.jpg) Johnson in 1915 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
Nickname | Galveston Giant[1] |
| Born | John Arthur Johnson (1878-03-31)March 31, 1878 Galveston, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | June 10, 1946(1946-06-10) (aged 68) |
| Height | 6 ft0+1⁄2 in (1.84 m)[2][3] |
| Weight | Heavyweight[1] |
| Boxing career | |
| Reach | 74 in (188 cm)[1] |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 94 |
| Wins | 68 |
| Win by KO | 34 |
| Losses | 11 |
| Draws | 10 |
| No contests | 4 |
John Arthur Johnson (March 31, 1878 – June 10, 1946), nicknamed the "Galveston Giant", was an Americanboxer who, at the height of theJim Crow era, became the first black worldheavyweight boxing champion (1908–1915).His 1910 fight againstJames J. Jeffries was dubbed the "fight of the century".[4] Johnson defeated Jeffries, who was white, triggeringdozens of race riots across the U.S. According to filmmakerKen Burns, "for more than thirteen years, Jack Johnson was the most famous and the most notoriousAfrican American on Earth".[5][6] He is widely regarded as one of the most influential boxers in history.
In 1912, Johnson opened a successful and luxurious "black and tan" (desegregated) restaurant and nightclub in Chicago, which in part was run by his wife, a white woman. Major newspapers of the time soon claimed that Johnson was attacked by the Federal government only after he became famous as a black man married to a white woman, and was linked to other white women.[7] Johnson was arrested on charges of violating the FederalMann Act—forbidding one to transport a woman across state lines for "immoral purposes"—a racially motivated charge that embroiled him in controversy for his relationships, including marriages.[8] Sentenced to a year in prison, Johnson fled the country and fought boxing matches abroad for seven years until 1920, when he served his sentence at the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth.
Johnson continued taking paying fights for many years, and operated several other businesses, including lucrative endorsement deals. He died in a car crash in 1946 at the age of 68.[9] In 2018, Johnson was posthumously pardoned by U.S. PresidentDonald Trump.[10]
Johnson was born on March 31, 1878,[1] the third child of nine born to Henry and Tina Johnson, former slaves who worked service jobs as a janitor and a dishwasher.[11] His father had served as a civilian teamster of the Union's38th Colored Infantry. He was described by his son as the "most perfect physical specimen that he had ever seen", although Henry had been left with an atrophied right leg from his service in theAmerican Civil War.[12]
Growing up inGalveston, Texas, Johnson attended five years of school.[13] As a young man, Johnson was frail,[14] though, like all of his siblings, he was expected to work.[13]
Although Johnson grew up in the South, he said that segregation was not an issue in the somewhat secluded city of Galveston, as everyone living in the 12th Ward was poor and went through the same struggles.[15] Johnson remembers growing up with a "gang" of white boys, in which he never felt victimized or excluded. Remembering his childhood, Johnson said: "As I grew up, the white boys were my friends and my pals. I ate with them, played with them and slept at their homes. Their mothers gave me cookies, and I ate at their tables. No one ever taught me that white men were superior to me."[15]
[16] Jack Johnson's mother Tina was a huge influence in Jack's life. When Jack was younger he was known as a coward, and his sister Lucy would protect him. After Jack came home bruised and crying, his mom warned him that if he were to get beat at school, then she would whip him worse at home. Her method was to scare him and for him to learn the lesson that he needed to protect himself. The lesson was received by Jack, as he never lost a fight to a schoolboy again.
After Johnson quit school, he began a job working at the local docks. He made several other attempts at working other jobs around town until one day he made his way toDallas, finding work at the race track exercising horses. Jack stuck with this job until he found a new apprenticeship with a carriage painter by the name of Walter Lewis. Lewis enjoyed watching friends spar, and Johnson began to learn how to box.[17] Johnson later declared that it was thanks to Lewis that he became a boxer.[18]
At 16, Johnson moved toNew York City and found living arrangements withBarbados Joe Walcott, awelterweight fighter from the West Indies.[18] Johnson again found work exercising horses for the local stable, until he was fired for exhausting a horse. On his return to Galveston, he was hired as a janitor at a gym owned by German-born heavyweight fighter Herman Bernau. Johnson eventually saved enough money to buy boxing gloves, sparring every chance he got.[19]
At one point,[when?] Johnson was arrested for brawling with a man named Davie Pearson, a "grown and toughened" man who accused Johnson of turning him in to the police over a game ofcraps. When both of them were released from jail, they met at the docks, and Johnson beat Pearson before a large crowd.[19] Johnson then fought in a summer boxing league against a man named John "Must Have It" Lee. Becauseprizefighting was illegal in Texas, the fight was broken up and moved to the beach, where Johnson won his first fight and a prize of one dollar and fifty cents.[20]
Johnson made his debut as a professional boxer on November 1, 1898, in Galveston, when heknocked out Charley Brooks in the second round of a 15-round bout, billed for "The Texas State Middleweight Title". In his third pro fight on May 8, 1899, he facedJohn "Klondike" Haynes, an African American heavyweight known as "The Black Hercules", in Chicago. Klondike (so called as he was considered a rarity, like the gold in theKlondike), who had declared himself the "Black Heavyweight Champ", won on atechnical knockout (TKO) in the fifth round of a scheduled six-rounder.
On February 25, 1901, Johnson foughtJoe Choynski in Galveston. Choynski, a popular and experienced heavyweight, knocked out Johnson in the third round. Prizefighting was illegal in Texas at the time and they were both arrested.Bail was set at $5,000, nearly $200,000 in 2023, which neither could afford. The sheriff permitted both fighters to go home at night so long as they agreed to spar in the jail cell. Large crowds gathered to watch the sessions. After 23 days in jail, their bail was reduced to an affordable level and a grand jury refused to indict either man. Johnson later stated that he learned his boxing skills during that jail time. The two would remain friends.[21]
Johnson attested that his success in boxing came from the coaching he received from Choynski.[22][23] The aging Choynski saw natural talent and determination in Johnson and taught him the nuances of defense, stating: "A man who can move like you should never have to take a punch".[6]
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By 1903, though Johnson's official record showed him with nine wins against three losses, five draws and two no contests, he had won at least 50 fights against both white and black opponents. Johnson won his first title on February 3, 1903, beating Denver Ed Martin on points in a 20-round match for theWorld Colored Heavyweight Championship. Johnson held the title until it was vacated when he won the world heavyweight title fromTommy Burns in Sydney, Australia onBoxing Day 1908. His reign of 2,151 days was the third longest in the 60-year-long history of the colored heavyweight title. OnlyHarry Wills at 3,103 days andPeter Jackson at 3,041 days held the title longer. A three-time colored heavyweight champion, Wills held the title for a total of 3,351 days.
Johnson defended the colored heavyweight title 12 times, which was second only to the 26 times Wills defended the title. While colored champ, he defeated colored ex-champs Denver Ed Martin and Frank Childs again and beat future colored heavyweight champsSam McVey three times andSam Langford once. He beat Langford on points in a 15-rounder and never gave him another shot at the title, when he was either colored champ or the world heavyweight champ.
Johnson foughtJoe Jeanette a total of seven times, all during his reign as colored champion before he became the world's heavyweight champion, winning four times and drawing twice (three of the victories and one draw werenewspaper decisions).
After Johnson became the first African-American Heavyweight Champion of the World on December 26, 1908, his World Colored Heavyweight Championship was vacated. Jeanette fought Sam McVey for the title in Paris on February 20, 1909, and was beaten, but he later took the title from McVey in a 49-round bout on April 17 of that year in Paris for a $6,000 purse.
During his reign as world champion, Johnson never again fought Jeanette, despite numerous challenges, and avoided Langford, who won the colored title a record five times. In 1906 Jack Johnson fought Sam Langford. Langford took severe punishment and was knocked down 3 times; however, he lasted the 15-round distance.[24]
On November 27, 1945, Johnson finally stepped back into the ring with Joe Jeanette.
Johnson's efforts to win the world heavyweight title were initially thwarted, as at the time world heavyweight championJames J. Jeffries refused to face him, and retired instead.[25] However, Johnson did fight former championBob Fitzsimmons in July 1907, and knocked him out in two rounds.[5]
Johnson finally won the world heavyweight title on December 26, 1908, a full six years after lightweight championJoe Gans became the first African American boxing champion. Johnson's victory over the reigning world champion, CanadianTommy Burns, at theSydney Stadium in Australia, came after following Burns around the world for two years and taunting him in the press for a match.[26] Burns agreed to fight Johnson only after promoters guaranteed him $30,000.[27] The fight lasted fourteen rounds before being stopped by the police in front of over 20,000 spectators, and Johnson was named the winner.[27][28]
After Johnson's victory over Burns, racial animosity among whites ran so deep that some, including renowned American authorJack London,[29] called for a "Great White Hope" to take the title away from Johnson.[30] While Johnson was heavyweight champion, he was covered more in the press than all other notable black men combined.[31][32] The lead-up to the bout was peppered with racist press against Johnson. An editorial in theNew York Times ("Pugilists as Race Champions") expressed a concern that the fight would "have the deplorable effect of intensifying racial antagonisms and of making race problems more difficult of solution":
If the black man wins, thousands and thousands of his ignorant brothers will misinterpret his victory as justifying claims to much more than mere physical equality with their white neighbors. If the negro loses, the members of his race will be taunted and irritated [provoked] because of their champion's downfall.[33]
As title holder, Johnson thus had to face a series of fighters each billed by boxing promoters as a "great white hope", often inexhibition matches. In 1909, he beat Tony Ross, Al Kaufman, and the middleweight championStanley Ketchel.
Ketchel and Johnson were friends. The match with Ketchel was originally thought to have been an exhibition, and in fact it was fought by both men that way, until the 12th round, when Ketchel threw a right to Johnson's head, knocking him down. Quickly regaining his feet, and very annoyed, Johnson immediately dashed straight at Ketchell and threw a single punch, an uppercut, a punch for which he was famous, to Ketchel's jaw, knocking him out. The punch knocked out Ketchell's front teeth; Johnson can be seen on film removing them from his glove, where they had been embedded.[34]
In 1910, former undefeated heavyweight championJames J. Jeffries came out of retirement to challenge Johnson, saying "I am going into this fight for the sole purpose of proving that a white man is better than a Negro".[35] He had not fought in six years and he also had to lose well over 100 pounds to get back to his championship fighting weight. Efforts to persuade Jeffries to "retrieve the honor of the white race" began immediately after the Burns–Johnson fight.[36] Initially Jeffries had no interest in the fight, being quite happy as an alfalfa farmer.[37] On October 29, 1909, Johnson and Jeffries signed an agreement to "box for the heavyweight championship of the world" and called promoters to bid for the right to orchestrate the event.[36]
In early December 1909, Johnson and Jeffries selected a bid from the nation's top boxing promoters—Tex Rickard and John Gleason. The bid guaranteed a purse of $101,000 (equivalent to $3,535,000 in 2024) to be divided 75 percent to the winner and 25 percent to the loser, as well as two-thirds of the revenues collected from the sales of the right to film the fight (each boxer received one third of the equity rights).[36]: 181 Although it was well understood that a victory for Jeffries was likely to be more profitable than a victory for Johnson, there were no doubts that either way the event would produce record profits.[36] Legal historian Barak Orbach argues that in "an industry that promoted events through the dramatization of rivalries, a championship contest between an iconic representative of the white race and the most notorious [black fighter] was a gold mine".[36]
Jeffries mostly remained hidden from media attention until the day of the fight, while Johnson soaked up the spotlight.John L. Sullivan, who made boxing championships a popular and esteemed spectacle, stated that Johnson was in such good physical shape compared to Jeffries that he would only lose if he had a lack of skill on the day of the fight. Before the fight, Jeffries remarked, "It is my intention to go right after my opponent and knock him out as soon as possible." While his wife added, "I'm not interested in prizefighting but I am interested in my husband's welfare, I do hope this will be his last fight." Johnson's words were "May the best man win."[38]
Racial tension was brewing in the lead up to the fight and to prevent any harm from coming to either boxer, guns were prohibited within the arena along with the sale of alcohol and anyone who was under the effects of alcohol. Apples and all other potential weapons were barred. Behind the racial attitudes which were being instigated by the media was a major investment in gambling for the fight, with 10–7 odds in favor of Jeffries.[38]
The fight took place on July 4, 1910, in front of 20,000 people, at a ring which was built just for the occasion in downtownReno, Nevada. Jeffries proved unable to impose his will on the younger champion and Johnson dominated the fight. By the 15th round, after Jeffries had been knocked down twice for the first time in his career, Jeffries' cornerthrew in the towel to end the fight and prevent Jeffries from having a knockout on his record.[27]
Johnson later remarked he knew the fight was over in the 4th round when he landed anuppercut and saw the look on Jeffries face, stating, "I knew what that look meant. The old ship was sinking." Afterwards, Jeffries was humbled by the loss and what he had seen of Johnson in their match. "I could never have whipped Johnson at my best," Jeffries said. "I couldn't have hit him. No, I couldn't have reached him in 1,000 years."[27]
The "Fight of the Century" earned Johnson $65,000 (over $2.2 million in 2024 dollars) and silenced the critics, who had belittled Johnson's previous victory over Tommy Burns as "empty", claiming that Burns was a false champion since Jeffries had retired undefeated.John L. Sullivan commented after the fight that Johnson won deservedly, fairly and convincingly,
The fight of the century is over and a black man is the undisputed champion of the world. It was a poor fight as fights go, this less than 15-round affair between James J. Jeffries and Jack Johnson. Scarcely has there ever been a championship contest that was so one-sided. All of Jeffries much-vaunted condition amounted to nothing. He wasn't in it from the first bell tap to the last ... The negro had few friends, but there was little demonstration against him. (Spectators) could not help but admire Johnson because he is the type of prizefighter that is admired by sportsmen. He played fairly at all times and fought fairly. ... What a crafty, powerful, cunning left hand (Johnson) has. He is one of the craftiest, cunningest boxers that ever stepped into the ring. ... They both fought closely all during the 15 rounds. It was just the sort of fight that Jeffries wanted. There was no running or ducking like Corbett did with me in New Orleans (1892). Jeffries did not miss so many blows, because he hardly started any. Johnson was on top of him all the time.... (Johnson) didn't get gay at all with Jeffries in the beginning, and it was always the white man who clinched, but Johnson was very careful, and he backed away and took no chances, and was good-natured with it all ... The best man won, and I was one of the first to congratulate him, and also one of the first to extend my heartfelt sympathy to the beaten man.[4]
The outcome of the fight triggeredrace riots that evening—theFourth of July—all across the United States, from Texas andColorado to New York and Washington, D.C.[39] Johnson's victory over Jeffries had dashed white dreams of finding a "great white hope" to defeat him. Many whites felt humiliated by the defeat of Jeffries.[5]
Black Americans, on the other hand, were jubilant and celebrated Johnson's great victory as a victory for racial advancement. Black poetWilliam Waring Cuney later highlighted the black reaction to the fight in his poem "My Lord, What a Morning".[40]
Race riots erupted in New York, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Atlanta, St. Louis, Little Rock and Houston. In all, riots occurred in more than 25 states and 50 cities.[39] At least twenty people were killed in the riots and hundreds more were injured.[41][42][43][44][45][46]
The Johnson–Jeffries Fight film received more public attention in the United States than any other film to date and for the next five years, until the release ofThe Birth of a Nation.[47] In the United States, many states and cities banned the exhibition of the Johnson–Jeffries film. The movement tocensor Johnson's victory took over the country within three days after the fight.[48]
Two weeks after the match former PresidentTheodore Roosevelt, an avid boxer and fan, wrote an article forThe Outlook in which he supported banning not just moving pictures of boxing matches, but a complete ban on all prize fights in the US. He cited the "crookedness" and gambling that surrounded such contests and that moving pictures have "introduced a new method of money getting and of demoralization".[48]
In 2005, the film of the Jeffries–Johnson "Fight of the Century" was entered into the United StatesNational Film Registry as being worthy of preservation.[49]
The six fights for which the major films were made, starring Johnson, were
The color bar remained in effect even under Johnson. Once he was the world's heavyweight champ, Johnson did not fight a black opponent for the first five years of his reign. He denied matches to black heavyweightsJoe Jeanette, one of his successors as colored heavyweight champ,Sam Langford, who beat Jeanette for the colored title and the youngHarry Wills, who was colored heavyweight champ during the last year of Johnson's reign as world's heavyweight champ.
Black fighters were not given a chance at the title because Johnson maintained that he could make more money fighting White boxers. In August 1913, as Johnson neared the end of his reign as world heavyweight champ, there were rumors that he had agreed to fight Langford in Paris for the title, but it did not happen. Johnson alleged that Langford was unable to raise the $30,000 for his guarantee.
Because Black boxers, with the exception of Johnson, had been barred from fighting for the heavyweight championship, Johnson's refusal to fight African-Americans offended the African-American community, since the opportunity to fight top white boxers was rare. Jeanette criticized Johnson, saying, "Jack forgot about his old friends after he became champion and drew the color line against his own people."[50]
When Johnson finally agreed to take on a Black opponent in late 1913, it was not Sam Langford the current colored heavyweight champion that he gave the title shot to. Instead, Johnson chose to take onBattling Jim Johnson, a lesser-known boxer who in 1910 had lost to Langford and had a draw and loss via KO to Sam McVey, the former colored champ. Battling Jim fought former colored champ Joe Jeanette four times between July 19, 1912, and January 21, 1913, and lost all four fights. The only fighter of note who he did beat during that period was the future Colored champBig Bill Tate, whom he KO-ed in the second round of a scheduled 10-round bout. It was Tate's third pro fight.
In November 1913, theInternational Boxing Union had declared the world heavyweight title held by Jack Johnson to be vacant. The fight, scheduled for 10 rounds, was held on December 19, 1913, in Paris. It was the first time in history that two black people had fought for the world heavyweight championship
Jack Johnson, the heavyweight champion, and Battling Jim Johnson, another colored pugilist, of Galveston, Texas, met in a 10-round contest here tonight, which ended in a draw. The spectators loudly protested throughout that the men were not fighting, and demanded their money back. Many of them left the hall. The organizers of the fight explained the fiasco by asserting that Jack Johnson's left arm was broken in the third round. There is no confirmation of a report that Jack Johnson had been stabbed and no evidence at the ringside of such an accident. During the first three rounds he was obviously playing with his opponent. After that it was observed that he was only using his right hand. When the fight was over, he complained that his arm had been injured. Doctors who made an examination, certified to a slight fracture of the radius of the left arm. The general opinion is that his arm was injured in a wrestling match early in the week, and that a blow tonight caused the fracture of the bone.
Because of the draw, Jack Johnson kept his championship. After the fight, he explained that his left arm was injured in the third round and he could not use it.
On April 5, 1915, Johnson lost his title toJess Willard, a working cowboy from Kansas who started boxing when he was 27 years old. With a crowd of 25,000 atOriental Park Racetrack inHavana, Cuba, Johnson was knocked out in the 26th round of the scheduled 45 round fight.
Johnson is said by many a year after the fight to have spread rumors that he took adive,[51] but Willard is widely regarded as having won the fight outright. Many people thought Johnson purposely threw the fight because Willard was white, in an effort to have hisMann Act charges dropped. Willard ironically responded, "If he was going to throw the fight, I wish he'd done it sooner. It was hotter than hell out there."[52]
After losing his world heavyweight championship, Johnson never again fought for the world or colored heavyweight crowns. His popularity remained strong enough that he recorded forAjax Records in the 1920s.[53] Johnson continued fighting, but age was catching up with him. He fought professionally until 1938 at age 60 when he lost 7 of his last 9 bouts, losing his final fight to Walter Price by a 7th-round TKO. It is often suggested that any bouts after the age of 40—which was a very venerable age for boxing in those days—not be counted on his actual record, since he was performing in order to make a living.[54][55]
He also indulged in what was known as "cellar" fighting, where the bouts, unadvertised, were fought for private audiences, usually in cellars or other unrecognized places. There are surviving photographs of one of these fights. Johnson made his final ring appearance at age 67 on November 27, 1945, fighting three one-minute exhibition rounds against two opponents,Joe Jeanette and John Ballcort, in a benefit fight card for U.S. War Bonds.[54][55]
Throughout his career, Johnson built a unique fighting style of his own, which was not customary in boxing during this time. Though he would typically strike first, he would fight defensively, waiting for his opponents to tire out, becoming more aggressive as the rounds went on. He often fought to punish his opponents over the course of the bout rather than going for the knockout, and would continuously dodge their punches. He would then quickly strike back with a blow of his own. Johnson often made his fights look effortless, and as if he had much more to offer, but when pushed he could also display some powerful moves and punches. There are films of his fights in which he can be seen holding up his opponent, who otherwise might have fallen, until he recovered.[56][57] Johnson was also known for his use of themummy guard which was later adopted by boxers such asSandy Saddler andGeorge Foreman.[58][59][60]
Johnson earned considerable sums endorsing various products, including patent medicines, and had several expensive hobbies such as automobile racing and tailored clothing, as well as purchasing jewelry and furs for his wives.[61] He challenged champion racerBarney Oldfield to an auto race at theSheepshead Bay, Brooklyn dirt track. Oldfield easily defeated Johnson.[62] Once, when he was pulled over for a $50 speeding ticket, he gave the officer a $100 bill; when the officer protested that he could not make change for that much, Johnson told him to keep the change as he was going to make his return trip at the same speed.[5] In 1920, Johnson opened theClub Deluxe, aBlack and Tan night club inHarlem; he sold it three years later to a gangster,Owney Madden, who renamed it theCotton Club.
Johnson's behavior was looked down upon by some in the African-American community, especially by the black scholarBooker T. Washington, who said it "is unfortunate that a man with money should use it in a way to injure his own people, in the eyes of those who are seeking to uplift his race and improve its conditions, I wish to say emphatically that Jack Johnson's actions did not meet my personal approval and I am sure they do not meet with the approval of the colored race."
Johnson flouted conventions regarding the social and economic "place" of blacks in American society. As a black man, he broke a powerful taboo in consorting with white women and would verbally taunt men (both white and black) inside and outside the ring. When asked the secret of his staying power by a reporter who had watched a succession of women parade into, and out of, the champion's hotel room, Johnson supposedly said "Eatjellied eels and think distant thoughts".[63]
In 1911, Johnson, through an acquaintance, attempted to become aFreemason inDundee, Scotland. He was initiated as anEntered Apprentice at Forfar and Kincardine Lodge No 225 in the city. However, there was some opposition to his membership from within the lodge, but mainly from the Grand Lodge who tried to stop the initiation from going ahead due to most Grand Lodges in the USA threatening to withdraw their Scottish Grand Lodge representation if it did. The Forfarshire Lodge was suspended by the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and Johnson's fees were returned to him and his admission was ruled illegal.[64]
In July 1912, Johnson opened an interracial nightclub in Chicago called Café de Champion.[65]
Johnson wrote two memoirs of his life:Mes combats in 1914 andJack Johnson in the Ring and Out in 1927.[66]
In 1943, Johnson attended at least one service at thePentecostalAngelus Temple in Los Angeles, California. In a public conversion, while Detroit, Michigan, burned in race riots, he professed his faith toChrist in a service conducted by evangelistAimee Semple McPherson. She embraced him as "he raised his hand in worship".[67][68]
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Johnson engaged in various relationships, including three documented marriages. All of his documented wives were white. At the height of his career, Johnson was excoriated by the press for his flashy lifestyle and for having married white women.[69]
According to Johnson's 1927 autobiography, he married Mary Austin, a black woman from Galveston, Texas. No record exists of this marriage.[70]
While in Philadelphia in 1903, Johnson met Clara Kerr, a blackprostitute. According to Johnson's autobiography, Kerr left him for Johnson's friend, a racehorse trainer named William Bryant. They stole Johnson's jewelry and clothing when they left. Johnson tracked the couple down and had Kerr arrested on burglary charges. Johnson and Kerr reconciled for a while before she left him again.[70]
During a three-month tour of Australia in 1907, Johnson had a brief affair with Alma "Lola" Toy, a white woman from Sydney. Johnson confirmed to an American journalist that he intended to marry Toy. WhenThe Referee printed Johnson's plans to marry Toy, it caused controversy inSydney. Toy demanded a retraction and later won a libel lawsuit from the newspaper.[71]
After returning from Australia, Johnson said that "the heartaches which Mary Austin and Clara Kerr caused me led me to forswear colored women and to determine that my lot henceforth would be cast only with white women."[70]
Johnson met Etta Terry Duryea, a Brooklyn socialite and former wife of Clarence Duryea, at a car race in 1909. In 1910, Johnson hired a private investigator to follow Duryea after suspecting she was having an affair with his chauffeur. On Christmas Day, Johnson confronted Duryea and beat her to the point of hospitalization.[70] They reconciled and were married on January 18, 1911.[72] Prone to depression, her condition worsened due to Johnson'sabuse andinfidelity in addition to the hostile reaction to their interracial relationship.[8] Duryeaattempted suicide twice before she died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on September 11, 1912.[73][74]
In the summer of 1912, Johnson met Lucille Cameron, an 18-year-old prostitute fromMinneapolis who relocated to Chicago, at his nightclub Café de Champion.[8] Johnson hired her as hisstenographer, but shortly after Duryea's funeral, they were out in public as a couple. They married on December 3, 1912, at 3:00 p.m.[75] Cameron filed for divorce in 1924 due to his infidelity.[70]
Johnson met Irene Pineau at the race track inAurora, Illinois, in 1924. After she divorced her husband the following year, they were married inWaukegan in August 1925. Johnson and Pineau were together until his death in 1946. When asked by a reporter at Johnson's funeral what she had loved about him, she replied: "I loved him because of his courage. He faced the world unafraid. There wasn't anybody or anything he feared."[70]
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On October 18, 1912, Johnson was arrested on the grounds that his relationship with Lucille Cameron violated the Mann Act against "transporting women across state lines for immoral purposes" due to her being an alleged prostitute. Her mother also swore that her daughter was insane.[76] Cameron, soon to become his second wife, refused to cooperate and the case fell apart.
Less than a month later, Johnson was arrested again on similar charges.[77] This time, the woman, another alleged prostitute named Belle Schreiber,[77] with whom he had been involved in 1909 and 1910, testified against him. In the courtroom ofKenesaw Mountain Landis, the futureCommissioner of Baseball who perpetuated thebaseball color line until his death, Johnson was convicted by anall-white jury in June 1913,[78] although the incidents used to convict him took place before passage of the Mann Act.[5] He was sentenced to a year and a day in prison.
Johnson skipped bail and left the country, joining Lucille inMontreal on June 25, before fleeing to France. To flee to Canada, Johnson posed as a member of a black baseball team. They lived in exile in Europe, South America, and Mexico for the next seven years. Johnson returned to the U.S. on July 20, 1920. He surrendered to federal agents at the Mexican border and was sent to theUnited States Penitentiary, Leavenworth, to serve his sentence in September 1920.[79] He was released on July 9, 1921.[5]
PresidentDonald Trump granted Johnson a posthumouspresidential pardon after recurring proposals to grant one had not been acted on by previous administrations. In April 2018, Trump announced that he was considering granting a full pardon to Johnson on the advice of actorSylvester Stallone.[80] Trump pardoned Johnson on May 24, 2018, 105 years after his conviction, during a ceremony which included special guests Sylvester Stallone (actor),Deontay Wilder (then current WBC Champion),Lennox Lewis (WBC Former Champion),Mauricio Sulaiman (WBC President), Linda Bell Haywood (Johnson's great-great niece), and Hector Sulaiman (President of the Board of Advisors of Scholas Occurrentes).[81][82]
A bill which requested that PresidentGeorge W. Bush pardon Johnson passed the House in 2008,[83] but failed to pass in the Senate.[84] In April 2009, SenatorJohn McCain, along with RepresentativePeter King, film makerKen Burns, and Johnson's great-niece, Linda Haywood, requested a presidential pardon for Johnson from PresidentBarack Obama.[85] In July of that year, Congress passed a resolution calling on President Obama to issue a pardon.[86]
In 2016, another petition for Johnson's pardon was issued by McCain, King, SenatorHarry Reid, and CongressmanGregory Meeks to President Obama, marking the 70th anniversary since the boxer's death.[87] This time, the petitioners cited a provision of theEvery Student Succeeds Act, signed by the president in December 2015, in which Congress expressed that this boxing great should receive a posthumous pardon, and a vote by theUnited States Commission on Civil Rights passed unanimously a week earlier in June 2016 to "right this century-old wrong."[88]
Mike Tyson,Harry Reid, and John McCain lent their support to the campaign, starting aChange.org petition asking President Obama to posthumously pardon the world's first African American heavyweight boxing champion for his racially motivated 1913 felony conviction.[89]
A persistenthoax onsocial media claims that Johnson invented themonkey wrench and it was named amonkey wrench as a racial slur. Johnson did receive a patent for improvements which he made to the monkey wrench,[90] but the name "monkey wrench" and the first patent for it predate his birth by over 35 years.[91]
On June 10, 1946, Johnson and a friend were en route to New York from Texas and visited asegregated diner; when the diner refused to serve him, Johnson drove away angrily with his friend in the passenger seat.[9][92] The car collided with a telegraph pole onU.S. Highway 1 nearFranklinton, North Carolina.[a] While his friend survived the crash, Johnson suffered fatal injuries and died later that day atSt. Agnes Hospital inRaleigh, North Carolina, which was the nearest black hospital, at 6:10 pm. He was 68 years old.[93][1]
Johnson was buried atGraceland Cemetery inChicago next to his first wife, Etta Duryea Johnson, who committed suicide in 1912. His grave was initially unmarked, but was later marked with a large tombstone which says only "Johnson". An additional marker was added after filmmakerKen Burns released a film about Johnson's life in 2005. Johnson's new, smaller gravestone reads: "Jack / John A. Johnson. 1878–1946. First black heavyweight champion of the world." Johnson's signature is on the back of the stone.[94][95]
Johnson was an inaugural 1954 inductee toThe Ring magazine'sBoxing Hall of Fame (disbanded in 1987), and was inducted to theInternational Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. In 2005, the United StatesNational Film Preservation Board deemed the film of the 1910 Johnson-Jeffries fight "historically significant" and put it in theNational Film Registry.
During his boxing career, Jack Johnson fought 114 fights, winning 80 matches, 45 by knockouts.[66] He also had the longest professional career of any world heavyweight boxing champion, having boxed for over 33 years from 1897 to 1931 (12,231 days). This record was beaten byRoy Jones Jr. in 2023, who has boxed for more than 33 years since 1989 (12,384 days).
Muhammad Ali often spoke of how he was influenced by Jack Johnson. Ali identified with Johnson because he felt America ostracized him in the same manner because of his opposition to theVietnam War and affiliation with theNation of Islam.[96]
In 2002, scholarMolefi Kete Asante listed Jack Johnson on his list of100 Greatest African Americans.[97] In 2012, the City of Galveston dedicated a park in Johnson's memory as Galveston Island's most famous native son. The park, called Jack Johnson Park, includes a life-size, bronze statue of Johnson.[98]
Actor and professional wrestlerDwayne "The Rock" Johnson's surname is an homage to Jack Johnson; his father, professional wrestlerRocky Johnson, was born with the surname "Bowles" and chose hisring name in honor of the boxer before making it his legal name.[99]
Jack Johnson’s personal life and relationships also shaped his public legacy. His open romantic involvement and marriages with white women provoked outrage in early twentieth-century America, where segregation and anti-miscegenation laws reinforced strict racial boundaries. Many newspapers portrayed him as dangerous or immoral, framing his confidence and success as a cultural threat to white supremacy. Still, his decision to live on his own terms inspired many African Americans, who saw in him a rare example of pride and independence during an era of racial violence. His success as a Black champion during the height of Jim Crow challenged the racial hierarchy that linked whiteness to physical and moral superiority. His victories, especially over white opponents like Jim Jeffries, provoked racial violence across the country, showing how sport could reflect and even intensify racial conflict. Later African American athletes, from Joe Louis to Muhammad Ali, would look to Johnson’s defiance as both an inspiration and a warning about the costs of challenging racial boundaries in sport.[100]
 | This sectionmay containexcessive orirrelevant examples. Please helpimprove it by removingless pertinent examples andelaborating on existing ones.(September 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The first filmed fight of Johnson's career was his bout with Tommy Burns, which was turned into a contemporary documentary,The Burns-Johnson Fight, in 1908.
Folksinger and blues singerLead Belly referenced Johnson in asong about theTitanic: "Jack Johnson wanna get on board, Captain said I ain't hauling no coal. Fare thee, Titanic, fare thee well. When Jack Johnson heard that mighty shock, mighta seen the man do the Eagle rock. Fare thee, Titanic, fare thee well" (The Eagle Rock was a popular dance at the time). In 1969, American folk singerJaime Brockett reworked the Lead Belly song into a satirical talking blues called "The Legend of the S.S. Titanic."
In the trenches ofWorld War One, Johnson's name was used by British troops to describe the impact of German 150 mm heavy artillery shells which had a black color.[101] In his letters home to his wife,Rupert Edward Inglis (1863–1916), a former rugby international who was a Forces Chaplain, describes passing through the town ofAlbert:
We went through the place today (2 October 1915) where the Virgin Statue at the top of the Church was hit by a shell in January. The statue was knocked over, but has never fallen, I sent you a picture of it. It really is a wonderful sight. It is incomprehensible how it can have stayed there, but I think it is now lower than when the photograph was taken, and no doubt will come down with the next gale. The Church and village are wrecked, there's a huge hole made by a Jack Johnson just outside the west door of the Church.[102]
Johnson's story is the basis of the playThe Great White Hope and its 1970film adaptation, starringJames Earl Jones as "Jack Jefferson" andJane Alexander as his love interest. Both Jones and Alexander won Tonys and were nominated for Oscars.
Also in 1970,Jimmy Jacobs andBill Cayton brought together much of the rare archive footage of Johnson which they had saved and restored, and made the filmJack Johnson, with Johnson's words voiced byBrock Peters, and music byMiles Davis. Davis' score later became the 1971 albumnamed after the boxer. It features the actor Peters (as Johnson) saying:
I'm Jack Johnson. Heavyweight champion of the world.
I'm black. They never let me forget it.
I'm black all right! I'll never let them forget it!
In 2005, filmmakerKen Burns produced a two-part documentary about Johnson's life,Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, based on the 2004 nonfiction book of the same name by Geoffrey C. Ward, and with music byWynton Marsalis. The book won theWilliam Hill Sports Book of the Year (2006).[103][104]
Several Hip Hop activists have also reflected on Johnson's legacy, most notably in the albumThe New Danger, byMos Def, in which songs like "Zimzallabim" and "Blue Black Jack" are devoted to the artist's pugilistic hero. In the closing track of the albumRun the Jewels 3, "A Report to the Shareholders / Kill Your Masters,"Killer Mike of the Hip Hop duoRun the Jewels reinvokes Johnson's image with the line: "I'm Jack Johnson, I beat a slave catcher snaggletooth." Additionally, both Southernpunk rock bandThis Bike is a Pipe Bomb andalternative country performerTom Russell have songs dedicated to Johnson. Russell's piece is both a tribute and a biting indictment of the racism Johnson faced:"here comes Jack Johnson, like he owns the town, there's a lot of white Americans like to see a man go down ... like to see a black man drown."
InJoe R. Lansdale's 1997 short storyThe Big Blow, Johnson is featured fighting a white boxer brought in by Galveston, Texas's boxing fans to defeat the African American fighter during the1900 Galveston Hurricane. The story won aBram Stoker Award and was expanded into a 2000 novel.[105]
The book of poetry,The Big Smoke byAdrian Matejka, is inspired by Johnson's voice and life and written in forms ranging from sonnets to prose poetry. It was a finalist for theNational Book Award for Poetry in 2013.[106]
The Royale, a play byMarco Ramirez, uses the life of Jack Johnson as inspiration for its main character, Jay Jackson. It premiered in March 2016 atLincoln Center Theater directed byRachel Chavkin,[107] and was nominated for a Drama Desk Awards forOutstanding Play,Outstanding Director of a Play, and a Special Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble.[108]
The bookCrossing the Color Line: Stanley Ketchel's Challenge for Jack Johnson's Heavyweight Crown, written by Vernon Gravely and released in 2021, details Johnson's fight with middleweight championStanley Ketchel.
The graphic novel "The Original Johnson" was written and drawn by Trevor Von Eeden, the first black artist ever hired by DC Comics, in 1976, and co-creator of their first original black super-hero, Black Lightning. "The Original Johnson" details Jack Johnson's life from childhood up to his death, and was generally well received. A favorable quote from the NY Times graces the cover of both volumes.
The graphic novelLast On His Feet: Jack Johnson and the Battle of the Century by Adrian Matejka and Youssef Daoudi, released in 2023, chronicles Johnson vs. Jeffries, interspersing the fight with flashbacks to Johnson's youth.[109]
All information in this section is derived fromBoxRec,[110] unless otherwise stated.
| 94 fights | 54 wins | 11 losses |
|---|---|---|
| By knockout | 34 | 6 |
| By decision | 15 | 4 |
| By disqualification | 5 | 1 |
| Draws | 8 | |
| No contests | 4 | |
| Newspaper decisions/draws | 17 | |
Allnewspaper decisions are officially regarded as "no decision" bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column.
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Age | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 94 | Win | 54–11–8(21) | Brad Simmons | KO | 2 (10) | 28 Apr 1931 | 53 years, 28 days | Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. | |
| 93 | Loss | 53–11–8(21) | Brad Simmons | PTS | 10 | 4 Mar 1931 | 52 years, 338 days | Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. | |
| 92 | Win | 53–10–8(21) | Rough House Wilson | DQ | 3 (10) | 19 Jul 1928 | 50 years, 110 days | Douglass Park,Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. | |
| 91 | Loss | 52–10–8(21) | Bill Hartwell | RTD | 6 (10) | 15 May 1928 | 50 years, 45 days | Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas, U.S. | |
| 90 | Loss | 52–9–8(21) | Bearcat Wright | KO | 5 (10) | 16 Apr 1928 | 50 years, 16 days | Topeka, Kansas, U.S. | |
| 89 | Loss | 52–8–8(21) | Brad Simmons | PTS | 10 | 6 Sep 1926 | 48 years, 159 days | 101 Ranch Arena,Enid, Oklahoma, U.S. | |
| 88 | Loss | 52–7–8(21) | Bob Lawson | RTD | 7 (12) | 30 May 1926 | 48 years, 60 days | Coliseum,Ciudad Juarez, Mexico | |
| 87 | Win | 52–6–8(21) | Pat Lester | PTS | 15 | 2 May 1926 | 48 years, 32 days | Plaza de Toros,Nogales, Sonora, Mexico | |
| 86 | Win | 51–6–8(21) | Homer Smith | PTS | 10 | 22 Feb 1924 | 45 years, 328 days | Théâtre Saint-Denis,Montreal, Canada | |
| 85 | Win | 50–6–8(21) | Jack Thompson | NWS | 12 | 20 May 1923 | 45 years, 50 days | Havana, Cuba | |
| 84 | Win | 50–6–8(20) | Farmer Lodge | KO | 4 | 6 May 1923 | 45 years, 36 days | Havana, Cuba | |
| 83 | Win | 49–6–8(20) | George Roberts | KO | 3 | 17 May 1920 | 42 years, 47 days | Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico | |
| 82 | Win | 48–6–8(20) | Bob Wilson | KO | 3 | 18 Apr 1920 | 42 years, 18 days | Mexicali,Baja California, Mexico | |
| 81 | Win | 47–6–8(20) | Marty Cutler | KO | 6 (25) | 28 Sep 1919 | 41 years, 181 days | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 80 | NC | 46–6–8(20) | Jerry Smith | NC | 3 (?) | 17 Aug 1919 | 41 years, 139 days | Cine Teatro Venecia, Tampico, Mexico | Police stopped the fight |
| 79 | Win | 46–6–8(19) | Tom Cowler | PTS | 15 | 10 Aug 1919 | 41 years, 132 days | Plaza de Toros, Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 78 | Win | 45–6–8(19) | Bob Roper | PTS | 10 | 22 Jun 1919 | 41 years, 83 days | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 77 | Win | 44–6–8(19) | Bill Flint | KO | 2 (10) | 12 Feb 1919 | 40 years, 318 days | Teatro de la Gran Via, Madrid, Spain | |
| 76 | Win | 43–6–8(19) | Blink McCloskey | RTD | 6 (20) | 5 Feb 1918 | 39 years, 311 days | Teatro Circo Price, Madrid, Spain | |
| 75 | Win | 42–6–8(19) | Arthur Cravan | KO | 6 (20) | 23 Apr 1916 | 38 years, 23 days | Plaza de Toros Monumental,Barcelona, Spain | |
| 74 | Win | 41–6–8(19) | Frank Crozier | TKO | 7 (10) | 23 Mar 1916 | 37 years, 358 days | Gran Teatro de Madrid,Madrid, Spain | |
| 73 | Loss | 40–6–8(19) | Jess Willard | KO | 26 (45),2:20 | 5 Apr 1915 | 37 years, 5 days | Oriental Park,Havana, Cuba | Lost world heavyweight title |
| 72 | Win | 40–5–8(19) | Jack Murray | KO | 3 (10) | 10 Jan 1915 | 36 years, 285 days | Sociedad Sportiva Argentina,Buenos Aires, Argentina | |
| 71 | Win | 39–5–8(19) | Frank Moran | PTS | 20 | 27 Jun 1914 | 36 years, 88 days | Vélodrome d'Hiver, Paris, France | Retained world heavyweight title |
| 70 | Draw | 38–5–8(19) | Battling Jim Johnson | PTS | 10 | 19 Dec 1913 | 35 years, 263 days | Élysée Montmartre,Paris, France | Retained world heavyweight title |
| 69 | Win | 38–5–7(19) | Fireman Jim Flynn | DQ | 9 (45) | 4 Jul 1912 | 34 years, 95 days | East Las Vegas,Las Vegas, New Mexico, U.S. | Retained world heavyweight title |
| 68 | Win | 37–5–7(19) | James J. Jeffries | TKO | 15 (45),2:20 | 4 Jul 1910 | 32 years, 95 days | Reno, Nevada, U.S. | Retained world heavyweight title |
| 67 | Win | 36–5–7(19) | Stanley Ketchel | KO | 12 (20) | 16 Oct 1909 | 31 years, 199 days | Mission Street Arena,Colma, California, U.S. | Retained world heavyweight title |
| 66 | Win | 35–5–7(19) | Al Kaufman | NWS | 10 | 9 Sep 1909 | 31 years, 162 days | Coffroth's Arena, San Francisco, California, U.S. | World heavyweight title at stake; (via KO only) |
| 65 | Win | 35–5–7(18) | Tony Ross | NWS | 6 | 30 Jun 1909 | 31 years, 91 days | Duquesne Gardens,Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 64 | Draw | 35–5–7(17) | Philadelphia Jack O'Brien | NWS | 6 | 19 May 1909 | 31 years, 49 days | National Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | World heavyweight title at stake; (via KO only) |
| 63 | Win | 35–5–7(16) | Tommy Burns | TKO | 14 (20) | 26 Dec 1908 | 30 years, 270 days | Sydney Stadium, Sydney, Australia | Wonworld heavyweight title |
| 62 | Win | 34–5–7(16) | Ben Taylor | TKO | 8 (10) | 31 Jul 1908 | 30 years, 122 days | Cosmopolitan Gymnasium,Plymouth, England | |
| 61 | Win | 33–5–7(16) | Fireman Jim Flynn | KO | 11 (45),1:30 | 2 Nov 1907 | 29 years, 216 days | Coffroth's Arena, San Francisco, California, U.S. | |
| 60 | Win | 32–5–7(16) | Sailor Burke | NWS | 6 | 12 Sep 1907 | 29 years, 165 days | Smith's Theater,Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S. | |
| 59 | Win | 32–5–7(15) | Charles Cutler | KO | 1 (6) | 28 Aug 1907 | 29 years, 150 days | Lauer's Park,Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 58 | Win | 31–5–7(15) | Bob Fitzsimmons | KO | 2 (6) | 17 Jul 1907 | 29 years, 108 days | Washington Sports Club,Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 57 | Win | 30–5–7(15) | Bill Lang | TKO | 9 (20) | 4 Mar 1907 | 28 years, 338 days | Richmond Race Course,Melbourne, Australia | |
| 56 | Win | 29–5–7(15) | Peter Felix | KO | 1 (10),2:20 | 19 Feb 1907 | 28 years, 325 days | Gaiety Athletic Hall,Sydney, Australia | Retained world colored heavyweight title |
| 55 | Draw | 28–5–7(15) | Joe Jennette | NWS | 10 | 26 Nov 1906 | 28 years, 240 days | Auditorium,Portland, Maine, U.S. | World colored heavyweight title at stake; (via KO only) |
| 54 | Win | 28–5–7(14) | Jim Jeffords | NWS | 6 | 8 Nov 1906 | 28 years, 222 days | Lancaster Athletic Club,Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 53 | Win | 28–5–7(13) | Joe Jennette | NWS | 6 | 20 Sep 1906 | 28 years, 173 days | Broadway Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 52 | Draw | 28–5–7(12) | Billy Dunning | PTS | 10 | 3 Sep 1906 | 28 years, 156 days | Millinocket, Maine, U.S. | |
| 51 | Win | 28–5–6(12) | Charlie Haghey | KO | 2 (12) | 16 Jun 1906 | 28 years, 77 days | Gloucester Athletic Club,Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S. | |
| 50 | Win | 27–5–6(12) | Sam Langford | PTS | 15 | 26 Apr 1906 | 28 years, 26 days | Lincoln Athletic Club, Chelsea, Massachusetts, U.S. | Retained world colored heavyweight title |
| 49 | Win | 26–5–6(12) | Black Bill | KO | 7 (10) | 16 Apr 1906 | 28 years, 16 days | Peerless Athletic Club,Pittston, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 48 | Win | 25–5–6(12) | Joe Jennette | PTS | 15 | 14 Mar 1906 | 27 years, 348 days | Germania Maennerchor Hall,Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. | Retained world colored heavyweight title |
| 47 | Win | 24–5–6(12) | Joe Jennette | NWS | 3 | 16 Jan 1906 | 27 years, 291 days | Sharkey Athletic Club,New York City, New York, U.S. | |
| 46 | Win | 24–5–6(11) | Joe Jennette | NWS | 6 | 2 Dec 1905 | 27 years, 246 days | National Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 45 | Win | 24–5–6(10) | Young Peter Jackson | NWS | 12 | 1 Dec 1905 | 27 years, 245 days | Germania Maennerchor Hall,Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. | World colored heavyweight title at stake; (via KO only) |
| 44 | Loss | 24–5–6(9) | Joe Jennette | DQ | 2 (6) | 25 Nov 1905 | 27 years, 239 days | National Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 43 | Win | 24–4–6(9) | Joe Grim | NWS | 6 | 24 Jul 1905 | 27 years, 115 days | National Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 42 | Win | 24–4–6(8) | Sandy Ferguson | DQ | 7 (15) | 18 Jul 1905 | 27 years, 109 days | Douglas Athletic Club,Chelsea, Massachusetts, U.S. | |
| 41 | Win | 23–4–6(8) | Morris Harris | KO | 1 (3) | 13 Jul 1905 | 27 years, 104 days | Broadway Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 40 | Win | 22–4–6(8) | Black Bill | NWS | 3 | 13 Jul 1905 | 27 years, 104 days | Broadway Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 39 | Win | 22–4–6(7) | Jack Munroe | NWS | 6 | 26 Jun 1905 | 27 years, 87 days | National Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 38 | Win | 22–4–6(6) | Walter Johnson | KO | 3 (3) | 9 May 1905 | 27 years, 39 days | Knickerbocker Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 37 | Win | 21–4–6(6) | Joe Jennette | NWS | 3 | 9 May 1905 | 27 years, 39 days | Knickerbocker Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 36 | Win | 21–4–6(5) | Black Bill | TKO | 4 (6) | 2 May 1905 | 27 years, 32 days | Knickerbocker Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 35 | Win | 20–4–6(5) | Jim Jeffords | KO | 4 (6) | 25 Apr 1905 | 27 years, 25 days | Knickerbocker Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 34 | Loss | 19–4–6(5) | Marvin Hart | PTS | 20 | 28 Mar 1905 | 26 years, 362 days | Woodward's Pavilion, San Francisco, California, U.S. | |
| 33 | Win | 19–3–6(5) | Denver Ed Martin | KO | 2 (20) | 10 Oct 1904 | 26 years, 193 days | Hazard's Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Retained world colored heavyweight title |
| 32 | Win | 18–3–6(5) | Frank Childs | PTS | 6 | 2 Jun 1904 | 26 years, 63 days | Apollo Hall, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | Retained world colored heavyweight title |
| 31 | Win | 17–3–6(5) | Sam McVey | KO | 20 (20) | 22 Apr 1904 | 26 years, 22 days | Mechanic's Pavilion, San Francisco, California, U.S. | Retained world colored heavyweight title |
| 30 | Win | 16–3–6(5) | Black Bill | NWS | 6 | 15 Feb 1904 | 25 years, 321 days | Lenox Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 29 | NC | 16–3–6(4) | Sandy Ferguson | NC | 5 (6) | 6 Feb 1904 | 25 years, 312 days | National Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 28 | Win | 16–3–6(3) | Sandy Ferguson | PTS | 20 | 11 Dec 1903 | 25 years, 255 days | Colma, California, U.S. | |
| 27 | Win | 15–3–6(3) | Sam McVey | PTS | 20 | 27 Oct 1903 | 25 years, 210 days | Hazard's Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Retained world colored heavyweight title |
| 26 | Win | 14–3–6(3) | Sandy Ferguson | NWS | 6 | 31 Jul 1903 | 25 years, 122 days | Penn Art Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 25 | Win | 14–3–6(2) | Joe Butler | KO | 3 (6) | 11 May 1903 | 25 years, 41 days | Washington Sports Club,Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 24 | Win | 13–3–6(2) | Sandy Ferguson | PTS | 10 | 16 Apr 1903 | 25 years, 16 days | Essex Athletic Club,Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | |
| 23 | Win | 12–3–6(2) | Sam McVey | PTS | 20 | 26 Feb 1903 | 24 years, 332 days | Hazard's Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Retained world colored heavyweight title |
| 22 | Win | 11–3–6(2) | Denver Ed Martin | PTS | 20 | 5 Feb 1903 | 24 years, 311 days | Hazard's Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Wonworld colored heavyweight title |
| 21 | Win | 10–3–6(2) | Fred Russell | DQ | 8 (20) | 4 Dec 1902 | 24 years, 248 days | Hazard's Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 20 | Win | 9–3–6(2) | George Gardiner | PTS | 20 | 31 Oct 1902 | 24 years, 214 days | Woodward's Pavilion,San Francisco, California, U.S. | |
| 19 | Win | 8–3–6(2) | Frank Childs | TKO | 12 (20) | 21 Oct 1902 | 24 years, 204 days | Hazard's Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Won world colored heavyweight title claim |
| 18 | Draw | 7–3–6(2) | Hank Griffin | PTS | 20 | 20 Jun 1902 | 24 years, 81 days | Hazard's Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 17 | Win | 7–3–5(2) | Jack Jeffries | KO | 5 (20) | 16 May 1902 | 24 years, 46 days | Hazard's Pavilion,Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 16 | Win | 6–3–5(2) | Joe Kennedy | KO | 4 (15) | 7 Mar 1902 | 23 years, 341 days | Reliance Athletic Club, Oakland, California, U.S. | |
| 15 | Draw | 5–3–5(2) | Hank Griffin | PTS | 15 | 27 Dec 1901 | 23 years, 271 days | Reliance Athletic Club,Oakland, California, U.S. | |
| 14 | Loss | 5–3–4(2) | Hank Griffin | PTS | 20 | 4 Nov 1901 | 23 years, 218 days | Armory Hall,Bakersfield, California, U.S. | |
| 13 | Draw | 5–2–4(2) | Mexican Pete Everett | PTS | 20 | 14 Aug 1901 | 23 years, 136 days | Gold Coin Club,Victor, Colorado, U.S. | |
| 12 | Draw | 5–2–3(2) | Billy Stift | PTS | 10 | 26 Apr 1901 | 23 years, 26 days | Colorado Athletic Club,Denver, Colorado, U.S. | |
| 11 | Loss | 5–2–2(2) | Joe Choynski | KO | 3 (20) | 25 Feb 1901 | 22 years, 331 days | Harmony Hall, Galveston, Texas, U.S. | |
| 10 | Draw | 5–1–2(2) | Jim Scanlon | PTS | 7 (20) | 14 Jan 1901 | 22 years, 289 days | Galveston Athletic Club, Galveston, Texas, U.S. | |
| 9 | Win | 5–1–1(2) | Klondike Haynes | TKO | 4 (20) | 27 Dec 1900 | 22 years, 271 days | Phoenix Athletic Club,Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. | |
| 8 | Draw | 4–1–1(2) | Klondike Haynes | PTS | 20 | 25 Jun 1900 | 22 years, 86 days | Galveston Athletic Club, Galveston, Texas, U.S. | Pre-arranged draw if lasting the distance |
| 7 | Win | 4–1(2) | Jim McCormick | DQ | 6 (20) | 20 Apr 1900 | 22 years, 20 days | Galveston Athletic Club, Galveston, Texas, U.S. | |
| 6 | ND | 3–1(2) | William McNeill | ND | 4 | 9 Apr 1900 | 22 years, 9 days | Galveston Athletic Club, Galveston, Texas, U.S. | |
| 5 | ND | 3–1(1) | Jim McCormick | ND | 15 | 21 Mar 1900 | 21 years, 355 days | Galveston Athletic Club, Galveston, Texas, U.S. | |
| 4 | Loss | 3–1 | Klondike Haynes | TKO | 5 (6) | 6 May 1899 | 21 years, 36 days | Howard Theatre,Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | For inauguralblack heavyweight title |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Cherokee | KO | ? (6) | 24 Jul 1898 | 20 years, 115 days | Kansas City, Kansas, U.S. | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Ed Johnson | KO | 5 | 20 Nov 1897 | 19 years, 234 days | Convention Hall, Galveston, Texas, U.S. | Retained Texas State middleweight title |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Charley Brooks | KO | 2 (15) | 1 Nov 1897 | 19 years, 215 days | Prof. Bernau's Gymnasium,Galveston, Texas, U.S. | Won Texas State middleweight title |
| 93 fights | 68 wins | 11 losses |
|---|---|---|
| By knockout | 34 | 6 |
| By decision | 29 | 4 |
| By disqualification | 5 | 1 |
| Draws | 10 | |
| No contests | 4 | |
Record with the inclusion ofnewspaper decisions in the win/loss/draw column.
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Age | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 94 | Win | 68–11–10(4) | Brad Simmons | KO | 2 (10) | 28 Apr 1931 | 53 years, 28 days | Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. | |
| 93 | Loss | 67–11–10(4) | Brad Simmons | PTS | 10 | 4 Mar 1931 | 52 years, 338 days | Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. | |
| 92 | Win | 68–10–10(4) | Rough House Wilson | DQ | 3 (10) | 19 Jul 1928 | 50 years, 110 days | Douglas Park,Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. | |
| 91 | Loss | 67–10–10(4) | Bill Hartwell | RTD | 6 (10) | 15 May 1928 | 50 years, 45 days | Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas, U.S. | |
| 90 | Loss | 67–9–10(4) | Bearcat Wright | KO | 5 (10) | 16 Apr 1928 | 50 years, 16 days | Topeka, Kansas, U.S. | |
| 89 | Loss | 67–8–10(4) | Brad Simmons | PTS | 10 | 6 Sep 1926 | 48 years, 159 days | 101 Ranch Arena,Enid, Oklahoma, U.S. | |
| 88 | Loss | 67–7–10(4) | Bob Lawson | RTD | 7 (12) | 30 May 1926 | 48 years, 60 days | Coliseum,Ciudad Juarez, Mexico | |
| 87 | Win | 67–6–10(4) | Pat Lester | PTS | 15 | 2 May 1926 | 48 years, 32 days | Plaza de Toros,Nogales, Sonora, Mexico | |
| 86 | Win | 66–6–10(4) | Homer Smith | PTS | 10 | 22 Feb 1924 | 45 years, 328 days | Théâtre Saint-Denis,Montreal, Canada | |
| 85 | Win | 65–6–10(4) | Jack Thompson | NWS | 12 | 20 May 1923 | 45 years, 50 days | Havana, Cuba | |
| 84 | Win | 64–6–10(4) | Farmer Lodge | KO | 4 | 6 May 1923 | 45 years, 36 days | Havana, Cuba | |
| 83 | Win | 63–6–10(4) | George Roberts | KO | 3 | 17 May 1920 | 42 years, 47 days | Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico | |
| 82 | Win | 62–6–10(4) | Bob Wilson | KO | 3 | 18 Apr 1920 | 42 years, 18 days | Mexicali,Baja California, Mexico | |
| 81 | Win | 61–6–10(4) | Marty Cutler | KO | 6 (25) | 28 Sep 1919 | 41 years, 181 days | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 80 | NC | 60–6–10(4) | Jerry Smith | NC | 3 (?) | 17 Aug 1919 | 41 years, 139 days | Cine Teatro Venecia, Tampico, Mexico | Police stopped the fight |
| 79 | Win | 60–6–10(3) | Tom Cowler | PTS | 15 | 10 Aug 1919 | 41 years, 132 days | Plaza de Toros, Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 78 | Win | 59–6–10(3) | Bob Roper | PTS | 10 | 22 Jun 1919 | 41 years, 83 days | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 77 | Win | 58–6–10(3) | Bill Flint | KO | 2 (10) | 12 Feb 1919 | 40 years, 318 days | Teatro de la Gran Via, Madrid, Spain | |
| 76 | Win | 57–6–10(3) | Blink McCloskey | RTD | 6 (20) | 5 Feb 1918 | 39 years, 311 days | Teatro Circo Price, Madrid, Spain | |
| 75 | Win | 56–6–10(3) | Arthur Cravan | KO | 6 (20) | 23 Apr 1916 | 38 years, 23 days | Plaza de Toros Monumental,Barcelona, Spain | |
| 74 | Win | 55–6–10(3) | Frank Crozier | TKO | 7 (10) | 23 Mar 1916 | 37 years, 358 days | Gran Teatro de Madrid,Madrid, Spain | |
| 73 | Loss | 54–6–10(3) | Jess Willard | KO | 26 (45),2:20 | 5 Apr 1915 | 37 years, 5 days | Oriental Park,Havana, Cuba | Lost world heavyweight title |
| 72 | Win | 54–5–10(3) | Jack Murray | KO | 3 (10) | 10 Jan 1915 | 36 years, 285 days | Sociedad Sportiva Argentina,Buenos Aires, Argentina | |
| 71 | Win | 53–5–10(3) | Frank Moran | PTS | 20 | 27 Jun 1914 | 36 years, 88 days | Vélodrome d'Hiver, Paris, France | Retained world heavyweight title |
| 70 | Draw | 52–5–10(3) | Battling Jim Johnson | PTS | 10 | 19 Dec 1913 | 35 years, 263 days | Élysée Montmartre,Paris, France | Retained world heavyweight title |
| 69 | Win | 52–5–9(3) | Fireman Jim Flynn | DQ | 9 (45) | 4 Jul 1912 | 34 years, 95 days | East Las Vegas,Las Vegas, New Mexico, U.S. | Retained world heavyweight title |
| 68 | Win | 51–5–9(3) | James J. Jeffries | TKO | 15 (45),2:20 | 4 Jul 1910 | 32 years, 95 days | Reno, Nevada, U.S. | Retained world heavyweight title |
| 67 | Win | 50–5–9(3) | Stanley Ketchel | KO | 12 (20) | 16 Oct 1909 | 31 years, 199 days | Mission Street Arena,Colma, California, U.S. | Retained world heavyweight title |
| 66 | Win | 49–5–9(3) | Al Kaufman | NWS | 10 | 9 Sep 1909 | 31 years, 162 days | Coffroth's Arena, San Francisco, California, U.S. | World heavyweight title at stake; (via KO only) |
| 65 | Win | 48–5–9(3) | Tony Ross | NWS | 6 | 30 Jun 1909 | 31 years, 91 days | Duquesne Gardens,Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 64 | Draw | 47–5–9(3) | Philadelphia Jack O'Brien | NWS | 6 | 19 May 1909 | 31 years, 49 days | National Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | World heavyweight title at stake; (via KO only) |
| 63 | Win | 47–5–8(3) | Tommy Burns | PTS | 14 (20) | 26 Dec 1908 | 30 years, 270 days | Sydney Stadium, Sydney, Australia | Wonworld heavyweight title |
| 62 | Win | 46–5–8(3) | Ben Taylor | TKO | 8 (10) | 31 Jul 1908 | 30 years, 122 days | Cosmopolitan Gymnasium,Plymouth, England | |
| 61 | Win | 45–5–8(3) | Fireman Jim Flynn | KO | 11 (45),1:30 | 2 Nov 1907 | 29 years, 216 days | Coffroth's Arena, San Francisco, California, U.S. | |
| 60 | Win | 44–5–8(3) | Sailor Burke | NWS | 6 | 12 Sep 1907 | 29 years, 165 days | Smith's Theater,Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S. | |
| 59 | Win | 43–5–8(3) | Charles Cutler | KO | 1 (6) | 28 Aug 1907 | 29 years, 150 days | Lauer's Park,Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 58 | Win | 42–5–8(3) | Bob Fitzsimmons | KO | 2 (6) | 17 Jul 1907 | 29 years, 108 days | Washington Sports Club,Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 57 | Win | 41–5–8(3) | Bill Lang | TKO | 9 (20) | 4 Mar 1907 | 28 years, 338 days | Richmond Race Course,Melbourne, Australia | |
| 56 | Win | 40–5–8(3) | Peter Felix | KO | 1 (10),2:20 | 19 Feb 1907 | 28 years, 325 days | Gaiety Athletic Hall,Sydney, Australia | Retained world colored heavyweight title |
| 55 | Draw | 39–5–8(3) | Joe Jennette | NWS | 10 | 26 Nov 1906 | 28 years, 240 days | Auditorium,Portland, Maine, U.S. | World colored heavyweight title at stake; (via KO only) |
| 54 | Win | 39–5–7(3) | Jim Jeffords | NWS | 6 | 8 Nov 1906 | 28 years, 222 days | Lancaster Athletic Club,Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 53 | Win | 38–5–7(3) | Joe Jennette | NWS | 6 | 20 Sep 1906 | 28 years, 173 days | Broadway Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 52 | Draw | 37–5–7(3) | Billy Dunning | NWS | 10 | 3 Sep 1906 | 28 years, 156 days | Millinocket, Maine, U.S. | |
| 51 | Win | 37–5–6(3) | Charlie Haghey | KO | 2 (12) | 16 Jun 1906 | 28 years, 77 days | Gloucester Athletic Club,Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S. | |
| 50 | Win | 36–5–6(3) | Sam Langford | PTS | 15 | 26 Apr 1906 | 28 years, 26 days | Lincoln Athletic Club, Chelsea, Massachusetts, U.S. | Retained world colored heavyweight title |
| 49 | Win | 35–5–6(3) | Black Bill | KO | 7 (10) | 16 Apr 1906 | 28 years, 16 days | Peerless Athletic Club,Pittston, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 48 | Win | 34–5–6(3) | Joe Jennette | PTS | 15 | 14 Mar 1906 | 27 years, 348 days | Germania Maennerchor Hall,Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. | Retained world colored heavyweight title |
| 47 | Win | 33–5–6(3) | Joe Jennette | NWS | 3 | 16 Jan 1906 | 27 years, 291 days | Sharkey Athletic Club,New York City, New York, U.S. | |
| 46 | Win | 32–5–6(3) | Joe Jennette | NWS | 6 | 2 Dec 1905 | 27 years, 246 days | National Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 45 | Win | 31–5–6(3) | Young Peter Jackson | NWS | 12 | 1 Dec 1905 | 27 years, 245 days | Germania Maennerchor Hall,Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. | World colored heavyweight title at stake; (via KO only) |
| 44 | Loss | 30–5–6(3) | Joe Jennette | DQ | 2 (6) | 25 Nov 1905 | 27 years, 239 days | National Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 43 | Win | 30–4–6(3) | Joe Grim | NWS | 6 | 24 Jul 1905 | 27 years, 115 days | National Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 42 | Win | 29–4–6(3) | Sandy Ferguson | DQ | 7 (15) | 18 Jul 1905 | 27 years, 109 days | Douglas Athletic Club,Chelsea, Massachusetts, U.S. | |
| 41 | Win | 28–4–6(3) | Morris Harris | KO | 1 (3) | 13 Jul 1905 | 27 years, 104 days | Broadway Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 40 | Win | 27–4–6(3) | Black Bill | NWS | 3 | 13 Jul 1905 | 27 years, 104 days | Broadway Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 39 | Win | 26–4–6(3) | Jack Munroe | NWS | 6 | 26 Jun 1905 | 27 years, 87 days | National Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 38 | Win | 25–4–6(3) | Walter Johnson | KO | 3 (3) | 9 May 1905 | 27 years, 39 days | Knickerbocker Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 37 | Win | 24–4–6(3) | Joe Jennette | NWS | 3 | 9 May 1905 | 27 years, 39 days | Knickerbocker Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 36 | Win | 23–4–6(3) | Black Bill | TKO | 4 (6) | 2 May 1905 | 27 years, 32 days | Knickerbocker Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 35 | Win | 22–4–6(3) | Jim Jeffords | KO | 4 (6) | 25 Apr 1905 | 27 years, 25 days | Knickerbocker Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 34 | Loss | 21–4–6(3) | Marvin Hart | PTS | 20 | 28 Mar 1905 | 26 years, 362 days | Woodward's Pavilion, San Francisco, California, U.S. | |
| 33 | Win | 21–3–6(3) | Denver Ed Martin | KO | 2 (20) | 10 Oct 1904 | 26 years, 193 days | Hazard's Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Retained world colored heavyweight title |
| 32 | Win | 20–3–6(3) | Frank Childs | PTS | 6 | 2 Jun 1904 | 26 years, 63 days | Apollo Hall, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | Retained world colored heavyweight title |
| 31 | Win | 19–3–6(3) | Sam McVey | KO | 20 (20) | 22 Apr 1904 | 26 years, 22 days | Mechanic's Pavilion, San Francisco, California, U.S. | Retained world colored heavyweight title |
| 30 | Win | 18–3–6(3) | Black Bill | NWS | 6 | 15 Feb 1904 | 25 years, 321 days | Lenox Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 29 | NC | 17–3–6(3) | Sandy Ferguson | NC | 5 (6) | 6 Feb 1904 | 25 years, 312 days | National Athletic Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 28 | Win | 17–3–6(2) | Sandy Ferguson | PTS | 20 | 11 Dec 1903 | 25 years, 255 days | Colma, California, U.S. | |
| 27 | Win | 16–3–6(2) | Sam McVey | PTS | 20 | 27 Oct 1903 | 25 years, 210 days | Hazard's Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Retained world colored heavyweight title |
| 26 | Win | 15–3–6(2) | Sandy Ferguson | NWS | 6 | 31 Jul 1903 | 25 years, 122 days | Penn Art Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 25 | Win | 14–3–6(2) | Joe Butler | KO | 3 (6) | 11 May 1903 | 25 years, 41 days | Washington Sports Club,Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 24 | Win | 13–3–6(2) | Sandy Ferguson | PTS | 10 | 16 Apr 1903 | 25 years, 16 days | Essex Athletic Club,Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | |
| 23 | Win | 12–3–6(2) | Sam McVey | PTS | 20 | 26 Feb 1903 | 24 years, 332 days | Hazard's Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Retained world colored heavyweight title |
| 22 | Win | 11–3–6(2) | Denver Ed Martin | PTS | 20 | 5 Feb 1903 | 24 years, 311 days | Hazard's Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Wonworld colored heavyweight title |
| 21 | Win | 10–3–6(2) | Fred Russell | DQ | 8 (20) | 4 Dec 1902 | 24 years, 248 days | Hazard's Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 20 | Win | 9–3–6(2) | George Gardiner | PTS | 20 | 31 Oct 1902 | 24 years, 214 days | Woodward's Pavilion,San Francisco, California, U.S. | |
| 19 | Win | 8–3–6(2) | Frank Childs | TKO | 12 (20) | 21 Oct 1902 | 24 years, 204 days | Hazard's Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Won world colored heavyweight title claim |
| 18 | Draw | 7–3–6(2) | Hank Griffin | PTS | 20 | 20 Jun 1902 | 24 years, 81 days | Hazard's Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 17 | Win | 7–3–5(2) | Jack Jeffries | KO | 5 (20) | 16 May 1902 | 24 years, 46 days | Hazard's Pavilion,Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 16 | Win | 6–3–5(2) | Joe Kennedy | KO | 4 (15) | 7 Mar 1902 | 23 years, 341 days | Reliance Athletic Club, Oakland, California, U.S. | |
| 15 | Draw | 5–3–5(2) | Hank Griffin | PTS | 15 | 27 Dec 1901 | 23 years, 271 days | Reliance Athletic Club,Oakland, California, U.S. | |
| 14 | Loss | 5–3–4(2) | Hank Griffin | PTS | 20 | 4 Nov 1901 | 23 years, 218 days | Armory Hall,Bakersfield, California, U.S. | |
| 13 | Draw | 5–2–4(2) | Mexican Pete Everett | PTS | 20 | 14 Aug 1901 | 23 years, 136 days | Gold Coin Club,Victor, Colorado, U.S. | |
| 12 | Draw | 5–2–3(2) | Billy Stift | PTS | 10 | 26 Apr 1901 | 23 years, 26 days | Colorado Athletic Club,Denver, Colorado, U.S. | |
| 11 | Loss | 5–2–2(2) | Joe Choynski | KO | 3 (20) | 25 Feb 1901 | 22 years, 331 days | Harmony Hall, Galveston, Texas, U.S. | |
| 10 | Draw | 5–1–2(2) | Jim Scanlon | PTS | 7 (20) | 14 Jan 1901 | 22 years, 289 days | Galveston Athletic Club, Galveston, Texas, U.S. | |
| 9 | Win | 5–1–1(2) | Klondike Haynes | TKO | 4 (20) | 27 Dec 1900 | 22 years, 271 days | Phoenix Athletic Club,Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. | |
| 8 | Draw | 4–1–1(2) | Klondike Haynes | PTS | 20 | 25 Jun 1900 | 22 years, 86 days | Galveston Athletic Club, Galveston, Texas, U.S. | Pre-arranged draw if lasting the distance |
| 7 | Win | 4–1(2) | Jim McCormick | DQ | 6 (20) | 20 Apr 1900 | 22 years, 20 days | Galveston Athletic Club, Galveston, Texas, U.S. | |
| 6 | ND | 3–1(2) | William McNeill | ND | 4 | 9 Apr 1900 | 22 years, 9 days | Galveston Athletic Club, Galveston, Texas, U.S. | |
| 5 | ND | 3–1(1) | Jim McCormick | ND | 15 | 21 Mar 1900 | 21 years, 355 days | Galveston Athletic Club, Galveston, Texas, U.S. | |
| 4 | Loss | 3–1 | Klondike Haynes | TKO | 5 (6) | 6 May 1899 | 21 years, 36 days | Howard Theatre,Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | For inauguralblack heavyweight title |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Cherokee | KO | ? (6) | 24 Jul 1898 | 20 years, 115 days | Kansas City, Kansas, U.S. | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Ed Johnson | KO | 5 | 20 Nov 1897 | 19 years, 234 days | Convention Hall, Galveston, Texas, U.S. | Retained Texas State middleweight title |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Charley Brooks | KO | 2 (15) | 1 Nov 1897 | 19 years, 215 days | Prof. Bernau's Gymnasium,Galveston, Texas, U.S. | Won Texas State middleweight title |
Upon seeing that he was to be admitted anyway, they telegraphed their fellow freemasons in America – and white American feelings ran high about the man who in the boxing ring had defeated several 'Great White Hopes'. Most Grand Lodges in the USA threatened to withdraw their Scottish Grand Lodge representation and this was why the Grand Lodge had somewhat frantically attempted to halt Johnson's initiation ceremony. The position of the Grand Lodge ultimately prevailed – some members of the local Lodge were suspended and Johnson had his fees returned. Any mention of his acceptance as an Entered Apprentice was removed from the records.
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | World Colored Heavyweight Championship February 5, 1903 – December 26, 1908 | Succeeded by Sam McVey Won vacant title |
| Preceded by | World Heavyweight Champion December 26, 1908 – April 5, 1915 | Succeeded by |
| Records | ||
| Preceded by | Oldest World Heavyweight Champion April 14, 1914 – January 4, 1919 | Succeeded by |
