All Black Heavyweight Title Fight in Aussie Falls Through

This article states that Hugh d McIntosh planned a series of eliminating round robin's between champion Jack Johnson and his black challengers in Australia,The plan never got off the ground because the first defence ,[Johnson v Sam McVey,] was abandoned because of lack of finance. If true this directly contradicts the premise that there were genuine big money offers for Johnson to defend against his black challengers in Aussie.

Any comments ?



"McVea had arrived in Australia in August of 1911, along with fellow African-American boxers Jack Johnson, the current world's heavyweight champion (which he had won in Australia two years earlier), and Sam Langford, the current "colored" heavyweight champion. The party had been assembled by promoter and manager D. McIntish, who's plan consisted of a seasonal tour of the country before finishing up with first a Johnson title defense against McVea, to be followed by a match between the winner and Sam Langford. "





"Unfortunately, for McVea, audiences weren't that enthusiastic to pay to see two African-Americans fight for the title. Unable to draw a large enough crowd to cover the promised purses - £18,000 a fight for Johnson, £6,000 for McVea, and £1,000 for Langford, in addition to their percentages - the fight was abandoned. Instead, Johnson returned to the States to meet another "white hope", the role being filled this time by Fireman Jim Flynn."


"As McVea and Langford watched their opportunity to meet Johnson, and the money that came with it, pass from within their grasps, they tried to make the best of their situation. They booked a series of matches against each other in Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth for the "colored" heavyweight championship, now held by Langford. While McVea won the first fight on December 26,1911, reclaiming the title, the next year he lost four straight to the "Boston Tar Baby". Their final contest on March 24,1913 ended in a draw, but the damage to McVea's drawing power was done. While Langford could thereafter tour Australia screening and narrating the film of his victories"

 

The time scale may indeed be wrong as is the contention that Johnson had won the title 2 years earlier in fact it was 1908.
As we know, McVey was in Austalia from1 911 until 1914 .

Johnson as you say was in the UK for 1911.
I'm more interested in the premise that the promoter could not garner sufficient interest to make an all black title fight worth while.

 

Do you happen to know the promoter concerned at the Garden?

 

Why would a replacement be needed in 1911 ,if it was one of that line up he would also be black so the status quo would remain,who would financially benefit from that?

 

Whether it would have drawn is entirely the point ,that's why I made the thread in the first place to ascertain if an all black title fight was financially viable. Not whether it was morally justified or deserved.

 

I'm just trying to get to the bottom of these big money offers that I see airily put out on here, nothing more.

 

Was it the McMahon brothers?
Here is a link to a Johnson title defence against Jeannette ,signed & sealed for 1912 called off due to outside pressures.


http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=...s=39&e=-------en--50--1--txt-IN-joe+jeannette
Here is one that states Johnson is due to sign to fight Langford for£6000.
http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=...s=39&e=-------en--50--1--txt-IN-joe+jeannette

July 1914