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.

"Biography of Canadian-born, Boston-raised boxer George Dixon (1870-1908), the first Black world champion of any sport and the first Black world boxing champion in any division"--

Jess Willard, the "Pottawatomie Giant," won the heavyweight title in 1915 with his defeat of Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion. At 6 feet, 6 inches and 240 pounds, Willard was considered unbeatable in his day. He nonetheless lost to Jack Dempsey in 1919 in one of the most brutally one-sided contests in fistic history. Willard later made an initially successful comeback but was defeated by Luis Firpo in 1923 and retired from the ring. He died in 1968, largely forgotten by the boxing public. Featuring photographs from the Willard family archives, this first full-length biography provides a detailed portrait of one of America's boxing greats.

"[The dramatist] has used his hero, a fighter based on the first Black heavyweight champion of the world, Jack Johnson ... as a symbol in part of Black aspiration"--Back cover.

Essentially the last of the bare-knuckle heavyweight champions, John L. Sullivan was instrumental in the acceptance of gloved fighting. His charisma and popular appeal during this transitional period contributed greatly to making boxing a nationally popular, "legitimate" sport. Sullivan became boxing's first superstar and arguably the first of any sport. From his first match in the late 1870s through his final championship fight in 1892, this biography contains a thoroughly researched, detailed accounting of John L. Sullivan's boxing career. With special attention to the 1880s, the decade during which Sullivan came to prominence, it follows Sullivan's skill development and discusses his opponents and fights in detail, providing various viewpoints of a single event. Beginning with a discussion of early boxing practices, the sport itself is placed within sociological, legal and historical contexts including anti-prize fighting laws and the so-called "color line." A complete record of Sullivan's career is also included.

Discusses the life and boxing career of Jack Johnson.

The dramatic, little-known story of Joe Gans, an early African-American sports hero and the welterweight champion of the world. Though he is largely unknown today, this book will change that with its emphasis on one key fight in 1906.

For much of the twentieth century, boxing was one of America’s most popular sports, and the heavyweight champions were figures known to all. Their exploits were reported regularly in the newspapers—often outside the sports pages—and their fame and wealth dwarfed those of other athletes. Long after their heyday, these icons continue to be synonymous with the “sweet science.” In The Boxing Kings: When American Heavyweights Ruled the Ring, Paul Beston profiles these larger-than-life men who held a central place in American culture. Among the figures covered are John L. Sullivan, who made the heavyweight championship a commercial property; Jack Johnson, who became the first black man to claim the title; Jack Dempsey, a sporting symbol of the Roaring Twenties; Joe Louis, whose contributions to racial tolerance and social progress transcended even his greatness in the ring; Rocky Marciano, who became an embodiment of the American Dream; Muhammad Ali, who took on the U.S. government and revolutionized professional sports with his showmanship; and Mike Tyson, a hard-punching dynamo who typified the modern celebrity. This gallery of flawed but sympathetic men also includes comics, dandies, bookworms, divas, ex-cons, workingmen, and even a tough-guy-turned-preacher. As the heavyweight title passed from one claimant to another, their stories opened a window into the larger history of the United States. Boxing fans, sports historians, and those interested in U.S. race relations as it intersects with sports will find this book a fascinating exploration into how engrained boxing once was in America’s social and cultural fabric.

George Dixon was the finest boxer of his generation and arguably among the finest boxers ever. His accomplishments in the ring were extraordinary: the first black boxing champion, the first Canadian boxing champion, the first boxing champion of multiple weight classes, and the first boxing champion to lose regain his title. He defended his title more than any other champion - then or since - and he reportedly fought in an unprecedented 800 bouts. Making these achievements more astonishing was the context within which these achievements were earned: George Dixon publically fought and beat hundreds of white boxers in an age when black men were routinely lynched for simply being black.Boxing historian and Ring Magazine founder Nat Fleischer once said of Dixon, "For his ounces and inches, there never was a lad his equal. Even in the light of the achievements of John L. Sullivan [the first heavyweight champion in boxing, the critics of his days referred to 'Little Chocolate' [George Dixon as the greatest fighter of all time. I doubt there ever was a pugilist who was as popular during his entire career."Simply put, said Fleischer, "He had everything."Sam Austin, the larger-than-life sports editor at America's first tabloid newspaper, the Police Gazette, described George Dixon as "The Fighter Without a Flaw." Said Austin, "The fact cannot be disputed that the greatest fistic fighter, big or little, that the world has ever known is George Dixon."Still, despite his extraordinary accomplishments, effusive adulation, and spectacular riches, George Dixon died a beggar, in the alcoholic ward of New York's Bellevue Hospital - homeless, forgotten, and alone. And yet, ironically, while George Dixon was being forgotten, his story was becoming a familiar archetype - the tale of a young black man who uses his fists and wits to fight his way against unrelenting challenges to become Champion of the World. He becomes famous, rich, and loved by all. But then he overreaches. He lives the life of the "sport" - he gambles, carouses, and drinks - until he stays in the ring one fight too many.And he loses it all.But George Dixon's story is singularly different. George Dixon followed no one. And for this reason, his story - his triumphs and tragedies as well as his rise and fall - transcends cliché.So who was George Dixon? And what motivated this genuinely modest man, born in Africville, Nova Scotia, to achieve what no other black man had achieved before him? What strength of character earned him, against all odds, true greatness? And what failure of character, in the end, took that greatness away? Before Mohammad Ali and Joe Louis, before Sugar Ray Robinson and Jack Johnson, before Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard, before all the great black boxing champions of every age and every weight class, there was George Dixon.He was the first.He was the greatest.And this is his story.