When sports icon Jack Johnson became the first black man to win the world heavyweight boxing crown in Sydney in 1908, he made a special trip to a cemetery in Australia to pay tribute to a man largely forgotten by society. story, Peter Jackson.
Jackson, a black man, was a luminary of Australian sport in the late 19th century and was considered by many to be the greatest wrestler of his time.
Called the ‘Black Prince’ by Australian fans and hailed as ‘Peter the Great’ in England, he was denied the chance to win the world heavyweight title because of the color of his skin, but his legacy goes far beyond sport. .
Jackson was born in the West Indies in 1861 and came to Australia as a teenager, where he would find work as a sailor on the docks of Sydney.
Blessed with unique athleticism and cat-like reflexes, he soon attracted the attention of famous boxing trainer Larry Foley, who encouraged him to train at his boxing academy on George Street.
Peter Jackson (pictured) was considered by many to be the greatest boxer of his era.
Jackson claimed the Australian and world heavyweight boxing titles.
The talented young man became obsessed with the sport and stepped forward to fight his first professional fight in 1882.
With the help of Foley, who honed and developed his skills, Jackson captured the Australian heavyweight title in 1886 and made headlines across the country.
With no one to fight in Australia, Jackson decided to travel to the United States in search of the world heavyweight title, which was held by ‘Boston Strong Boy’ John L Sullivan.
Jackson soon claimed the World Colored Heavyweight Championship by defeating George Godfrey in California later that year, passing the British Empire’s greatest champion, Jem Smith, and many other top boxers of the time.
Jackson was quickly becoming a global celebrity, with some historians claiming he was the most famous black person on the planet in the late 19th century.
Abolitionist Frederick Douglass is said to have kept a photograph of the Australian wrestler in his office and is quoted as saying: “Peter is doing a lot with his fists to settle the Negro question.”
However, champion John L. Sullivan refused to fight Jackson because of his race, declaring, “I won’t fight a black man.” I never have and I never will.’
Jackson and Sullivan were introduced in 1891, and when later asked by the American newspaper The Chronicle what he thought of Jackson, Sullivan did not hold back.
John L. Sullivan (pictured) would not give Jackson a title shot because of the color of his skin.
Many who saw Peter Jackson in his prime believe he would have beaten Sullivan.
“I’m more pleased with him than I expected. This is the first time I’ve ever talked to him in my life. But he’s an idiot, and that settles everything with me. God didn’t want him to be as good as a white man or he would have changed color, do you understand?
Sullivan was an extraordinarily talented boxer in his prime, but many experts of the time believed that Jackson would have had his number if they had fought.
Nat Fleischer, who founded and published The Ring magazine, known as the “bible of boxing,” said Sullivan drew the “color line” to avoid fighting Jackson, and would likely have been defeated by the Australian if the two ever they would have faced each other. the ring.
In 1891, Jackson fought future world champion ‘Gentleman’ Jim Corbett in a grueling contest in San Francisco. The fight would last 61 rounds, and then the fight was declared a no contest as neither man was the clear winner.
Corbett would defeat Sullivan the following year and claim the heavyweight crown, and Jackson was out.
Try as he might, Jackson was unable to secure a rematch with Corbett and, after defeating Commonwealth champion Frank Slavin in 1892, appears to have resigned himself to never having a shot at the world heavyweight title.
Jackson, who was well-read and reportedly loved to quote William Shakespeare, spent the next few years doing showcase events and performing in the play Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
It was during this time that Jackson is said to have struggled with bouts of alcoholism and dropped in physical condition.
When he finally returned to the ring six years later, in 1898, against future heavyweight champion Jim Jeffries, Jackson was just a shadow of his former self and was brutally knocked out in the third round.
Jackson contracted tuberculosis and returned to Australia with his career in tatters. He died in 1901 and the public raised funds for a memorial in Brisbane.
Around this period, Jackson would contract tuberculosis and eventually return to Australia in 1900 in very poor health and his boxing career in tatters.
Jackson was moved to the small town of Roma in Queensland, where it was believed the warm, dry air would benefit his condition. However, he died in 1901 at the age of 40.
Hundreds of people turned out to bury Jackson at Brisbane’s Toowong Cemetery, which some claimed was the largest funeral the city had seen up to that point.
Later, a public appeal raised funds for a magnificent marble monument adorned with the words of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: “This was a man.”