The World Colored Heavyweight Championship, 1876-1937

Download or read book The World Colored Heavyweight Championship, 1876-1937 written by Mark Allen Baker and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2020-09-14 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For six decades the World Colored Heavyweight Championship was a useful tool of racial oppression--the existence of the title far more important to the white public than its succession of champions. It took some extraordinary individuals, most notably Jack Johnson, to challenge "the color line" in the ring, although the title and the black fighters who contended for it continued until the reign of Joe Louis a generation later. This history traces the advent and demise of the Championship, the stories of the 28 professional athletes who won it, and the demarcation of the color line both in and out of the ring.