Scatter Brained

JACK JOHNSON (1878–1946)
Overshadowed by:
 Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Joe Louis, 
George Foreman
The Story:
 Jack Johnson had to chase white boxers all over 
the world to get them to fi ght him. In 1908, Johnson knocked 
out Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia, and became the fi rst 
African American heavyweight champion of the world. Over 
the next seven years he would defeat a series of Great White 
Hopes  before  losing  to  Jess  Willard.  Th
 roughout his life, 
Johnson refused to live the life white people expected of him. 
He dated (and married) white women, drove fast cars, and 
dressed extravagantly. While he was champion, he was con-
victed unjustly of what amounted to white slavery (for trans-
porting his own wife across state lines) and later served a 
year in jail on the charge.