Trump pardons boxer Johnson

US President Donald Trump yesterday granted a rare posthumous pardon to boxing’s first black heavyweight champion, clearing Jack Johnson’s name more than 100 years after what many see as his raciallycharged conviction.

‘‘It’s my honour to do it. It’s about time,’’ Trump said during an Oval Office ceremony, where he was joined by boxer Lennox Lewis and actor Sylvester Stallone, who has drawn awareness to Johnson’s cause.

Trump said Johnson had served 10 months in prison for what many view as a racially-motivated injustice and described his decision as an effort ‘‘to correct a wrong in our history.’’

‘‘He represented something that was both very beautiful and very terrible at the same time,’’ Trump said.

Johnson was convicted in 1913 by an all- white jury for violating the Mann Act, which made it illegal to transport women across state lines for ‘‘immoral’’ purposes, for travelling with his white girlfriend.

Trump had said previously that Stallone had brought Johnson’s story to his attention in a phone call.

‘‘His trials and tribulations were great, his life complex and controversial,’’ Trump tweeted in April.

‘‘Others have looked at this over the years, most thought it would be done, but yes, I am considering a Full Pardon!’’

Johnson is a legendary figure in boxing and crossed over into popular culture decades ago with biographies, dramas and documentaries following the civil rights era. He died in 1946.

His great-great niece has pressed Trump for a posthumous pardon, and Senator John McCain, R-Ariz, and former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev, have been pushing Johnson’s case for years.