Quote Originally Posted by Lance Uppercut View Post
Johnson sold that story to a french newspaper in his later years. I don't think any real boxing historian finds it credible.

If you read Unforgivable Blackness, they paint a picture of a poor conditioned Johnson that went into that fight.

He had not had a real fight in a long time, he was overweight, and he was drinking and partying every night. And the fight was a condition of his re-entry into the US. Before the fight, the promotors knew that Johnson would be beaten by any legitimate fighter.
Whether he was poorly conditioned, there was a proverbial knife in his back and he wanted to go home considering that he was out of place in Europe and forced to act like someone he could never be. It was in some eyes too little too late. The curtain came down. As for the fix, 26 rounds is a long time to find out if the funds have been deposited. He should have done it before entering the ring. As for the reason he either got screwed or said he was screwed, the United States has come a long way with it's attitude toward racism and for all practical purposes, it's working it's way into the closet like some other prejudices used to be.