's older brothers inspired Jackie to pursue sports.(Jackierobinson.com)

I was a whore, and I have heard about a black man trying to get the boxing champion title and for all, I knew that couldn't be true it was a fairy tale but then I saw him at the whore house and I knew it was real for I saw it with my very own eyes. His name is Jack Johnson I asked around for his life story. I wanted to understand because from what I have seen that man didn’t know his place. Ha, a black name thinking he's better than us white folks what a pathetic disgrace really what has this world come to. I got a few things out from some people he was born on March 31st in 1878 and from what I hear he has nine-siblings. Now no black woman should have that many children running around, he walked up to Ashley asking to take her out and from