History of Modern Sports

Johnson was not the first ever black boxer. While there was some black involvement in the sport, there was not much viewing interest coming from the black population. Up until 1908 white boxers refused to fight black opponents. Ironic how tunes change to the cha-ching of dollar signs. The beginning of the twentieth century saw a decline in boxing popularity and Sam Fitzpatrick capitalized on it. He decided that there was no time like the present for change. He set up a match between champion Tommy Burns and this unbeatable negro. Burns thought this would be an easy way to line his pockets with cash, so he agreed.

July 4, 1910 was not an ordinary Independence Day. On this day in Reno Nevada, boxer, Jack Johnson proved that the white man is not superior. Johnson broke the color barrier, being the first African American contestant to officially win the world heavyweight boxing title (defeating Jim Jeffries). However, Independence Day 1910, was not the first time Johnson competed for the title. On December 26, 1908 in Sydney Australia, Johnson matched against Tommy Burns for the heavyweight championship, the first time in history a white man would compete against an African American for this high-status title. After 14 rounds, Johnson easily won the match and became the first black heavyweight champion, but the fight was stopped by police. Immediately

His life came to an unfortunate end on June 10, 1946 when he died in an automobile accident in Raleigh, North Carolina, at the age of 68. Jack Johnson arguably the best heavyweight of his generation. He started boxing at a young age. He won his first title in 1903 and won the world heavy weight title seven years later. He later fled the country from breaking the law of marrying a white woman. After a car crash his life came to an end but his legacy lived on and he became a figure of blacks in sports and in Black

Elliott J. Gorn’s The Manly Art is a unique book that tells readers the origins of boxing in American culture. The book was published in 1986 by Cornell University Press, the book discussed the development of boxing and American society. Gorn takes sport history, a commonly misunderstood and misinterpreted topic and wrote a book that not only was easy to read but allowed readers to gain knowledge on the sport. Gorn says “To understand prize fighting, I have discovered, is necessarily to understand something about nineteenth-century America. Ideology, ethnicity, social class formation, violence, urbanization, gender roles, religious world views, productive relationships, all are a part of sports history in general and boxing in particular.” (Gorn, pg. 12)

Jefferies constantly denied Johnson a fight and in 1904 they came across each other in a bar and Jefferies told Johnson he would fight him alone in the cellar and bet 2500 dollars but Johnson said he wasn’t a cellar fighter and in 1905 Jefferies retired opening a new gate for Jack Johnson. This pissed off Johnson for he was in need of money and so he hired a manager, Sam Fitzpatrick who helped Johnson earn up to 3000 dollars a night. Johnson was now starting to be openly seen with white women, They were prostitutes and he would take them every where with him, this was done during the time when he was lashing out on the white boxers, one of these prostitutes would be with him for the next 4 years, her name was Hattie McClay.

amounts of money presented major obstacles, Jack Johnson tells the story himself in his autobiography “My Life and Battles,” finally moved up in rankings and eventually became the Colored Heavyweight champion in 1903, by defeating “Denver” Ed Martin February 3, 1903. (Jack Johnson 36-38, Roberts 28-29). Meanwhile, the heavyweight champion at this time was James Jeffries, who would continue the racist tradition of keeping the title within the White race by refusing to fight any boxer of color. (Roberts 17-19). Subsequent white champions also drew the color line, until after more than three years of stalking the new champion Tommy Burns around the world, Johnson finally received his opportunity to capture the Heavyweight crown. (Johnson 68). Memorable and historic, on December 26, 1908 Johnson easily pummeled Burns, mercifully the fight was stopped in the fourteenth round by policemen, and the filming of the fight was ordered to be stopped fearful of exposing the myth of White supremacy throughout the globe. (Runstedtler 56-62). Of larger concern that the film would encourage the Black community to seek equality in other societal matters the government banned the transport of fight films across state lines. The impetus to censure Johnson’s victory led to a government regulation of the content of all films as noted in the article, Fighting films: race, morality, and the governing of cinema, 1912-1915. (Lee Grieveson, Farr131-34). Triumphal, Jack Johnson had enduringly achieved

Johnson followed Jeffries from town to town. “Jeffries, however, refused to fight a black boxer and instead decided to retire undefeated.”(Unforgivable Blackness). The Championship was handed over to a white named Tommy Burns, who as well declined to fight Johnson but eventually gave in at the cost of thirty thousand dollars. In the year 1908, Johnson knocked out Burns in the sixteenth round, to win the title and create history. “He was a fast and brilliant defensive boxer who fought at a time when white champions like John L. Sullivan and James Jeffries refused to fight black fighters. Jeffries retired rather than face Johnson, but he returned six years later when the clamor for a great white hope could not be ignored”(Sandomir D3). Even James Jefferies was beaten and and thus, Johnson had beat all that stood in his way, from bottom to the top. Through perseverance and relentlessness, Johnson had achieved his dream.

* Equity affects nearly all aspects of our lives none less than sports such as beach volleyball. Sport is an integral part of today’s society and as such, sport should be organised, participated in and distributed in an equitable manner.The aim of equity in sports is to encourage all people, regardless of age, gender, disability or ethnic origin to participate in and develop their potential within sport. Disputes over equity have been apparent in our society for hundreds of years, over such things as gender, religion or race. A framework developed by Figueroa deals with equity. It consists of five levels that link together – individual, interpersonal, institutional, structural and cultural. The following paragraphs demonstrate the use of

The central idea of “Why sports history is American history” by Mark Naison, The Glider Lehrman Institute of American History is, how the influence of African Americans, Italians, and Jewish people to migrate them into sports.

Muhammad Ali said,” I hated every minute of training, but don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion,” (“Brainy Quote”). With such a high mindset, Ali was able to win almost all of his fights in his career. Ali was devoted to boxing, not just physically, but mentally with intelligence and knowing how to box and jab very well (“Gilderlehrman”). He would float just out of range with his hands down, dragging in the opponent so he could catch them with his fast hands.

Sports are very vital. They offer a lifestyle, an occupation, and even a dream. Sports require physical activity and skill in which a team or an individual compete against others for entertainment. As David G. McComb comments in "Sports in World History", "there is a high degree of training, investment, and coaching, along with spectators, rules, publicity, and institutional control that come along with these activities." While participating in sports, it is required to be able to undertake a difficult situation and perform the best out of it. Sports are definitely more than just a game.

Through the movies viewed in this course this semester, we saw women who were able to play against men and still keep their femininity. Nothing is lost when playing sports not traditionally meant for a particular race or gender. Society must become more understanding when it comes to the sports different types of people play and hinder from stereotyping anyone when they participate and perform well in that sport.

Women’s participation in sports has changed over the centuries. In ancient times, men dominated societies. Women were viewed as the caretaker, a provider for life. Women who did participate were criticized and were thought of as threatening. In 18th century America, women were considered inferior to men because of the belief that women are the weaker sex. A woman’s purpose in life was to take care of the house, children, and husband. When they did want to participate in recreational sport, they need to be able to negotiate with men and with other women because societies did not make it easy for women to participate. For example, there was a

As a boxer, Johnson went from being an unknown to the first African American heavyweight champion of the world. With little regard for his safety, he destroyed white fighters when blacks were expected to submit to whites. Johnson saw himself as an equal amongst whites; therefore he paid little attention to the chaos he caused throughout his professional career.

The development led to the development of the national boxing association which governs and regulates the sport. This transformation made the sport be recognized and enhanced the development of various organizations which trained more boxers who show talent in the art of boxing ("History of Boxing"). This has made boxing to be making a career where professional boxers are able to earn a living out of boxing just like any other sport. Boxing is currently included in the Olympic Games not to mention it is currently classified as a game where professional boxers from different states, can showcase their talent in the sport leading to the development of various boxing champions, such as Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali who both have great boxing