![]() Every time Jeffries attempted to brawl, Johnson tied him up and pinned his arms, and when granted an opening, Johnson stung Jeffries with quick, precise blows. Jeffries began the fight aggressively, but Johnson’s brilliant, unsolvable defense thwarted the former champion’s swarming style. Back at his original boxing weight, the svelte Jeffries wore a look of complete seriousness, and he refused to shake Johnson’s hand before the opening bell. A huge roar from the crowd signaled Jeffries’ entrance, his fellow Caucasians elated to see their champion returning to restore collective racial prestige. Johnson entered the ring first as per his superstitious custom, appearing cool and outwardly confident as he acknowledged his friends at ringside. Johnson vs Jeffries was held on Independence Day, a cruel irony given the repressive wishes of those in attendance. Gambling with their hearts, few, if any, members of the white public were willing to place their financial faith in a black man’s claim to athletic supremacy. At the Reno betting parlour operated by Corbett’s brother, Tom, there was not a single person willing to place a bet on a Jack Johnson victory. Jim Corbett believed Jeffries would win, as did George Little, Johnson’s former manager. Regardless of this, few dared to wager on the champion. Private concerns about his inactivity and weight loss troubled him, particularly when news arrived regarding Johnson and his excellent physical condition. Sullivan, Joe Choynski and ‘Gentleman’ Jim Corbett, was equally self-assured, at least publicly. Jeffries, whose training was bolstered by visits from boxing dignitaries John L. Over five hundred media members traveled to Reno to report on both camps, leading famed author Jack London to proclaim that “there has never been anything like it in the history of the ring.” Johnson projected an air of supreme confidence, often spending his afternoons joking with the many hands in his camp. The Manichean racial narrative seized on by the press-in which Johnson and Jeffries were pitted against one another as representatives of incongruous civilizations-ensured a previously unseen degree of interest in a boxing match. ![]() There were, of course, other social pressures encouraging Jeffries’ return, which the former champion articulated unambiguously: “That portion of the white race that has been looking at me to defend its athletic supremacy may feel assured that I am fit to do my very best.” Johnson is introduced to the hostile crowd. Initially hesitant, the fighter they called “The Boilermaker” was persuaded to come back by Tex Rickard, who guaranteed the winner two thirds of a colossal $101,000 purse. ![]() Despite this, Jeffries was besieged by media and fans to leave his California alfalfa farm and take the title away from its black holder. Almost 35-years-old, and having not stepped through the ropes in six years, he now weighed close to three hundred pounds. ![]() What Jack Johnson seeks to do to Jeffries in the roped arena will be the ambition of negroes in every domain of human endeavor.” Jeffries (centre) training with Choynski (left) and Corbett.īecause Jeffries had retired undefeated, many felt he remained the true champion. ![]() Consider the grandiloquence of Christian Socialist Reverdy Ransom, who stated that “the greatest marathon race of the ages is about to begin between the white race and the darkest races of mankind. Violence, after all, was the nasty appendage to an event whose ramifications went far beyond boxing. In acknowledging this disconnect, it is still remarkable to contemplate Jack Johnson’s determination to defeat Jeffries despite the danger involved. While one recognizes the obvious racism of a society which regarded white people as inherently superior, for a present day boxing fan to actually understand the climate of fear and hatred attending this racial tinderbox of a fight is inherently difficult. His quest would prove fruitless, but the legendary Johnson vs Jeffries match, with its buildup and aftermath, was a genuine sensation and social phenomenon, an event which galvanized the public while reflecting the hateful ideologies of the age. Jeffries, an undefeated former champion and the most legitimate “Great White Hope,” had been repeatedly summoned to return to boxing so he could defeat the brash Johnson and reinstate the white man’s rightful place atop the athletic hierarchy. Jeffries clashed in Reno, Nevada to contest the world heavyweight crown in what was then billed as “The Fight of the Century.” At stake was far more than a mere boxing championship, as the black Johnson, having taken the belt from Canadian Tommy Burns in 1908, was thought by the white public in America to be wholly unfit to hold the title. ![]()
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