Jack Johnson Essay Example for Free

Jack Johnson Essay Jack Johnson was born in Texas. He was the second in a family of nine children. His parents were slaves in their past then became successful Methodists. Speaking about his education, it must be mentioned that he studied at school only for five years and even was excommunicated for his statements about non-existence of the God. However, he succeeded in other field: it can be stated with certainty that the longest reigning Heavyweight Champion of the world was a man by the name of John Aurthur Jonson. (Zirin) Johnson had his first attack, a 16-round conquest, when he was 15. He became professional in 1897, working in private organizations and earning much money. Then he appeared under arrest and was imprisoned for the reason that boxing was an illegal occupation in Texas. Johnson left Galveston after release. (Horowitz 2007) In 1908, Johnson became a world champion after the battle with Tommy Burns. However he got the title only in 1910 after the fight with Jeffries in Las Vegas. After Johnson’s fight with Jeffries race rebellion started. The Texas Legislature forbade movies of his winnings over white boxes being afraid of more rebellion. In 1913, Johnson ran away because of concocted accusations of breaching the Mann Acts provisions against transporting white women to the country for prostitution. (Horowitz 2007) Speaking about his hobbies, Remnick states that â€Å"Johnson was fond of classical music and played the bass viol. In October, 1936, he took the role of Rhadames, the Ethiopian general, in a Chicago Grand Opera Company production of Aida. In no other country in the world are those who start at the bottom and reach the top more generally admired than in America. It is therefore quite impossible to exclude Johnson from Americas galaxy of self-made men, for he was certainly one of the most brilliant examples. His rise from poverty to international fame had in it all those elements of romance and glitter that unfailingly delight mankind. † (Remnick 2003) Johnsons fighting technique and sport achievements Johnsons fighting technique was extremely individual. He worked out a more tolerant method than one expected that time: fighting protectively, looking for an error, and after that using it correspondingly. Johnson for all time started a session carefully, gradually turning over the sessions into a more insistent boxer. He frequently struggled to penalize his enemies sooner than hit them out, continually passing up their knocks and hitting with speedy blows. He usually showed that he had much more to present and, if pressed, he managed to blow rather effectively. (Zirin) Johnsons method was extremely successful; however it was assessed in the media as gutless and conniving. On the contrary, the white champion Jim Corbett had applied a lot of the identical method as ten years before, and was called by the media the cleverest man in boxing. One of the principal benefits of his techniques is that Johnson was able to make huge systematization of the already existing fighting methods. This is clearly seen through the strict structure of the fight, with each part addressing the separate aspect of the battle. (Horowitz 2007) Thus, step by step, the spectator fills the image of the fight which he has shown with additional aspects and details, making it multidimensional. The principal difference and one of the main advantages of this technique is that it is done through the protection, during which Johnson was learning the methods of his opponent to find a mistake then. (Zirin) This showed the perfect knowledge of the battle techniques that Johnson possessed – in order to understand techniques he should have known them pretty well. Methodology which was used by the boxer is mostly learning – Johnson spent rather long time speaking to people about the techniques to gather all information possible. As it was clear, the technique was absolutely strict, vivid, logical and correct. (Zirin) â€Å"No better proof of Johnsons skill can be cited than the fact that his face, ears, and skin, unlike those of most pugilists, bore no disfiguring marks. † (Remnick 2003) By 1902, Johnson triumphed in no less than 50 battles with black white and adversaries. He got his first title in 1903, in the fight with Denver Ed Martin. His attempts to get the full rank were let down as because Heavyweight Champion James J. Jeffries rejected to fight with him because he was black. Actually, Negroes could fight with white people however the heavyweight competition was very appreciated and popular arrangement in America that Negroes were not considered praiseworthy to take part in it. Nevertheless, Johnson had a chance to have a battle with ex- champion Bob Fitzsimmons in 1907. He finally got the World Heavyweight Title in 1908, after his fight with the world champion Tommy Burns. The battle had fourteen rounds and them was stopped because the Johnson’s opponent was severely defected. After this winning over Burns, ethnic hostility among white people became so serious that a collectivist like Jack London spoke about Great White Hope to get the title back from black man — who was rudely illustrated as a subhuman chimpanzee, bring it back it to the place it must be at, with the better white race. Being title owner, Johnson therefore had to fight many opponents billed by advertisers as great white hopes, usually in presentation competitions. In 1909 Johnson defeated such fighters as Tony Ross, Victor McLaglen, Al Kaufman, Frank Moran, Stanley Ketchel. â€Å"The match with Ketchel was keenly fought by both men until the 12th and last round, when Ketchel threw a right to Johnsons head, knocking him down. Slowly regaining his feet, Johnson threw a straight to Ketchels jaw, knocking him out, along with several of his teeth. His fight with Philadelphia Jack OBrien was a disappointing one for Johnson: though scaling 205 pounds to OBriens 161, he could only achieve a six-round draw with the great middleweight. † (Remnick 2003) Johnson had three wives; all of them were white women. However, he had no children. He died in the automobile accident happened on June 10, 1946, in North Carolina. Conclusion The fights of Johnson could be viewed as the basis for deep analysis and understanding of the methods which existed in the previous fights. The significance of the technique analyzed here is not under any doubts; it has become clear that the methods used by Johnson is so successful that it cannot be stated any other fighter has been able to create a better one even over the recent years. The significance of this technique is more increased through the two following factors: first of all, it has been done from inside of the battle with Johnson undertaking multiple efforts to learn partner’s technique; and second, making the serious conclusions touching the need of opponent’s behavior learning. (Stump 1963) Works Cited Remnick, David Struggle for his soul, The Observer, 2003 Zirin, Dave The Hidden History of Muhammad Ali, Edge of Sports Stump, Al. The rowdy reign of the Black avenger. True: The Mens Magazine January 1963. Horowitz, Adam, et al. 101 Dumbest Moments in Business, CNN. com, 2007