Good thread master
Not an obvious one but it has to be Jack johnson.
In a world where he didnt know whether he would be killed going to or from the ring just for the colour of his skin and achieve what he did in that era is unbelievable.
He was the first black heavyweight champion and he even took the piss and dated or married white women which would have got anyone else killed.
Skill wise and technique was obviously not on the scale of today but if you look at how "muted" a post JJ joe louis had to be to be accepted in that era it makes jack johnson even more of a badass because he just kept it real to himself.
They even "invented" laws to get to him one way or the other for tax reasons and he just stayed the same and walked the earth knowing he was a man.
Bad enough fighting with an injury for any fighter or with money issues but for any human from whatever race to come through what jack johnson did will never be replicated.
(Changed my mind..floyd mayweather)
Bookmarks