So basically I divide Black Jack into two parts. There’s what I’ve called the more kid-friendly and the little more older reader part because the beginning part focuses on his life and the second part focuses on his battle for the championship. So I’m going to pick up with the battle for the championship because that’s where we really get to learn what it is he really wants to do.
“Now Jack was a mighty man and Jack was a fightin’ man and Jack was a mighty fightin’ man. But what Jack wanted most was to be a great man, so he challenged the times. But it was Jack who was challenged he faced the color line. Black only fought white and that kept Jack out of the ring to fight the champ in a championship bout. I will never fight a negro Jim Jeffries heavyweight champ. So Jack chased the champ from fight to fight.
Challenging Jim Jeffries to prove his might. Jack wanted to prove he was the best fighter, but instead of fighting Jack, Jim Jeffries retired. With the title up for grabs Jack now had a chance to break the color line with his mighty fightin’ hands. The new champ Tommy Burns also declined to fight black Jack because of the color line. So Jack [unint] Jim Jeffries, Jack chased his down from city to city to contend for the crown.
From San Fran to New York to Paris to London for two years Jack was a man on a mission. At long last Tommy stepped into the ring to battle black Jack for a mountain green, Rushcutters Bay Australia was the scene for the black and white battle to crown boxing’s biggest king. Thousands filled the stadium as well the surrounding trees, hoping Tommy Boy would knock Jack to his knees. When Jack rose in the ring a sea of white faces turned the battle of men to a battle of races.
But Jack just smiled and waited for the sound of the bell to “ding” and knocked the champ down not once, not twice, but again and again through 14 rounds on a way to the win. Fans in the stand sat wide-eyed in surprise but black Jack faces back home beamed with pride.
Jack was now champ, but in less than a day voices world wide spoke up to say “Burns wasn’t the real champ anyway. Burns was just a newspaper champ. Burns never fought Jim Jeffries. Jeffries retired undefeated so until somebody beats him, he’s still champ. Jim come out of retirement and wipe that smile off of Johnson’s face. Your only hope.” Now quick little side note the phrase “The Great White Hope” came from that moment, this fight.
Their only hope. But Jim wouldn’t budge until 18 months later. When he and Jack stood surrounded by spectators in a ring in Reno, Nevada to see who was the champ in the battle of the century. On the Fourth of July in 1910 on a clear desert day stood two mighty men. Jack versus Jim.
One black. One white. Two mighty fightin’ men. Ready to fight. The 45 round bout only lasted 15, when Jack made history with his breath taking swing. Upper cuts to the chin laid Jim on the ropes. And smashed the color line, raising black people’s hopes. A golden smile flashed bright as the sun and the ring on the face of Jack Johnson, the world’s first black heavyweight champion.
Black Jack.