If you had a time machine???

I get so tired of hearing people ***** and moan about Johnson's conviction and argue endlessly that it was "illegal" when it wasnt. Period. Dont let your bias as a boxing fan cloud your ability to reason. I had this same discussion on another forum with a guy who was defending Sonny Liston chasing a woman he didnt know in a deserted lonely section of a park at 3am, pulling her over while pretending to be a cop and trying to get her to come with him. When a park guard luckily happened on the scene Liston fled reaching speeds of 80 miles an hour and turned his lights off to avoid detection. He was only halted when he lost control of his car. His passenger tried to flee on foot before warning shots were fired and the two were taken into custody. This guy argued that there must have been another side to the story. LOL. Im sure Liston had another side to the story but just because I a boxing fan doesnt mean Im going to suddenly turn a blind eye to what was clearly a sinister event. Likewise because Im a boxing fan doesnt mean Im going to suddenly forget that Johnson was guilty as sin of the letter and spirit of the man act and is one of the last people persecuted or prosecuted under it that should get anyones sympathy. Plenty of people, black and white, were hounded under the mann act that actually werent cavorting with and employing/pimping prostitutes. Johnson was and his one year sentence was relatively light given the fact that he had spent seven years as a fugitive of justice and during his time abroad had actually approached foreign agents in an attempt to spy for them against the United States (its always stated that he offered his services to the United States as a spy in exchange for returning home but thats not true according to his FBI file). You can appreciate the mans ability as a boxer without deluding yourself about his private life.

 

Wasn't the spirit of the Mann Act to prevent commercialized vice?
It was a reactionary bill to a supposed massive country wide prostitution ring, which federal investigators never were able to prove.

The language "Or any other immoral purposes" was the catalyst for the misuse of the law that ran afoul of its spirit.

Here is a case from a PBS article on the Mann Act:

"The Supreme Court dramatically widened the scope of the Mann Act three years later in Caminetti v. United States. In March of 1913 Drew Caminetti, the son of a prominent California politician, and a friend, Maury Diggs, both married and having affairs, took their mistresses by train from Sacramento to Reno. Their betrayed wives tipped off the police, and both men were arrested upon their arrival in Reno. Caminetti and Diggs were tried and found guilty. On appeal, Caminetti's lawyer argued that the intent of Congress was to target only "commercialized vice," and that while his client's behavior may have been immoral, it was "free from commercialism and coercion." Citing Bitty, Justice William R. Day wrote for the majority that the language of the Act "being plain... is the sole evidence of the ultimate legislative intent" and that not applying the law in this case "would shock the common understanding of what constitutes an immoral purpose."
http://www.pbs.org/unforgivableblackness/knockout/mann.html

This is some Saudi Arabia, radical conservatism type stuff here.
The misuse of the law was rampant, and Johnson was obviously one of the first in line on the chopping block.

 

id tell marcel Cerdan not to go on the plane
also tell benny kid paret not to insult Griffith and treat him respectfuly.

 

Tell Foreman to take his time and pick his spots in Zaire.

On second thoughts, no I wouldn't. Why deprive the world of one of the greatest ever sporting moments?

 

I would tell Morrison to keep his ding dong in his pants and focus more on boxing. I would tell Bowe and Tua to control their eating habits. I would tell Foreman to get trainers who would teach him to throw his punches properly. I would tell Marciano to fight people besides 100 year old fighter, bums, and Mob controlled fighters so he could get knocked out. Well Ted Lowry a bum almost knocked him out anyway. I would tell Douglas to stay in shape and be more dedicated. I would tell Lennox Lewis not to get dreads.

 

I'd tell Ali to hang them up after Manila even though the great man would n't listen to me.


I'd also tell Sugar Ray Leonard to spare us,and himself,those last two terrible fights with Terry Norris and Hector Camacho. Especially the latter.

 

That last one was a funny one, Camacho wasn't a big puncher and Leonard had a pretty good set of whiskers. Did Hector land a miracle punch or was it a case of Leonard being completely shot?