Jack Johnson - My Life in the Ring and Out

MY LIFE

IN THE

RING & OUT

THE BLOW THAT HUMBLED JEFFRIES

MY LIFE

IN THE

RING & OUT

JACK JOHNSON

ILLUSTRATIONS BY

EDWIN WILLIAM KRAUTER

FOREWORDS BY

ED W. SMITH AND J. B. LEWIS

INTRODUCTIONS BY

TAD

DAMON RUNYON

IRENE JOHNSON

DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC.

MINEOLA, NEW YORK

Bibliographical Note

This Dover edition, first published in 2018, is an unaltered and unabridged republication of the work entitled Jack JohnsonIn the Ringand Out, first published by National Sports Publishing Company, Chicago, in 1927. Regrettably, this work contains terms that reflect the prejudices of the time; these have been retained for the sake of authenticity.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Johnson, Jack, 18781946 author. | Krauter, Edwin William illustrator.

Title: My life in the ring and out / Jack Johnson ; illustrations by Edwin William Krauter.

Description: Dover edition. | Mineola, New York : Dover Publications, Inc., 2018. | This Dover edition, first published in 2018, is an unaltered and unabridged republication of the work entitled Jack Johnson: In the ring and out, first published by National Sports Publishing Company, Chicago, in 1927T.p. verso. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018012343| ISBN 9780486456102 (alk. paper) | ISBN 0486456102 (alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Johnson, Jack, 18781946. | African American boxersBiography. | Boxing.

Classification: LCC GV1132.J7 A3 2018 | DDC 796.83092 [B]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018012343

Manufactured in the United States by LSC Communications

45610201 2018

www.doverpublications.com

DEDICATED

TO THE

MEMORY

OF

MY MOTHER

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

MY LIFE

IN THE

RING & OUT

Foreword

By ED. W. SMITH

Widely Known Sports Critic and Referee

J OHNSONS ring work always has presented the highest in the artisanship of his craft. Always a past master of defensive work and positively uncanny in his judgment of what the other fellow is about to do, Jack presents ability that is impossible to rate too highly and next to impossible to match, then, now, and possibly ever.

Of this famous quartet of colored Goliaths, the slaying of which by any of the puny Davids of this decade of fighting men has been accomplished only at decidedly rare intervals, Johnson was by long odds the most masterful of the lot. And when it is considered there were in his company at various times and striving always for leadership, such men as Sam McVey, Sam Langford and the incomparable game and willing Joe Jeanette, one is saying much in classifying Johnson as the master mind.

There may have been many times when Jack Johnson came in for sharp reproach and often absolute reproof, especially by those of his own race. I know Jack to be possessed of one of the kindliest minds of any great athlete I ever came into contact with. Money never meant a great deal to this mighty man of brawn and ring brains. As far as the financial end of his dealings was concerned, Jack often displayed a childish simplicity. He wanted to do for others and always went the limitsometimes, unfortunately for himself, beyond that. But many of Jacks predicaments came about, I happen to know, through a too-trusting faith in the white brethren, be that to the everlasting discredit of the Caucasians with whom he dealt so confidently, almost implicitly.

By J. B. LEWIS

Had Jack Johnson been a white man, he would have attained an influence in the world which few other men have attained. He would have commanded a place in society and world affairs of great significance, because there is that in his make-up which has enabled him to push forward in spite of numerous obstacles, to one of the highest pinnacles of human achievements. It is not only that he became a champion boxer, an honor quite sufficient for any one man, but he possessed qualities that kept him in the hearts of his friends.

The difficulties which confronted him and which he overcame were sufficient to try the mettle, courage and ability of any man, even though he should have been on an equal footing with everyone else. But Jack Johnson was not. Because of his race, he had from the start the burden of prejudice to bear, and to contend with conditions and human jealousies which in no wise would ever have attached to a white man. When he successfully fought his way to the world championship, instead of his achievement mitigating these prejudices and jealousies, they were intensified, and more than that, there were many who called themselves good Americans and who considered themselves honorable, charitable and sportsmanlike, who stubbornly refused to credit Jack with the same degree of consideration and respect that would have been given a white man, even though that white man did far worse things in the world of morals than were ever done by Johnson, or rather which were often charged to him, when in fact he had not done them.

The public, and even many of those who were intimately associated with him, have never understood the full significance of Johnsons character and the diversity of his abilities.

The story of Jack Johnson is a thrilling and interesting one, not because he was once the heavyweight boxing champion of the world, though of course that attainment enters into the story, and probably constitutes the basis of the narrative; but Jack Johnson has lived intensely and he has done many things that do not fall to the life of the average man. His career has been full of romance and adventure. He has gone into the high and low places of the world, and into corners of the globe little frequented by the ordinary man, regardless of his profession or station.

Jack Johnson was the first man of his race, and so far the only one to have won the distinction of being heavyweight champion, a distinction he won only after he had striven many years for the opportunity. Even then it was necessary for him to fight for privileges and rights that were his by all the rules and customs of the ring and the sporting world. Furthermore, he was compelled to stand in a fighting arena on foreign soil, with a great ocean between him and his native land, while about him were great masses of humanity shouting for the success of his opponent.

And having won that championship, he was not allowed to rest in his triumph. Instead, the world began to clamor for another title holder, bringing to bear a host of prejudices and criticisms before which a man of less determination would have weakened. To be free of the condemnations that were flung at him, any man less courageous than Johnson would have retired from the light of public scrutiny. But all these onslaughts he faced with a courage and confidence which substantiates the hint at the opening of this brief introduction, that he possesses qualities that have made his life and his career outstanding, even if he had never been the greatest boxer in the history of that sport.

Johnson held the championship title longer than any other heavyweight. Official records credit him, Dempsey, and Jeffries with holding the belt about seven years, but Johnsons retention was a few months more than either of these. Besides his long hold on the title, he has the distinction of having fought more championship battles than any other heavyweight, and his record of fights from the time he first came into the realm of professional boxing, shows that he fought more times than any other boxer in history. While there is not available a record of individual fighters, it is claimed on good authority that his fights are greater in number than the combined fights of any other three heavyweight fighters.