The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
US heavyweight boxer who took 1916 Dundee by storm
Heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson fought off a cold to take the city by storm when he made a triumphant return to Dundee in January 1916.
Johnson, known as the Galveston Giant, became the first black boxer to win the world heavyweight title, paving the way for the likes of Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson.
The 38-year-old was no longer the champion and was doing a revue entitled Seconds Out, which attracted enormous audiences at the King’s Theatre.
He was back in the city for the first time in five years when he became a Freemason, donning his apron at Fo r f a r and Kincardine, No 225 Lodge.
A huge crowd arrived to watch his white sports car arrive at the theatre, setting the pattern for the whole week.
Queues formed every morning to get seats for the first house matinee and by late afternoon crowds were gathering in the Cowgate for the evening show.
Johnson was down to perform a song on the opening night but a cold prevented him from showing o ff his vocal powers and he delivered a talk on boxing instead.
His wife Lucille played the role of Lady Thurlow and the feature of her performance was an exhibition of the oyster dance with a male partner.
A Courier reviewer said the climax of the opening night was Johnson putting his gloves on and sparring with a number of budding pugilists from the audience.
“Three soldiers and a sailor supplied the opposition at the first evening performances, and while none of them succeeded in inflicting any punishment on Johnson, by their energy and lightning footwork they seemed anxious to make an impression, but the great man was kind to them and permitted them to enjoy to the full the historic incident in their respective careers of having ‘fought’ against
Jack Johnson, who seemed to enjoy himself as much as anyone in the audience.”
According to another report, Johnson did a bit of sparring and then “fought” a local character called Tommy Dodds who stood just four feet tall.
Dodds went on to knock down the champ by hitting him on the knee.
The son of former slaves, Jo h n s o n was born in Galveston, Texas, in 1878.
He won the unofficial black heavyweight championship in 1903 with a 20-round decision over Denver Ed Martin.
Because of his race, howe ver, Johnson was r e p e at e d l y denied the chance to fight James Jeffries for the heavyweight championship.
He finally got his chance on Boxing Day in 1908 when he hammered Canadian Tommy Burns in the 14th round in Australia.
He became a Freemason in Dundee three years later when Army officer Sydney Mclaglen told him about his masonic lodge during a fight in Newcastle.
Mclaglen was due to travel to Dundee to receive the second degree and Johnson asked if he could go with him because he always wanted to join.
During the closing part of the initiation ceremony a telegram was dispatched to Dundee from the Grand Lodge of Scotland demanding the proceedings cease immediately.
However, the master decided it was too late and continued.
Afterwards, a group of Johnson’s admirers carried him shoulder high through the hall to a taxi which was waiting outside.
Johnson’s initiation cost the master at the time a two-year suspension from the craft.
In 1913 Johnson was convicted of violating the Mann Act for bringing his white girlfriend Lucille across state lines before their marriage. Sentenced to prison, he fled to Europe, remaining there as a fugitive for seven years.
He continued to fight, including two defences of the world title in Paris, before he lost to Jess Willard in 1915.
Johnson spoke to the People’s Journal during his run at the King’s Theatre in Dundee in 1916 and claimed he had lost the fight against Willard on purpose, throwing the match in exchange for a pledge he could return to the US and avoid criminal charges.
He returned to the US in 1920 and served his sentence.
After his release, he fought sporadically until he retired at the age of 53, finishing with a career record of 71 wins, 11 losses and 11 draws.
He continued to fight after retiring in what was known as “cellar” fighting, where the bouts, unadvertised, were fought for private audiences.
He died in a traffic collision in 1946 in Raleigh, North Carolina, at the age of 68.
He had stopped to eat at a diner and was asked sit out of sight of white patrons, he drove o ff incensed and lost control, crashing into a telephone pole.
Tw e n t y years l a t e r, Johnson was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and in May 2018 he was granted a posthumous pardon by President Donald Trump.