The First Black Boxing Champions: Essays on Fighters of the 1800s to the 1920s

by Colleen Aycock (Editor), Mark Scott (Editor)

Overview

This volume presents fifteen chapters of biography of African American and black champions and challengers of the early prize ring. They range from Tom Molineaux, a slave who won freedom and fame in the ring in the early 1800s; to Joe Gans, the first African American world champion; to the flamboyant Jack Johnson, deemed such a threat to white society that film of his defeat of former champion and "Great White Hope" Jim Jeffries was banned across much of the country. Photographs, period drawings, cartoons, and fight posters enhance the biographies. Round-by-round coverage of select historic fights is included, as is a foreword by Hall-of-Fame boxing announcer Al Bernstein.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476679808
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	08/27/2021
Pages:	302
Sales rank:	990,155
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.61(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Colleen Aycock, co-editor for the International Boxing Research Organization, was named to the New Mexico Boxing Hall of Fame and is the author, co-author or co-editor of five books on boxing. She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mark Scott, a novelist and former Golden Gloves boxer, lives in Austin, Texas. He is a contributor to other publications on the history of boxing.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments v

Foreword Al Bernstein 1

Introduction 3

1 Tom Molineaux: From Slave to American Heavyweight Champion Bill Calogero 9

2 George Godfrey: First Colored Heavyweight Champion Tony Triem 22

3 Peter Jackson: Heavyweight Champion of Australia Bob Petersen 32

4 George Dixon: World Bantamweight and Featherweight Champion Mike Glenn 48

5 Bobby Dobbs: Lightweight Challenger and Father of Boxing in Germany Kevin Smith 60

6 Joe Gans: World Lightweight Champion Colleen Aycock 79

7 Dave Holly: "Challenger of the World" Douglas Cavanaugh 102

8 Joe Walcott, the Barbados Demon: World Welterweight Champion Michael J. Schmidt 109

9 "Dixie Kid" Aaron Brown: World Welterweight Champion Cathy van Ingen 129

10 Jack Blackburn: From Lightweight Challenger to Trainer of Heavyweight Champions Joseph Bourelly 144

11 Sam Langford: Heavyweight Champion of Australia, Canada, England, and Mexico Clay Moyle 158

12 Joe Jennette and Sam McVey: Colored Heavyweight Champions Alexander Pierpaoli 171

13 Jack Johnson: World Heavyweight Champion Mark Scott 200

14 Speedball Hayden: U.S. Army Middleweight Champion Chris Cozzone 218

15 Battling Siki: World Light-Heavyweight Champion Peter Benson 237

Appendix: The Great Fights, Round-By-Round

George Godfrey vs. Peter Jackson (August 25, 1888) 257

George Dixon vs. Jack Skelly (September 6, 1892) 260

Joe Gans vs. Oscar "Battling" Nelson (September 3, 1906) 264

Joe Jennette vs. Sam McVey (April 17, 1909) 271

Jack Johnson vs. James J. Jeffries (July 4, 1910) 277

Bibliography 283

About the Contributors 287

Index 289

Editorial Reviews

Extremely well written and chronicled...painstakingly researched, by writers who show a heartfelt passion for their subjects...a must”—Ring Memorabilia

From the Publisher

a meticulously researched and compelling look at fifteen of the most famous and talented boxers of the turn of the century and after...wonderful...each essay is wonderfully informative and unique chronicling the rise and sometimes-tragic fall of the boxers. The respect these champions deserve is long in coming as is the recognition. This collection of essays pays these men there due and provides the reader a look at how America once treated its superior fighters. This one is not to be missed

doghouseboxing.com

splendid.... Much research obviously went into the writing of the essays and they definitely accomplish their goals of informing the reader about these men. The book, itself, is a beautiful piece of work

Cyber Boxing Zone

extremely well written and chronicled...painstakingly researched, by writers who show a heartfelt passion for their subjects...a must

Ring Memorabilia