Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

cmac2012 · #1 01-18-2007, 11:54 PM

I couldn't help myself and watched for the second time the PBS Ken Burns special on the first black heavyweight champ, Jack Johnson.

Incredible story. The dude might have even given Ali a run for his money. If you have an older fellow in your life who likes boxing, a video of this would make a great gift.

Regular readers of my column may recall my mentioning a surgeon/inventor whose house I worked on at length. He was by far the coolest uber rich guy I worked for. His house was way up in the hills -- a very pleasant work experience using top quality materials. I was there for 2 1/2 years (!?!) and a few months after I was sent to another job, I sent him a video of "Muhammed Ali Through the Eyes of the World." It was a recounting of Ali's career by various actors and sportswriters, Rod Steiger, Billy Crystal, James Earl Jones, and others. There was a Scottish sportswriter who had a great way of talking about him. At one point he said, "... and here comes Foreman, with that gr-r-eat wr-r-ecking ball of a r-r-ight hahnd, and you could imagine him getting through to Ali with calamitous results..." Aye, a good Scaw-ish br-r-ogue.

Anyway, I sent it to the doctor because I'd mentioned having seen it to him and I wanted to thank him for all the employment and class treatment. A couple of weeks later, I got a note from his wife thanking me, saying her husband wanted her to tell me how much he enjoyed it. She asked me if I'd known he was an avid boxer in his youth. I hadn't.

All false modesty aside, I thought "damn dude, that's some trick" -- giving a guy who has everything an inexpensive gift he liked. He owns a winery, a horse training facility, a hunting lodge in the Siskiyous, not to mention the $30 million house on 300 acres 10 miles west of Stanford we built him, so li'l ol' me is gonna be hard pressed to top any of that.

Pete Geither · #2 01-19-2007, 05:32 AM

Great story and info,,, thanks.

cmac2012 · #3 01-21-2007, 04:36 AM

My pleasure. I normally don't like to toot my horn that blatanly (regarding boasting about the present I gave the Doc) but in these days of sons and fathers not always getting along that well (unlike older days), I figure a good tip on a present that at least one older gentleman appreciated might be useful.

Carleton Hughes · #4 01-21-2007, 08:28 AM

Jack Johnson was indeed a great heavyweight puncher,but due to the "social climate"in which he lived,was denied the chances he deserved.

Perhaps that's why he beat his wife,{a nice,clinging vine type white gal}

He ended his career fronting a jazz band..................

cmac2012 · #5 01-21-2007, 01:35 PM

The fellow had a number of less than charming aspects to his personna (best I can tell) but you've got to give him serious pluck for beating up on whiteys while the entire crowd was of a mind to lynch him for his impertinence.

One of my favorite parts of the story was the part about him fighting a white fighter who was older and slowing down but, as the story tells it, not w/o a good bundle of sharp skills still in hand.

Johnson was giving him a go until the fellow got in and knocked him out, whereupon a group of Texas Rangers burst into the ring and arrested them both for an illegal match.

The spent a few weeks in jail, in the same cell, and the fellow taught Johnson all sorts of tricks and techniques, telling him "no fighter with your speed ever needs to get hit." Looking at the film footage of his subsequent bouts, doesn't look like he got hit a lot.

t walgamuth · #6 01-21-2007, 03:08 PM

i don't know a lot about him but it appears in the ring he had many similarities with ali.

it is hard to remember how hated ali was when he changed his name after the fact that he became so widely loved later. but i remember how folks said all these hateful things about him. it was kindof comical really, folks made liston who was a immoral thug into the great white hope just because he wasn't ali.

thanks for the thread.

tom w

cmac2012 · #7 01-22-2007, 02:38 AM

Glad you liked it. I dig those Ken Burns documentaries most all of the time. A lot of still photos, some early motion picture stuff.

They showed footage of Johnson doing the backing away from the punch like Ali would do. They said the fans sometime didn't like his style because he knew how to stay out of unproductive vollies and could tie his opponent up pretty well.