Jack Johnson, the heavyweight champ, with his flashy wheels (Photo courtesy of the Chicago History Museum).
In Part 5 of The Forkball’s longest-running series, we discussed how boxing was for bad boys in Europe and the Americas. It was part of underground life in whichever culture it spread to. It’s not totally surprising that a sport that is dedicated to feeding your hands to someone else’s face is a less cultured practice, but boxing has always been given a bad wrap.
Boxing At The Turn Of The Century
Because Europe and America always have to be at odds, as soon as America started balking at the sport, Europe warmed up to it. Laws in England were made with old-fashioned ideals in mind. Boxing was a sort of callback to a less civilized time. However, since the common people were advocating for the sport, the powers that be eased up on enforcing laws.
In what felt like an incredibly classist attack, boxing was transitioning. It was known as a “barbaric” activity that the English were putting a “civilized” impulse into. The culture and people who had already embraced boxing would need to “refine” themselves to fit the new image of boxing. It is interesting that the people who established boxing in Europe were not the ones to make the decision to “civilize” it. Should they not get input on their sport?
In America, there was no such attempt to civilize what was considered an organized fistfight. An activity the States already had laws for. Instead of responding to new sports with a mind for innovation, America chose to try to stamp them down. Lawmakers were fueled with puritanical values and a concern that the people needed more “guidance” or they would break into a free for all of violence.
America Never Learns
You would think that a good look at how cracking down on boxing worked in England might inspire American lawmakers to choose a different way. But no, they didn’t. In the late 1800’s, specific laws were designed with boxing in mind instead of the more general laws about fighting in public and the like.
And of course, because there were more laws, the good people of the United States gave up their boxing gloves and prayed on Friday nights. Just kidding. Instead, people got creative. Boxing mostly took place in the more rural, unregulated “backwaters” of the US or on ships just off of American waters where the same rules didn’t apply.
Loosen Up Already
Like most things in the good ol’ US of A, a little money goes a long way. Boxing was profitable. It was also popular. It “made men” of men, a consistent fear for Americans. Many sports, like football, were meant to promote toughness in men, and boxing was perfect for that. Ironically, over 100 years later, men are still men, so I guess they were sweating the small stuff a bit.
It was really WWI that made boxing socially acceptable. It was an ideal training method for up-and-coming soldiers.
Not even 50 years later, the United States decided to do the English thing, just about four times faster. They too would bring “civilization” to the “barbaric” by creating state regulation systems. It wouldn’t be illegal everywhere, and it wouldn’t be legal everywhere either; it was up to the state.
Boxing Is The “American Dream”
For Immigrants
In the early 20th century, immigrants were coming in huge waves. Irish people were dealing with a famine issue, for example, and came to America for a better life. Boxing was just the thing that could let an immigrant strike it big and establish themselves in a new country. Consequently, in the early 1900s, many of the boxers were from Ireland, Germany, Scandinavia, and Africa, basically everywhere.
For African Americans
African Americans also joined in the boxing thing around the turn of the century. The sport was also an opportunity for the black community to gain status and wealth. This wasn’t necessarily received well. Many white boxers refused to play black boxers because of their race. This limited the number of competitions African Americans could participate in.
Even with setbacks, the first African American, Joe Gans, won the lightweight championship in 1902, and Jack Johnson won the heavyweight championship in 1908. Even black champions were not safe from prejudice. Gans, for example, was forced to lose intentionally or fight worse so that white boxers who were not as good could win (or lose as badly). Jack Johnson was actually bullied so badly that he had to leave America after becoming champion. The whole white partner thing probably also escalated that for Mr. Johnson.
For All
Boxing remained a tool for social mobility for many immigrant and African American populations heading later into the 1900s. Xenophobia and racism wouldn’t hold these tough groups back from success. both an inspiring tale of perseverance and a horrific social commentary on America all at once.
Wait… boxing used to be a popular collegiate sport? Find out about that and more as we move forward through the early 1900s in the next segment of Punch Drunk and Boxing Free.
