My Life And Battles

by Johnson, Jack

• ISBN13: 9781597972673
• ISBN10: 1597972673
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-06-30
• Publisher: Potomac Books Inc

Summary

African American historian Gerald Early refers to Jack Johnson (1878'1946), the first African American heavyweight champion of the world, as 'œthe first African-American pop culture icon.' Johnson is a seminal and iconic figure in the history of race and sport in America. My Life and Battlesis the translation of a memoir by Johnson that was published in French, has never before been translated, and is virtually unknown. It covers Johnson's colorful life, both inside and outside the ring, up to and including his famous defeat of Jim Jeffries in Reno, Nevada, on July 4, 1910, in one of the iconic 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 and provides portraits of some of the most famous boxers of the 1900'1915 era. Johnson comments explicitly on race and 'œthe color 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 be of great interest for the many readers intrigued by Jack Johnson. In addition to providing information about Johnson's life, it is a fascinating exercise in self-mythologizing 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. With a foreword by Geoffrey C. Ward.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Preface	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
I Enter the World	p. 1
My First Experience in the Ring	p. 5
The Tragi-Comic Story of a Black Preacher, a Little Colored Boy, and a Bottle of Gin	p. 9
I Arrive in Boston	p. 15
My Beginnings in the Noble Art	p. 19
I Go into Politics	p. 25
Joe Choynski Teaches Me What a Knockout Is	p. 29
I Fight for Beans!	p. 33
My Old Friend Sam McVey	p. 39
Two Formidable Opponents: Marvin Hart and Sam Langford	p. 43
I Make Some New Year's Resolutions	p. 47
I Go to Australia	p. 51
I Go Kangaroo Hunting	p. 55
I Meet Up with Bill Lang and Send Old Man Fitzsimmons Off to Dreamland	p. 59
In Pursuit of Tommy Burns	p. 63
I Am Champion of the World!	p. 69
I Defend My Title	p. 75
The Boxer as Man of the World	p. 79
Stanley Ketchel's Terrific Right!	p. 85
Mr. Jeffries' Pretensions	p. 89
The Fight of My Life	p. 93
Who Will Be the Winner?	p. 97
I Begin Training	p. 101
I Set up Camp in Reno	p. 105
The End of Mr. J.J. Jeffries	p. 109
Epilogue	p. 113
Advertisement from La Vie au Grand Air for the Serialized Johnson Memoir (January 1911)	p. 115
Chronology of the Life and Battles of Jack Johnson (up to 1915)	p. 117
Notes	p. 123
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.