The Great White Hope won three of the most important awards on Broadway—the Pulitzer Prize, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, and a Tony—a phenomenal achievement in the history of twentieth-century theatre. The play is based on the life of black boxer Jack Johnson. When white American fighters refused to compete with Johnson, he traveled to Australia and defeated Tommy Burns in 1908, becoming the first black Heavyweight Champion of the World. Sackler's work explores with deep consideration the consequences of Johnson's achievement in a climate of deep racial unrest.

Curiously, Sackler's original work was meant to be a musical, more lighthearted than tragic. He eventually abandoned his plans and completed the play in 1967. The Great White Hope opened in December of that year at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. Although the work is fictional, many of the events of the play, such as Jack's arrest, actually happened to Johnson at some point in his life. Thematically, the play also explores, with depth, perceptiveness, and brutal honesty, the nature of racism and racial conflict in American society. The voices of Sackler's characters, black and white, offer a colorful collage of insights. In examining the motivations of these characters, the audience gains exposure to a wide range of perspectives and, by extension, a much greater understanding of the issues surrounding them.