[...] PK: If you had to pick one anecdotes about Johnson, that puts him into perspective, what would that be?
GW: The book is filled with stories I like. My favourite - because it is an early and well-documented example of the astonishing audacity I mentioned earlier - concerns the fight that put Johnson on the map: his 1902 contest in Los Angeles with Jack Jeffries, the handsome but hapless younger brother of James J. Jeffries, the heavyweight champion. First, in an era in which boxing garb was distinctly drab, Johnson chose to enter the ring in magenta tights, a move calculated to inflame an all-white crowd already howling for his blood. Then, just before the bell rang he reached down and handed the promoter a sealed envelope, asking him not to open it till he gave the signal.
For four rounds, he toyed with Jeffries, slipping his punches, sidestepping his rushes and whacking him as he lurched past, and cheerfully complimenting ringsiders on their ties. Then, as the fifth round began he shouted to the promoter to open the envelope. The note inside said, "I'll stop Jeffries within fifty seconds after the fifth starts." When the promoter looked up, the younger Jeffries was being counted out. Johnson helped drag him to his corner and whispered into his older brother's ear, "I can lick you, too." Three years later, Jim Jeffries would retire from the ring rather than have Johnson make good that boast.
PK: Mr. Ward, on behalf of our readers, I would like to thank-you for taking the time over the Holiday Season to speak with us and for sharing your expertise on Jack Johnson.
GW: Thanks. Happy New Year.
| That's the end of Patrick Kehoe's SecondsOut.com interview with Jack Johnson biographer Geoffery C. Ward
posted in articles on January 4, 2005 3:09 AM | t (0)
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