Jack Johnson at Dewsbury v York game
Jack Arthur Johnson (March 31, 1878 – June 10, 1946), nicknamed the “Galveston Giant”, was an American boxer who, at the height of the Jim Crow era, became the first black world heavyweight boxing champion (1908–1915). He is widely regarded as one of the most influential boxers in history, and his 1910 fight against James J. Jeffries was dubbed the “fight of the century”.
Jack’s fame crossed the Atlantic and on November 20th 1915, he attended a Dewsbury vs York fixture at Crown Flatt. Dewsbury went on to win the match 72-0 in front of a bumper crowd, there to see the World Heavy Weight Champion as well as the match!
In fact, Johnson was in Europe to avoid prison in the US – he had skipped bail and left the country, joining his second wife, Lucille in Montreal on June 25 1913, before fleeing to France. To flee to Canada, Johnson posed as a member of a black baseball team! For the next seven years, they lived in exile in Europe, South America and Mexico, living off his celebrity status.
