The Galveston Giant Jack Johnson.

Jack Johnson is considered one of the greatest Heavyweights in boxing history for his achievements and being ahead of his time, regarded as one of the greatest defensive boxers of all time. He made history by being the first black boxer to ever win a World Heavyweight Title in 1908 against Tommy Burns.

Fought from 1897 till 1931
Professional Record: 71-11-11 (including newspaper decisions)

Some of his achievements are:

Lineal Heavyweight Title
World Heavyweight Title
Colored Heavyweight Title
Was unbeaten Colored Heavyweight Champion
 8 Colored Heavyweight Title defenses
6 World Heavyweight Title defenses
25 fights against Champions won 19
Only lost 1 title fight to Jess Willard
18 fights against Hall of Famers
Beat 12 World Champions
Beat 7 Hall of Famers
Had in total 20 Title fights won 17
18 fights against Hall of Famers
Was World Heavyweight Champion for 7 years from 1908 till 1915
 It's also worth to note that boxing historian and "The Ring Magazine" founder Nat Fleischer ranks Johnson as the greatest Heavyweight of all time.



I think we can all agree that Jack Johnson is one of the finest Heavyweights of history, he fought in an era where black fighters were not able to take a shot at World Titles and especially in the Heavyweight division since then being the Heavyweight Champion of the World could mean being the world's most famous man, and the color bar would not allow that. Fortunately, Johnson managed to Win the World Heavyweight Title against the capable champion Tommy Burns. Johnson had a 34-year career fighting till his 50's never giving up and always showing his heart and spirit in the ring. The only loss he had in a Title fight was against the great Jess Willard Johnson was KO'd in the 26th round. And that gave me the opportunity to say that just like other fighters of his day he was able to fight 20+ rounds frequently and with boxing gloves that were 3-4oz that looked just like old leather. He was also a masterful technician regarded as one of the greatest defensive fighters of all time, he was able to adapt to almost any situation often changing style using his usual out-boxing for the first few rounds keeping the opponent away with his jab and then clinching if it got too dangerous, and then he tried to be more aggressive potentially KOing his opponent. Many criticized him for this style because it seemed boring compared to the usual brawls they had back then.


The thing that brings down Johnson the most is that after he won the World Heavyweight Title he often ducked fighters that he fought against previously on his career for the Colored Heavyweight title (SamMcvea, Sam Langford, Joe Jeannette) because he did not want to risk losing his title. Joe Jeannette once said: "Jack forgot about his old friends after becoming champion and drew the color line against his own people." He also never fought the upcoming great Heavyweight Harry Wills that started shining during 1914.


Final thoughts: For me easily in the top 5 Heavyweights of all time and he could be potentially in the top 3 if he fought the other top black fighters after winning the World Heavyweight Title. The man was ahead of his time using technique and abusing the jab in an era where most fighters brawled for a good 15 rounds. Even though I don't have him in my top 3 Heavyweights (number 4 behind Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Sam Langford) for the reasons above, I respect this fighter that truly had a tremendous effect on boxing and the world. I wonder what boxing would be today if he never existed.



1878-1946