Mendoza is positively unhinged on the subject of Jack Johnson. Johnson chased Jeffries for a title shot for years he turned up at his fights and challenged him.In the ring prior to the fight Johnson can be seen waving and talking to people, and grinning at the crowd. I dont think either Jack or Sonny would be intimidated by the other.
Johnson gave a lecture to a KKK meeting,openly defied white supremacists and did things his way.I don't think any man would be capable of intimidating him.
This is a good point. A black man who trolls klan members, humiliates white opponents, and dates white women in a segregated racist society where he could have been lynched wouldnt have been intimidated by liston. More likely, liston does his glare, johnson smiles and says sonething cute, and a brawl breaks out at the press conference. Liston had a short fuse, he slapped ali in the face for allegedly messing up his hand in a card game. Neither johnson nor liston would be able to stomach someons publicly humilating them. Itsd be a clash of personalities.
That's defiantly the impression I had reading about Jack. He happily stepped in the Ring with Jeffries.
No black man could intimidate Johnson in the ring. Maybe if it was a matchup with a white boxer that the prime Johnson genuinely believed had a real chance of beating him or really hurt him, it would have been a different story?
I don't think it would have made any difference at all with Johnson ..black or white. The man had such self belief' and confidence , at least that's the conclusion I've come to reading about him .
Yep. In Dempsey's book he painted a good picture of just how scary Willard was before they fought. In some men that will have them cowering and trying to find a way out. In other men like Dempsey, I think it breeds a kind of ferocious desperation, like a cornered wildcat, and woe betide whatever is in their way.
I agree. In his autobiography Johnson tells of his 15-round points win over Pat Lester in 1926 and of his issuing a challenge to then-champion Jack Dempsey, saying that he would eagerly step into the ring with him. And after Dempsey had been dethroned by Tunney, Johnson expressed a desire to fight him. A while ago a poster wrote that he believed that if Johnson were still alive at age 130+ he would be challenging he likes of Lennox Lewis and the Klitschkos - no doubt an exaggeration, but probably not that much of one.
No. Johnson would respect the challenge in front of him. And he would respect the danger of the opponent. But he wouldn't be intimidated.