A Boxer so feared, His Opponents Created the Colour Line
When we think of the greatest heavyweight champions, we may think of Mike Tyson, Muhammed Ali, perhaps Joe Louis. We may even harken back further to Jack Dempsey, Jack Johnson, or John Sullivan. And yet, many of us don’t immediately consider the holders of the World Coloured Heavyweight Championship of the prewar era. Even today, white fighters such as Jim Corbett, John Sullivan and Jim Jeffries enjoy greater recognition than early black fighter, after all they were the World Heavyweight Champions. Right?
On May 12, 1888, a young pugilist from Australia arrived in San Francisco by the name of Peter Jackson. Jackson, who originally hailed from the West Indies and later developed his boxing skills in Australia, had come to the United States in hopes of getting a shot at the newly formed World Heavyweight Championship title, which had belonged to the Boston Strong Boy John Sullivan since 1885.
Known as “the Black Prince”, Jackson was the complete package: lightning fast, a powerful punch with exceptional reach, and nimble footwork. His physique was so impressively proportioned that an article in the 1894 San Francisco Examiner directly compared his perfection to the inventor of body building Eugen Sandow, a.k.a. the Prussian Hercules, and the Apollo Belvedere statue.
Only three months after arriving in America, he had already won the World Coloured Heavyweight Championship title from George Godfrey. In the period that followed between 1888 and 1892, Jackson fought twenty-eight of the best fighters of England and America, without a single defeat.
His most memorable and likely most difficult bout was a 61-round no contest to Gentleman Jim Corbett, who would go on to win the Heavyweight Championship title from Sullivan only 18 months later.
It is evident that Corbett admired Jackson as looking back on his career, Corbett reflected:
Jim Corbett From the Roar of the Crowd 1925
Boxing historians generally agree that had Jackson been given a title fight, he likely would have become the World Heavyweight Champion. However, despite being considered the top contender, Jackson was never given a shot at the title because Sullivan famously drew what became known as the “colour line”. Sullivan declared that “I have never fought a negro fighter and I never will”. Yet, Sullivan’s proclaimed colour line seems inconsistent with reports that he was set to face black fighter George Godfrey in 1881, but the fight was broken up by police before it could begin.
Although Godfrey was a great fighter, he was no Peter Jackson and Sullivan knew it so the creation of the colour line appears to have been nothing more than excuse to dodge Jackson. Nat Fletcher went as far to say: “Peter Jackson was regarded as the greatest fighter of his era, Jackson was so good, champions of his time would not risk a bout with him”.
But it wasn’t just Sullivan that wouldn’t fight Jackson, Jim Corbett also was reluctant to get in the ring again after he won the title from Sullivan. Despite that, or perhaps because, Corbett considered him “the greatest fighter I have ever seen..”, he refused to grant Jackson a title shot. Jackson went to the media to plead his case that he was the most deserving opponent to fight for the Championship, a tactic that Jack Johnson would also employ years later in his bid for a title bout.
In a signed letter to the press, Jackson wrote:
Before age has impaired my powers, I hope to have the pleasure of again meeting Jame J. Corbett in the ring. Not that I have a feeling of animosity for him. On the contrary, I like him very much and yield to no man in admiration for his skill and courage as a fighter. I am simply desirous of proving who is the champion pugilist of the world.
Rocky Mountain News Denver Colorado on July 3, 1893
Jim Corbett also witnessed an exhibition bout between Peter Jackson and Bob Fitzsimmons in 1896 and said “it was like a professor giving a pupil a lesson”(Fleischer 1938 p 123). Bob Fitzsimmons would go onto to win the World Heavyweight Championship a year later in 1897. Nat Fleischer wrote that Fitzsimmons also called Jackson “the greatest fighter who ever breathed”. (Fleischer 1938 p 124)
Another one of the fights during this period was in London against Frank Slavin, whom Jackson knocked out in the 10th round to win the Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship. Prior to the fight, Slavin had stated publicly “To be beaten by a black fellow … is a pill I shall never swallow.”
However, Slavin would concede to that Jackson was a superior boxer by later remarking on his fight with Jackson:
“My fight with him was my greatest, you do not know,… how he completely mastered me with his speed. Was there ever a big fellow so fast and so sprightly as he was?…. Peter, when I fought him was unbeatable, he was the greatest of all masters.
Daily Herald, January 11, 1923
Jackson’s dominance during this period made him a hero for the black community; however, the unbeatable aura, such as described by Slavin, also made him too feared to be given a title shot. He was forced to use his celebrity to earn a living as an actor in productions such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Jackson slowly began to realize that despite being the best fighter of the era, he was never going to fight for the World Heavyweight Championship title. Jackson retired in 1892 only to stage and an ill-fated comeback in 1898 to a much younger Jim Jeffries. Jackson was past his prime, out of shape and disillusioned from the racism he had experienced and was already suffering from tuberculosis. Jackson was knocked out in the third round. Two years later, Jackson would return home to Australia 1900 and die from the disease the following year in a sanitarium.
My question to the reader is this: when “we” as collectors look back on the history of boxing and consider the greatest fighters, are we still bound by this colour line?
Between the period of 1876 when Charles C. Smith declared himself and was recognized as the World Coloured Heavyweight champion until Joe Louis won the (white) Heavyweight Championship title from James Braddock in 1937, African American boxers could only compete for the Coloured Heavyweight Championship during this period.
John L. Sullivan, however, is still revered as the first and one of the greatest Heavyweight Champions of all time. Yet, Sullivan’s reluctance to face the top contender to the title surely taints his legacy and, more importantly the legacy of the World Heavyweight Championship title. I would argue that Sullivan and those that followed him that continued to draw the colour line should not be considered World Heavyweight Champions but rather the White World Heavyweight Champion. Simply adding the qualifier of “white” suddenly puts the title on equal footing as the “World Coloured Heavyweight Champion. And with this balancing, we can now start to be more objective in our assessment of which title was actually superior.
Interestingly, the same case can be made for Jack Johnson, the first African American boxer to win the World Heavyweight Championship. His legacy is also tainted by the fact that he refused to fight other top African American fighters after he won the title. The era that Johnson held the title was ripe with exceptional black fighters such as Joe Jeanette, Harry Wills, Sam McVey and of course, the legendary Sam Langford. Any one of these fighters had a good shot at winning Johnson’s title had they been given the chance. During his time as Heavyweight Champion, Johnson did fight one black boxer named Battling Jim Johnson; however, he was not considered nearly the same caliber as the aforementioned black boxers.
But let’s look at the numbers, since Joe Louis won the title in 1937, 70% of the boxers who have won the World Heavyweight title (all titles) come from African or African American decent. John Sullivan’s title was considered the World Heavyweight title, but truthfully only British, Canadian and American boxers competed during this time. In fact, it wasn’t until Tommy Burns won the the title and travelled around the world taking on heavyweights from other parts of the globe that the belt could really be considered a world title. If we then consider the proportion of African American champions among American, British and Canadian fighters as the pool would have been pre1900s, the statistic is even more pronounced. African American boxers have won the title 92% of the bouts. Not surprisingly then, most boxing historians concur that Peter Jackson was a superior boxer to Sullivan in almost every category. His only limitation was his skin colour.
Collectors today continue to reward Sullivan for his bigotry and cowardice as evidenced through the prices his cards garner. For example, looking at the PSA price guide for 1890 Mayo Plug Cut set, we see that John L. Sullivan commands 10 times the price of Peter Jackson with comparable population reports (Sullivan has slightly more graded cards).
Some might argue that history is history, and we should not try to modify it by imposing our values. To this, I would contend that we are not changing history but rather attempting to view it with more clarity. White World Heavyweight Championship title holders prior to Tommy Burns purposefully chose not to fight the best contenders of their day. Therefore, in retrospect, the World Coloured Heavyweight Championship was at least an equally prestigious title if not more so than the White World Heavyweight title. As collectors, we can and should exercise judgment on how we rank prewar heavyweight champions questioning whether John L. Sullivan would have enjoyed his title and subsequent fame had he not drawn the colour line? More pointedly, we must ask ourselves that if we hold onto the ceremony of history, are we also not somewhat to blame for perpetuating the biases? If the answer is yes, then we must acknowledge that Peter Jackson was the greatest heavyweight boxer of his era without ever holding the “white” Heavyweight Championship title.
Peter Jackson Cigarette Card Chronology
I have limited the chronology to cigarette cards; however, there are also several examples of stunning Peter Jackson cabinet cards and carte de visite from this period. Also, I have not included post war cards that were issued of Jackson.
Year: 1888 Manufacturer – Goodwin –Gypsy Queen Old Judge Cigarettes – Set N174 – Card # – unnumbered
This card is considered to be Peter Jackson’s rookie card. It would have issued not long after Jackson arrived in America. It is exceptionally rare with very few known copies.
Year: 1889- – Manufacturer – Hess & Co. Cigarettes – Set –Athletes and Celebrities N332 – Card # – unnumbered
Another early rare Jackson card from the Hess Cigarettes, this card is very hard to find where the image has not faded.
Year: 1890 Manufacturer – Mayo Plug Cut – Set -Prize Fighters – Card # – unnumbered
Year: 1893 – Manufacturer – Lorillard Co. Red Cross – Set – Boxing Positions and Boxers (N266) – Card # – unnumbered
Card Notes
A sensational set of 25 cards that featured key fights from the era.
Year: 1901 Manufacturer – Ogden’s Guinea Gold Cigarettes – General Interest – Card # 286
Card Notes
This Ogden’s Sydney issue is another exceptionally rare and key card of Peter Jackson as the set was only issued in Australia. Although it looks like a tabs front it is indicated on that back that was issued with Guinea Gold cigarettes. There are only a handful of copies known to exist.
Year: 1910 Manufacturer – Mecca Cigarettes – Set – Champion Athlete and Prize Fighters Series (220) – Card # – unnumbered
Card Notes
This set is considered the base of the variations and is the most common with 50 subjects.
Year: 1910 Manufacturer – Mecca Cigarettes – Set – Champion Athlete and Prize Fighters Series (220) Silver border variation- Card # – unnumbered
Card Notes
Half of the subjects were selected for this set and it is considerably rarer than the base set.
Year: Circa 1910 Manufacturer – Dixie Queen – Set – Prize Fighters of the Past and Present Series (223) – Card # – unnumbered
Card Notes
The T223 Dixie Queen set is very similar to the Mecca set as they used the same images from the T220 set ; however the cards are smaller and used a different type of cardstock. Cards from this set are considered to be quite rare. Also the issue date is likely later thatn the Mecca cards.
Year: 1911 Manufacturer – W.D. & H.O Will’s Cigarettes – Set – Boxers (Green Star and Circles Back) – Card # – unnumbered
Year: 1911 – Manufacturer – W.D. & H.O Will’s Cigarettes – Boxers Scissors Back – Card # – unnumbered
Year: 1938 – Manufacturer -Cartledge Razors Blades- Set – Famous Prize Fighters – Card # – 20
Card Notes
A relatively common set, this card is probably the most accessible Peter Jackson card for collectors.
The Cardboard Junkie 