Jack Johnson top heavyweight?

Question

He lost to Jess Willard a overgrown cowboy who didn`t take up boxing till the age of 30. He lost to Marvin Hart one of the worst heavyweight champions ever. He defeated a champion in Jefferies who hadn`t fought in five years. His great victory for the heavyweight championship was over a 5 foot 7in fighter who weighed in at around 168 pounds. Outside of politics explain to me how anyone in their right mind can consider him one of the best.

Answer 1

How can you even mention Jack Johnson without talking about politics?  Considering that lynchings of Blacks were common place during his heavyweight reign it is amazing the guy wasn't murdered himself.  Being the first Black heavyweight champion of the world is a political milestone that cannot be ignored.  That aside the 168 pounder was another fighter with Michigan connections named Stanley Ketchel.  Tommy Burns was around 175 when Johnson beat him for the title, long after Tommy quit playing lacrosse in the Detroit area right across across the river from Ontario where Burns  was born (Detroit was always a boxing hot spot, even then).  You cannot separate politics from a discussion about Jack Johnson, there were race riots anytime he fought and the guy incited murders simply because he flaunted his preference for White women at a time when Blacks weren't even considered human beings in some parts of the South.

As a boxer, he was brilliant, with the hand and foot speed of a much smaller man and the power of a true heavyweight.  He could have easily dominated today's heavyweights and I rate him third on my all time list behind Ali & Louis and ahead of everyone else in history to this day.  He was the complete package and could slug or box as the situation dictated will a skill level that few if any have equaled to this day.

Did the racially charged political atmosphere dominate his legacy?  Absolutely.  Anyone who knows anything at all about American race relations has most certainly encountered the name of Jack Johnson.  Talking about Jack Johnson's career "outside" politics is almost as impossible as Jack getting a shot at the heavyweight title in the first place.

Third all time and one of the very best, I don't know how anyone in their right mind can leave Jack Johnson off their top ten all time great heavyweight list.

Answer 2

wikipedia says "arguably the best heavyweight of his generation."  I don't think Dominick Guinn qualifies for this today.

Bob Fitzsimmons was 51 - 8 with 44 ko, Johnson knocked him out in 2.

james j jeffries was his size, actually 19 pounds heavier, undefeated, and johnson knocked him out easily.

Don't forget the whites that didn't want to fight, let alone lose to Johnson.  Remember the camera being forced to shut off before showing the ko win against Jeffries.

Watch "Unforgivable Blackness" for a better understanding.

Answer 3

i dont know...mind you look at rocky balboa...didnt start until he was 30 and lost quite a few fights maybe Jacks personality is winning the crowd over maybe he is winning with his heart not his muscles

Answer 4

Jack Johnson was a very good heavyweight but I couldn't believe blogbaba place him higher than Rocky Marciano and Jack Dempsey?

Answer 5

I would rank Johnson somewhere in the lower part of the top 10 of ATG heavyweights. He was a defensive wizard who could punch and had great stamina. If you ever saw Burns-Johnson you'd probably believe like I do that he carried Burns. It looked to me like he wanted to punish him and even held him up on several occasions. He had burns down I think twice in the first round.

Answer 6

Great point fella,as usual the Johnson gang are out in force!This guys claim to fame is he was the first BLACK heavyweight champion,that is what separates him from the rest.To me he looks like a school bully,real big geezer who liked to beat up much smaller and weaker opponent,a few years later and he'd have faced Dempsey,Tunney Firpo,etc,to me the guys an irrelevance.

Answer 7

I SEE THINGS HAVE NOT CHANGED THAT MUCH SINCE I LEFT - JOHNSON WAS THE FORERUNNER OF THE GREAT BLACK ATHLETE - TO DENY HIS GREATNESS WOULD MEAN U KNOW NOTHING ABOUT BOXING - I RANK HIM IN MY TOP FIVE

GO SEE WHERE NAT FLESCHER AND BURT SUGAR RANK HIM[CHECK OUT ESPN]

JUST LOOK AT SOME OF MY OLD ANSWERS