It is perhaps not commonly known that a Negro heavyweight championship title existed from 1902 to 1932 when many white champions {including John L. Sullivan, Jim Jeffries, Jack Dempsey} refused to fight blacks. {In 1925 Dempsey pointedly refused to meet Harry Willis - "The Black Menace" - in a fight urged upon him by many observers.} One wonders: who were the true world's champions in those years? And of what value are historical records when they record so blatantly the prejudices of a dominant race?
( Joyce Carol Oates )
[ On Boxing ]
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