Bleacher Report - Articles by Ty

Jack Johnson: The Man and The Myth

Ty — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:20:02 -0500

John Arthur Johnson, born March 31, 1878, is better known as Jack Johnson. Nicknamed the Galveston Giant, he was arguably the best Heavyweight of his generation. Johnson was the first black Heavyweight Champion of the world, a feat which for this time was tremendously controversial.

Jack Johnson was born in Galveston, Texas as the second child and first son of Henry and Tina "Tiny" Johnson, both former slaves and faithful Methodists. The Johnson's worked blue collar jobs in order to earn enough to raise six children—the Johnsons had nine children, five of whom lived to be adults and one adopted son. Jack Johnson had five years of formal education.

Jack Johnson fought his first bout, a 16-round victory, at age 15. He turned professional around 1897, fighting in private clubs and making more money doing so then he had ever made. In 1901, Joe Choynski, a small Jewish Heavyweight, went to Galveston, Texas to train him. Choynski, an experienced boxer, knocked Johnson out in three rounds, and the two were arrested for engaging in a illegal contest and put in jail for 23 days. Joe Choynski began training Johnson while in jail but was never charged.

Johnson's fighting style was very distinctive. He had a more patient approach than was customary in that day, playing defensively, waiting for a mistake, and then capitalizing on it. He always began a bout cautiously, slowly building up over the rounds into a more aggressive fighter. Johnson often fought to punish his opponents rather than knock them out, endlessly avoiding their blows, and striking with swift counters. He always gave the impression of having much more to offer and if pushed, could punch quite powerfully.

By 1902 Johnson had won at least 50 fights against both black and white opponents. He won his first title on February 3, 1903, beating Denver Ed Martin over 20 rounds for the World Colored Heavyweight Championship. His efforts to win the full title were thwarted when World Heavyweight Champion James Jeffries refused to face him. Johnson however was able to fight former Champion Bob Fitzsimmons in July, 1907; he knocked Fitzsimmons out in the second round.

Johnson eventually won the World Heavyweight title on December 26, 1908 when he fought the Canadian World Champion Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia, after following him all over the world taunting him in the press for a match. The fight lasted 14 rounds before being stopped by the police in front of 20,000 spectators. The title was awarded to Johnson on a referee's decision as a TKO, but he had severely beaten the champion during the fight. Johnson had mocked both Burns and his ringside crew; every time Burns was about to go down, Johnson would hold him up again, punishing him more.

The camera was stopped just as Johnson was finishing off Burns, careful not to show Burns' defeat. As the World Heavyweight Champion, Johnson thus had to face a series of fighters billed by boxing promoters as "Great White Hopes" often in exhibition matches. In 1909, he beat Victor Mclaglen, Frank Moran, Tony Ross, Al Kaufman, and Middleweight Champion Stanley Ketchel. The match with Ketchel was keenly fought by both men until the twelfth and final round, when Ketchel threw a right to Johnson's head, knocking him down. Slowly regaining his feet, Johnson threw a straight right jab to Ketchel's jaw knocking him out, along with several of his teeth.

Johnson died in a car crash near Raleigh, North Carolina in 1946, at the age of 68, just one year before Jakie Robinson broke the color line in Major League Baseball. He was buried next to Etta Duryea at Graceland cemetery in Chicago. Johnson's grave is unmarked, but a stone that bears only "Johnson" stands above the plots of him and two of his wives.

Jack Johnson was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1954, and is on the roster of both the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame. He ended his career with a record of 92 wins, 14 losses, 11 draws, 14 no contests, with 51 knock outs out of 124 fights.

Jack Johnson: the Man, the Myth.

Jontre D. Goodman

Sugar Ray Robinson: The Greatest

Ty — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 20:43:06 -0500

The Greatest

Although this charismatic boxer was born Walker Smith, Jr., he is best remembered as Sugar Ray Robinson. Born on May 3, 1921 in Ailey, Georgia, his parents moved the family to New York when Sugar Ray Robinson was a teenager to escape the prevalent prejudice in the south.

It was there, in a Harlem gym, that Sugar Ray was first introduced to boxing. Sugar Ray Robinson visited the gym frequently, using a borrowed Amateur Atheletic Union boxing card of a friend. The friends name, incidentally, was Ray Robinson.

In 1939, Sugar Ray Robinson won the daily news Golden Gloves Feather Weight Championship

As an amateur, Sugar Ray Robinson had 69 knock outs in 89 registered fights, and was undefeated in 125 registered and unregistered fights.

Sugar Ray Robinson turned pro in October of 1940, becoming the Welter Weight Champion on Dec. 20, 1946, defeating Tommy Bell. Robinson would hold the title for five consecutive years (1946-1951).

Sugar Ray Robinson was the five-time Middle Weight Champion between the years of 1951-1960.

At the end of his career, Sugar Ray Robinson had a record of 174 wins, 19 losses, and six draws, with 109 knockouts.

Sugar Ray Robinson retired in December 1965—at the age of 44—after 25 years in the ring and over 200 fights.

It was once said by the greatest himself, "to be a champion, you have to believe in yourself when no one else will."

A great boxing historian, Bert Sugar once said Sugar Ray could deliver a knock out going backwards.

Another boxing great by the name of Sugar Ray Leonard was quoted saying, "someone once said there's a comparison between Sugar Ray Leonard and Sugar Ray Robinson. Believe me, there's no comparison. Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest."

Sugar Ray Robinson. A champion, a legend—the greatest.

Jontre Goodman

Feather Weight Slug Fest

Ty — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 01:28:25 -0500

This Featherweight Slug Fest - which lived up to it's name during every round - was just as intense as the previous match.

Chris John (42-0-2, 22 KO's) and Rocky Juarez (28-4-1, 20 KO's) squared off in a 12 round Featherweight Title fight.

They were pretty evenly matched except for a two inch height difference in favor of Chris John.

They both weighed in at 125 and a half pounds.

In the first round, John slightly gained the edge throwing the cleaner punches.

Round two however was all Juarez even though he was warned to keep his punch's up.

In the third - without any real punching power - John outpunched Juarez winning that round.

In the fourth round, with the crowed chanting "Rocky, Rocky," Juarez hurt John with a left to the body and a flush straight right jab winning the fourth.

During the fifth round, Juarez again landed flush right hands before being cut over the eye by a right jab from John, yet still winning the round.

In the sixth round, John was effective with the jab, he threw his combinations in flurries and had out jabbed Juarez 134-87 winning the round.

Rounds seven through ten saw John throwing over 100 punches; winning those rounds.

The eleventh round was when Juarez seemed to come on strong. Sensing urgency, he began to attack the body of John and hurt him in the process, winning the round.

Juarez was the harder puncher throughout the fight; he also had the support of the crowd as they chanted his name "Rocky! Rocky!"

This inspired the crowd favorite and hometown boxer came to life.

In the twelve and final round Juarez roared back landing body shots, lefts, rights hurting John and almost pulling a knock out.

In the end, however, the judges scored it 114-114; a draw. I very much agree with the judges and had the fight scored the same.

This is the type of fight that screams rematch and promises more drama.

I also believe that a harder hitting, more seasoned fighter would be too much for Chris John - the WBA Featherweight Champion - and that he'd better look into a rematch with Juarez before moving on.

Jontre Goodman

Top 25 Greatest Boxers

Ty — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:21:19 -0500

My Top 25 Greatest Fighters

25. Mike Tyson

24. Rocky Marciano

23. Pernell Whitaker

22. Riddick Bowe

21. George Foreman

20. Floyd Patterson

19. Prince Nassim Hamed

18. Micky Ward

17. Arturo Gatti

16. Oscar De la Hoya

15. Roy Jones Jr.

14. Evander Holyfield

13. Shane Mosely

12. Tommy (the hit man) Hearns

11. Marvin Hagler

10. Jersey Joe Walcott

09. Lennox Lewis

08. Julio Cezar Cavez

07. Joe Frazier

06. Floyd Mayweather Jr.

05. Bernard Hopkins

04. Sugar Ray Lenard

03. Muhammed Ali

02. Jack Johnson

01. Sugar Ray Robinson

These are my top 25. These are the guys that put in work.

Jontre Goodman