The First Black Boxing Champions: Essays on Fighters of the 1800s to the 1920s

by Aycock, Colleen

• ISBN13: 9780786449910
• ISBN10: 0786449918
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-01-28
• Publisher: McFarland & Co Inc Pub

Summary

This volume presents fifteen detailed biographies of some of the first African American and black champions and challengers of the early prize ring. Boxers covered range from Tom Molineaux, a slave who won freedom and fame in the ring in the early 1800s; to Joe Gans, the first African American world champion; to the flamboyant Jack Johnson, deemed such a threat to white society that film of his defeat of former champion and Great White Hope Jim Jeffries was banned across much of the country. Photographs, period drawings, cartoons, and fight posters enhance the biographies. Round-by-round coverage of select historic fights is included, as is a foreword by Hall-of-Fame boxing announcer Al Bernstein.

Author Biography

Colleen Aycock's father was a professional fighter during the Depression. She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is a contributor to other publications on the history of boxing. Mark Scott, a novelist and former Golden Gloves boxer, lives in Austin, Texas. He is a contributor to other publications on the history of boxing. The two wrote the biography Joe Bans for McFarland in 2008.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. v
Foreword	p. 1
Introduction	p. 3
From Slave to American Heavyweight Champion	p. 9
First Colored Heavyweight Champion	p. 22
Heavyweight Champion of Australia	p. 32
World Bantamweight and Featherweight Champion	p. 48
Lightweight Challenger and Father of Boxing in Germany	p. 60
World Lightweight Champion	p. 79
ôChallenger of the Worldö	p. 102
the Barbados Demon: World Welterweight Champion	p. 109
ôDixie Kidö Aaron Brown: World Welterweight Champion	p. 129
From Lightweight Challenger to Trainer of Heavyweight Champions	p. 144
Heavyweight Champion of Australia, Canada, England, and Mexico	p. 158
Colored Heavyweight Champions	p. 171
World Heavyweight Champion	p. 200
U.S. Army Middleweight Champion	p. 218
Battling Siki: World Light-Heavyweight Champion	p. 237
Appendix: The Great Fights, Round-By-Round
George Godfrey vs. Peter Jackson (August 25, 1888)	p. 257
George Dixon vs. Jack Skelly (September 6, 1892)	p. 260
Joe Gans vs. Oscar ôBattlingö Nelson (September 3, 1906)	p. 264
Joe Jennette vs. Sam McVey (April 17, 1909)	p. 271
Jack Johnson vs. James J. Jeffries (July 4, 1910)	p. 277
Bibliography	p. 283
About the Contributors	p. 287
Index	p. 289
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.