This section contains 803 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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1878-1946
Boxing Champion
Son of a Former Slave.
Jack Johnson, the first African American heavyweight champion, was born in Galveston, Texas, the son of Henry and Tina Johnson. His father, a former slave, worked as a porter and a janitor. Despite their lack of formal education, Johnson's parents encouraged their six children to pursue learning and provided a stable, religious home life for them. Johnson completed the fifth grade in elementary school before going to work in the cotton fields and assisting his father as a janitor. He later worked as a stevedore at the Galveston shipyards and as a stable boy in a carriage shop. Walter Lewis, his boss at the carriage shop, was a former prizefighter who taught Johnson how to box. He honed his skills in the "battle royals," degrading staged fights between black youths, and in private clubs before entering the professional...
This section contains 803 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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