I was Bad But Jack Johnson Was Crazy!

https://youtu.be/yD9pWduebqk

Rarely did Ali place someone above him, but Jack was another being. Black boys blind folded and forced to fight for entertaining other than their own.

As the vid said as a kid, Jack the majority of the times was the last one standing- meaning he didn't win them all, but he sure gained something.

What I like most about this video is that his muscular frame, his endurance gives me the courage to say not all today take PED's. Maybe more than should, but to just claim a person is muscular because of roids or PEDS? I wouldn't dare watch the sport if I truly believed it was that tainted.

be it the tiny nion stop dudes from Pryor, Duran, Barerra, Morales to the midsized boys of Hearns, Haglar to the HW murder punchers of Louis, Marciano, Shavers, Tua to Lennox.


Those guys are in the footsteps of Jack Johnson a strong fighter who looked the part- free from medication LOL!

Last on JJ- His smile was a killer -one could tell, so genuine, not a plastic smile...

my fab parts 3:10 into clip his awareness to avoid punches made those guys look like armatures throwing wildly
3:55 Tyson: "For his time, he was a defensive genius"

4:00 today that stiff arm is illegal, but they way he held it against Fireman Jim was just laughable, made it look 2 easy!
4:28 JJ gets caught...then he stops and applauds the guy- Ali had to shake his head like it didn't hurt, but Jack gave his man his due!! I never saw that scene till now.
4:40 whooping Kethcel so bad, that when Stan wanted to drop- he literally held him up with one arm--now that is natural cornbread and collard green Jethro Bodine strong!!!

Taking the title form Burns probably was the most lopsided HW affair I can think of, laughing - talking to the crowd while whooping the champ's behind at the same time.

The way he clinches on the inside then throw that killer uppercut reminds me of the uppercut Lennox Lewis landed on Michael Grant- totally illegal to hold his head down, while chopping upwards. But it was legal during JJ's era.



9:25 is my favo- Dressed in White with a PIMP cane and a Pimp Lean. Oh, he got whooped by the guy, but anyone who overstayed their time will fall. But damn he went out like he came in: stylish!

I give so much props to Jeffries. While he lost in horrid fashion, the fact that that he lost ALL that weight without roids is again a testimony IMO that one can lose weight the right way. Jeffries was past his best, retired & ring rusted.

Last 10 seconds is the only film I know of that records his voice- anyone has any others please post it here!

I alway believe that Jack johnson was overrated. His biggest wins were against Tommy Burns and Standley Ketchel. both of them didn't weight more than 168 pounds and was not close to 6 feet tall. Johnson was 6'3" tall and between 205-225 pounds. Jim Jeffries was the same size as Johnson. He came out of retirement not boxing for 6 years and was up to 325 pounds. He had to lose a 100 pounds and was 35 years old. his resume doesn't stack up to other great Champs.

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Originally Posted by mrbig1

I alway believe that Jack johnson was overrated. His biggest wins were against Tommy Burns and Standley Ketchel. both of them didn't weight more than 168 pounds and was not close to 6 feet tall. Johnson was 6'3" tall and between 205-225 pounds. Jim Jeffries was the same size as Johnson. He came out of retirement not boxing for 6 years and was up to 325 pounds. He had to lose a 100 pounds and was 35 years old. his resume doesn't stack up to other great Champs.

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No problems for me, quite a few think he was over rated. Yet he won the title held it about 5 years? difference between his dry stretch and say Dempsey- he just sat on the title. Plus I'm not too sure who JJ evaded during his run and who he failed to fight on his way to the title.
Nor am I sure who was there- but didn't want to fight him-hence the search for the great white hope took till he was 37?
Another difference we have is the weight concept. Consider Mr. B: Was Jack Johnson to his era what Lennox was to the 90s, Both Klitschkos were to the Y2k & Fury & AJ for today's era? :) A HW since Vitali & Wlad were always dwarfed in size, height & reach.

Some say there should be a Super HW because their size alone is enough to clinch their way to a points win. Well that is how I see JJ. it is not his fault he had size over the HW's of that day. And guys smaller than him didn't have fights where nothing they did worked. Those clips show how advanced he was mentally/strategic to go along with size that was natural No PEDS baby!


His resume is fine with me. He beat who was there. Last point: I'm on the fence with resumes for fighters pre 1920ish. We have seen next to no footage of who Sullivan, Corbett, Jeffries foes. Their losses IMO only means cherry picking like it is today did not exist.

Mahershala Ali to portray Jack Johnson, boxing's first Black heavyweight champ, in HBO series

One of the most notable athletes in American history is getting the Hollywood treatment, with a two-time Oscar winner playing him.

Jack Johnson, the first Black heavyweight champion in boxing history, will be played by Mahershala Ali in a six-part series titled “Unruly,” according to Variety's Joe Otterson. The series is reportedly being developed by HBO with Tom Hanks involved as an executive producer, and has been described as “an unapologetically Black, no-holds-barred telling of Johnson’s life.”

Both Johnson’s rise to international fame and the more turbulent later stages of his career will be reportedly shown. The series is based on Ken Burns’ PBS documentary “Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson” and the accompanying book by Geoffrey C. Ward. It has reportedly been in development since 2013.

Jack Johnson’s legacy
Before Jackie Robinson was breaking the MLB color barrier in 1947, Johnson was challenging the very concept of white superiority in sports when he defeated Tommy Burns for the heavyweight title in 1908.

As you could imagine, the idea of a Black man holding the heavyweight belt brewed enough publicity and racial animosity that former heavyweight champion James Jeffries was brought out of retirement and promoted as “The Great White Hope.” Jeffries’ intentions with the fight were plain: show that white people are physically superior to Black people.

“I am going into this fight for the sole purpose of proving that a white man is better than a Negro,” Jeffries was quoted as saying.

The New York Times even attempted to explain away Johnson’s potential success as an anomaly when it came to the abilities of white and Black athletes:

"If the Black man wins, thousands and thousands of his ignorant brothers will misinterpret his victory as justifying claims to much more than mere physical equality with their white neighbors."

Johnson’s dominant performance in the resulting “Fight of the Century” was a landmark moment in not just sports, but in American history. He would later retire with a record of 70-11-11, and faced constant race-motivated scrutiny for the rest of his life, including the time he spent a year in prison for violating the Mann Act with a white prostitute.

Clearly, Ali and the production company have a lot to work with. Ali, fortunately, has some experience in the matter.

Ali has previously played Johnson in a stage production of “The Great White Hope” in 2000.

Ali, who later went on to win Academy Awards for “Moonlight” and Green Book,” clearly enjoyed the experience of playing Johnson, as he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 that Johnson would be a “dream role” on screen:

He is somewhat of a tragic figure, but I would love to play Jack Johnson. I would love to play Marvin Gaye. Marvin Gaye and Jack Johnson are my dream roles, but I really just want the opportunity to go on the hero’s journey. I’ve never done that.

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/mah...013231033.html

This vid keeps on popping up in my feed. Have not watched it yet, but it looks interesting...Funny you would post the same Ali quote. lolol....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD9pWduebqk