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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.
List of contents
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Foreword by Al Bernstein Introduction 1. Tom Molineaux: From Slave to American Heavyweight Champion
BILL CALOGERO
2. George Godfrey: First Colored Heavyweight Champion
TONY TRIEM
3. Peter Jackson: Heavyweight Champion of Australia
BOB PETERSEN
4. George Dixon: World Bantamweight and Featherweight Champion
MIKE GLENN
5. Bobby Dobbs: Lightweight Challenger and Father of Boxing in Germany
KEVIN SMITH
6. Joe Gans: World Lightweight Champion
COLLEEN AYCOCK
7. Dave Holly: "Challenger of the World"
DOUGLAS CAVANAUGH
8. Joe Walcott, the Barbados Demon: World Welterweight Champion
MICHAEL J. SCHMIDT
9. "Dixie Kid" Aaron Brown: World Welterweight Champion
CATHY VAN INGEN
10. Jack Blackburn: From Lightweight Challenger to Trainer of Heavyweight Champions
JOSEPH BOURELLY
11. Sam Langford: Heavyweight Champion of Australia, Canada, England, and Mexico
CLAY MOYLE
12. Joe Jennette and Sam McVey: Colored Heavyweight Champions
ALEXANDER PIERPAOLI
13. Jack Johnson: World Heavyweight Champion
MARK SCOTT
14. Speedball Hayden: U.S. Army Middleweight Champion
CHRIS COZZONE
15. Battling Siki: World Light- Heavyweight Champion
PETER BENSON
Appendix: The Great Fights, Round- By- RoundGeorge Godfrey vs. Peter Jackson (August 25, 1888)
George Dixon vs. Jack Skelly (September 6, 1892)
Joe Gans vs. Oscar "Battling" Nelson (September 3, 1906)
Joe Jennette vs. Sam McVey (April 17, 1909)
Jack Johnson vs. James J. Jeffries ( July 4, 1910)
Bibliography About the Contributors Index
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.
Summary
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.
