Jack Johnson: The Legend That Was.

(I know the picture above isn't Jack Johnson, but I couldn't find a picture of him. So, I just used this one to represent the boxing genre, rather than the actual content of this article.)

Imagine fighting the same crop of fighters over and over again, month after month. It would be pretty frustrating. Then, imagine being the best of the bunch, well that's what Jack Johnson had to contend with for almost the whole of his career.

It must have been incredibly frustrating for Johnson having to just watch less-talented, lumbering, white heavyweights take all the glory while he out slicked great fighters like Sam Langford and Joe Jeanette.

However, unlike those other men, Johnson was eventually granted the chance to fight for the "real" heavyweight title. It was the original super fight, the "colored" heavyweight champion, Johnson locking horns with the other more-accepted world champion, Tommy Burns, in front of thousands of racist, blood-thirsty fight fans.

After 14 rounds, the police intervened and Johnson was awarded the decision, thus becoming the first ever black heavyweight champion. The man broke boundaries and put himself in the record books for eternity.

Johnson's career after that fabled night was one of up's and down's. From the extreme highs of knocking out Stanley Ketchal, James J Jeffries, and Fireman Jim Flynn, to the extreme low of being knocked out in the 26th of a scheduled 45 rounds to Jess Willard.

Some say Johnson threw that fight, others disrepute this claim, saying that if Johnson was going to throw the fight why wait 26 rounds? That is something we'll never know. Without Johnson, the infamous term "Great White Hope" may never have been coined and the fact that this phrase is still a fixture in most boxing fans vocabulary shows the profound effect Johnson crossing of the color line had.

Johnson led an extravagant life, almost as flashy as his in ring style. He sported gold teeth and was often spotted in public with white women. He blew money without thought on everything just because he could, and became the first in the line of many of these kinds of fighters.

I personally believe he loved to be hated, and would act so flamboyantly to fit in with his persona as "The ****** Champion." Johnson's lifestyle and character puts today's spoiled cry-baby’s, e.g. Floyd Mayweather Jr., to shame.

He brought the stereotypical "black" style to the masses. The bobbing and the weaving, the head movement were all part of this. The outslicking opponents rather than outslugging them. Even the most rampant racists must have, at least for a second, realized the brilliance their hate figure possessed.

From most accounts, Johnson was actually a kind man. From all accounts, he was a great fighter. Johnson will hopefully be looking down on us all now, seeing how he is remembered, revered amongst all races. You can almost picture him, flashing his gold teeth in a big smile. He broke records, he broke faces, and he broke the color line.