Did jack Johnson draw a color line himself?

A lot of people overlooking the clearest reason. Jack Johnson had the opportunity to live a racist's dream. If that racist hates the white man. He got white people to actually pay him to watch him beat up other white people. If he could do that, why would he want to do anything else? It wouldn't make any sense. So, maybe he had no problem with the black man, but it was the white man he had a problem with, and, until Willard,...problem solved.

 

FWIW, Langford did preclude challenging Jeffries when the latter was HW Champ.

Now I think that embargo was simply a, as at the time, PC exercise since Jeffries precluded black challengers at any rate.

At any rate, without Johnson to blame, Sam literally precluded himself from challenging for the HW Title - at least while a white HW held that title.

Johnson singularly and tenaciously lead the way to breaking down the colour line barrier to take the title, no beg pardons, no apologies.

Even when Johnson faced Jeffries, Langford favoured Jeffries, not Johnson.

If that was a sincere selection on Sam’s part, fine, but I have to believe that it was more likely that Langford surely knew that Johnson had Jeffries measure as at that point in time.

As such, I view Sam’s favouring of Jeffries as just another effort to curry favour with the whites.

Had Jeffries inexplicably defeated Johnson and framed himself for a few defences thereafter, would Langford have necessarily changed his prior self embargo?

 

For promoters the drawing power of any matchup is exactly and totally the point,how much £$£$£$£ will it make me is always the bottom line!
The top promoters of that period
Coffroth
Rickard
Curley
And later Jacobs
All said there is no money in a black v black heavyweight title fight,and it is precisely for that reason managers scoured the country for likely white hopes who could be built into challengers for Johnson.The promoters drew the colour line but not for reasons of race,rather for reason of the mighty dollar!

 

The two fights were at different arenas for different promoters.
Ask yourself what Jeannette v Langford drew for the French Federation's title bout?
Under a month later the French reversed their decision and reinstated Johnson .

What was the biggest purse Jeannette ever got?
Langford's was $10,000 for fighting white hopeful Iron Hague in the UK.
Boxing is a business and always has been, the tougher the opponent the more money you want for fighting him,particularly if you are risking a very hard earned title.
If a promoter is willing to give you $31,500 to take on Jim Flynn,in the US, a fighter you have already convincingly defeated,why would you accept $15,000 / $20,000 to fight Langford or Jeannette in France?
Both much tougher propositions,for which Jack would have to be in top condition to win.
Johnson may not have been a particularly admirable character,but one things for sure, he wasn't stupid!

 

When Jeffries was champ Langford was a small welterweight.

Langford weighed 141 lbs in December 1904 for a fight with Jack Blackburn
As late as May1907 Sam scaled 155 1/2lbs for a fight in the UK.
For his last fight as champion, in August 1904, Jeffries gave his weight as 224lbs ,but most thought he was a good 10/20 lbs more than that. Langford was not the only prominent black fighter picking Jeffries to beat Johnson,Joe Jeannette was very emphatic that Jeffries would belt the day lights out of Johnson and both got stick from the black community after the fight.

 

Sure, I know Sam’s weights. I believe the open challenge advert bar Jeffries was published in 1906 - at least after Sam had fought Johnson.

Before even examining if it was sincere, the preclusion of Jeffries was superfluous in two ways. 1) Jeffries drew the colour line anyway and 2) Jeffries had also retired anyway.

Just prior to facing Johnson, Sam defeated Jeanette on points over 15 rounds. I don’t know Joe’s exact weight for that fight but perhaps we’re talking 180 lbs - 185 lbs similar to Johnson as at the time?

I don’t know that someone of Sam’s demonstrated a intestinal fortitude would preclude anyone based on size - and certainly the challenge included men of all sizes otherwise.

Sam later waxed lyrical about Johnson’s own strength and power as displayed in their 1906 fight.

I’m pretty sure Jeanette knew Johnson’s true worth also, including his development since they last fought.

I think both Sam and Joe had to also know that Jeffries would likely be that much of his former after 6 years out and dissapation during that time.

All in all, I think it’s more likely that Sam and Joe picked the guy that they figured the white folks would prefer them to pick.

 

Yes but we do it anyway if someone is deserving. Wasn’t done because there was a bias towards blacks being the title holders. If a white was champ they didn’t want him beat by a black. In rare case a black was champ like Johnson you had the constant search for the white who could beat them. There were plenty of big money fights between Johnson and Louis but they didn’t want a black champ.

 

The stumbling block was always the heavyweights ,white society didn't particularly mind blacks winning titles in the lighter weights,but the heavyweight champion was a symbol of racial superiority,bothSullivan and Jeffries complained bitterly about the ,"money mad Canadian champion Tommy Burns,selling his title for a pot of gold." A side note black light weight champion Joe Gans had to give his white challenger, Battling Nelson the lion's share of the purse.