Editing Jack Johnson (boxer) (section)

==Boxing career==
Johnson made his debut as a professional boxer on November 1, 1898, in Galveston, when he [[Knockout|knocked out]] Charley Brooks in the second round of a 15-round bout, billed for "The Texas State Middleweight Title". In his third pro fight on May 8, 1899, he faced "[[Klondike (boxer)|Klondike]]" ([[Klondike (boxer)|John W. Haynes, or Haines]]), an African American heavyweight known as "The Black Hercules", in Chicago. Klondike (so called as he was considered a rarity, like the gold in the [[Klondike, Yukon|Klondike]]), who had declared himself the "Black Heavyweight Champ", won on a [[technical knockout]] (TKO) in the fifth round of a scheduled six-rounder.

===Johnson vs. Choynski===
[[File:JohnsonChoy.jpg|thumb|Johnson standing behind Choynski in Chicago in 1909]]
On February 25, 1901, Johnson fought [[Joe Choynski]] in Galveston. Choynski, a popular and experienced heavyweight, knocked out Johnson in the third round. Prizefighting was illegal in Texas at the time and they were both arrested. [[Bail]] was set at $5,000, nearly $200,000 in 2023, which neither could afford. The sheriff permitted both fighters to go home at night so long as they agreed to spar in the jail cell. Large crowds gathered to watch the sessions. After 23 days in jail, their bail was reduced to an affordable level and a grand jury refused to indict either man. Johnson later stated that he learned his boxing skills during that jail time. The two would remain friends.<ref>{{cite journal | title =The Making of Jack Johnson |last=Kroger |first=Bill |date=March 2012 |journal=Texas Bar Journal |volume=75 |issue=9 |page=206 |location=Austin, TX |publisher=State Bar of Texas |editor1-first=Michelle |editor1-last=Hunter }}</ref>

Johnson attested that his success in boxing came from the coaching he received from Choynski.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xcfef_d2es4C&pg=PA148|title=The Big Book of Jewish Sports Heroes|access-date=September 30, 2014|isbn=9781561719075|last1=Horvitz|first1=Peter S.|date=April 2007|publisher=SP Books }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/boxinginsanfranc00somr |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/boxinginsanfranc00somr/page/31 31] |title=Boxing in San Francisco|publisher=Arcadia Publishing |access-date=September 30, 2014|isbn=9780738528861|last1=Daniel Somrack|first1=F.|date=October 2004}}</ref> The aging Choynski saw natural talent and determination in Johnson and taught him the nuances of defense, stating: "A man who can move like you should never have to take a punch".<ref name="pbs.org"/>

===World colored heavyweight champ===

[[File:Jack Johnson Boxer Sydney c 1908.jpg|thumb|Jack Johnson, Sydney, c. 1908]]
[[File:Jack Johnson cph.3b19117 (edit).jpg|thumb|Johnson in 1908 (photograph by [[Otto Sarony]])]]
By 1903, though Johnson's official record showed him with nine wins against three losses, five draws and two no contests, he had won at least 50 fights against both white and black opponents. Johnson won his first title on February 3, 1903, beating Denver Ed Martin on points in a 20-round match for the [[World Colored Heavyweight Championship]]. Johnson held the title until it was vacated when he won the world heavyweight title from [[Tommy Burns (Canadian boxer)|Tommy Burns]] in Sydney, Australia on [[Boxing Day]] 1908. His reign of 2,151 days was the third longest in the 60-year-long history of the colored heavyweight title. Only [[Harry Wills]] at 3,103 days and [[Peter Jackson (boxer)|Peter Jackson]] at 3,041 days held the title longer. A three-time colored heavyweight champion, Wills held the title for a total of 3,351 days.

Johnson defended the colored heavyweight title 12 times, which was second only to the 26 times Wills defended the title. While colored champ, he defeated colored ex-champs Denver Ed Martin and Frank Childs again and beat future colored heavyweight champs [[Sam McVey]] three times and [[Sam Langford]] once. He beat Langford on points in a 15-rounder and never gave him another shot at the title, when he was either colored champ or the world heavyweight champ.

===Johnson vs. Jeanette & Langford===
Johnson fought [[Joe Jeanette]] a total of seven times, all during his reign as colored champion before he became the world's heavyweight champion, winning four times and drawing twice (three of the victories and one draw were [[newspaper decision]]s).

After Johnson became the first African-American Heavyweight Champion of the World on December&nbsp;26, 1908, his World Colored Heavyweight Championship was vacated. Jeanette fought Sam McVey for the title in Paris on February 20, 1909, and was beaten, but he later took the title from McVey in a 49-round bout on April 17 of that year in Paris for a $6,000 purse. 

During his reign as world champion, Johnson never again fought Jeanette, despite numerous challenges, and avoided Langford, who won the colored title a record five times. In 1906 Jack Johnson fought Sam Langford. Langford took severe punishment and was knocked down 3 times; however, he lasted the 15-round distance.<ref>"LANGFORD LOSES IN GAME FIGHT" The Boston Journal, April 27, 1906, page 9</ref>

On November 27, 1945, Johnson finally stepped back into the ring with Joe Jeanette. 

===World heavyweight champion===
Johnson's efforts to win the world heavyweight title were initially thwarted, as at the time world heavyweight champion [[James J. Jeffries]] refused to face him, and retired instead.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128245468|title=A True Champion Vs. The 'Great White Hope'|website=NPR.org|language=en|access-date=2019-07-05}}</ref> However, Johnson did fight former champion [[Bob Fitzsimmons]] in July 1907, and knocked him out in two rounds.<ref name="Burns" />

Johnson finally won the world heavyweight title on December 26, 1908, a full six years after lightweight champion [[Joe Gans]] became the first African American boxing champion. Johnson's victory over the reigning world champion, Canadian [[Tommy Burns (Canadian boxer)|Tommy Burns]], at the [[Sydney Stadium]] in Australia, came after following Burns around the world for two years and taunting him in the press for a match.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.saddoboxing.com/boxing-article/Jack-Johnson-v-Tommy-Burns.html|title=Boxing Classics Jack Johnson v Tommy Burns December 26, 1908|publisher=Saddoboxing.com|access-date=September 30, 2014}}</ref> Burns agreed to fight Johnson only after promoters guaranteed him $30,000.<ref name="biography.com">{{cite web|title=Jack Johnson Biography|url=http://www.biography.com/people/jack-johnson-9355980 |access-date=November 8, 2013}}</ref> The fight lasted fourteen rounds before being stopped by the police in front of over 20,000 spectators, and Johnson was named the winner.<ref name="biography.com" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ringtv.craveonline.com/blog/120099-100-years-since-Jack-johnson-made-history|title=100 years since Jack Johnson made history|date=December 28, 2008|work=Ring TV|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121154558/http://ringtv.craveonline.com/blog/120099-100-years-since-Jack-johnson-made-history|archive-date=2012-01-21|access-date=September 30, 2014}}</ref>

[[File:Jack Johnson March 1909 Vancouver.jpg|thumb|Johnson arriving in [[Vancouver]] on March 9, 1909, as the World Heavyweight Champion]]
After Johnson's victory over Burns, racial animosity among whites ran so deep that some, including renowned American author [[Jack London]],<ref>{{Cite news|title=A True Champion Vs. The 'Great White Hope'|language=en|work=NPR.org|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128245468|access-date=2021-12-16}}</ref> called for a "[[James J. Jeffries|Great White Hope]]" to take the title away from Johnson.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00014275.html|title=ESPN.com: Johnson boxed, lived on own terms|publisher=Espn.go.com|access-date=November 27, 2014}}</ref> While Johnson was heavyweight champion, he was covered more in the press than all other notable black men combined.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/unforgivableblackness/rebel/|title=Unforgivable Blackness . Jack Johnson: Rebel of the Progressive Era – PBS|publisher=Pbs.org|access-date=November 27, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Brown |first=Eric |title=New push to pardon boxing legend Jack Johnson |url=http://www.salon.com/2013/04/06/new_push_to_pardon_boxing_legend_jack_johnson_partner/ |date=April 6, 2013|website=International Business Times |access-date=August 12, 2016}}</ref> The lead-up to the bout was peppered with racist press against Johnson. An editorial in the ''[[New York Times]]'' ("Pugilists as Race Champions") expressed a concern that the fight would "have the deplorable effect of intensifying racial antagonisms and of making race problems more difficult of solution": <blockquote>If the black man wins, thousands and thousands of his ignorant brothers will misinterpret his victory as justifying claims to much more than mere physical equality with their white neighbors. If the negro loses, the members of his race will be taunted and irritated [provoked] because of their champion's downfall.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 12, 1910 |title=Pugilists as Race Champions |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/05/12/104934029.html?pageNumber=10 |work=New York Times |pages=10}}</ref></blockquote>As title holder, Johnson thus had to face a series of fighters each billed by boxing promoters as a "great white hope", often in [[Exhibition game|exhibition matches]]. In 1909, he beat Tony Ross, Al Kaufman, and the middleweight champion [[Stanley Ketchel]].

Ketchel and Johnson were friends. The match with Ketchel was originally thought to have been an exhibition, and in fact it was fought by both men that way, until the 12th round, when Ketchel threw a right to Johnson's head, knocking him down. Quickly regaining his feet, and very annoyed, Johnson immediately dashed straight at Ketchell and threw a single punch, an uppercut, a punch for which he was famous, to Ketchel's jaw, knocking him out. The punch knocked out Ketchell's front teeth; Johnson can be seen on film removing them from his glove, where they had been embedded.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Jack_Johnson_vs._Stanley_Ketchel |date=October 16, 1909 |title=Jack Johnson 205½ lbs beat Stanley Ketchel 170¼ lbs by KO in round 12 of 20 |access-date=August 12, 2016}}</ref>

==="Fight of the Century"===
{{main| Jack Johnson vs. James J. Jeffries}}
In 1910, former undefeated heavyweight champion [[James J. Jeffries]] came out of retirement to challenge Johnson, saying "I am going into this fight for the sole purpose of proving that a white man is better than a Negro".<ref>Remnick, David "[http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,1072750,00.html Struggle for his soul]", ''The Observer'', 2003-11-02. Retrieved on November 2, 2003</ref> He had not fought in six years and he also had to lose well over 100 pounds to get back to his championship fighting weight. Efforts to persuade Jeffries to "retrieve the honor of the white race" began immediately after the Burns–Johnson fight.<ref name="auto3">Orbach, Barak "[https://ssrn.com/abstract=3803516 The Fight of the Century: On the Exploitation of Social Divides]", ''NYU Journal of Law & Liberty'' (2020)</ref> Initially Jeffries had no interest in the fight, being quite happy as an alfalfa farmer.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Jeffries Barn |url=http://wesclark.com/burbank/jeffries_barn.html |access-date=2022-03-13 |website=wesclark.com}}</ref> On October 29, 1909, Johnson and Jeffries signed an agreement to "box for the heavyweight championship of the world" and called promoters to bid for the right to orchestrate the event.<ref name="auto3"/>

In early December 1909, Johnson and Jeffries selected a bid from the nation's top boxing promoters — [[Tex Rickard]] and John Gleason. The bid guaranteed a purse of $101,000 ({{Inflation|US|101000|1909|fmt=eq|r=-3}}) to be divided 75 percent to the winner and 25 percent to the loser, as well as two-thirds of the revenues collected from the sales of the right to film the fight (each boxer received one third of the equity rights).<ref name="auto3"/> Although it was well understood that a victory for Jeffries was likely to be more profitable than a victory for Johnson, there were no doubts that either way the event would produce record profits.<ref name="auto3"/> Legal historian Barak Orbach argues that in "an industry that promoted events through the dramatization of rivalries, a championship contest between an iconic representative of the white race and the most notorious [black fighter] was a gold mine".<ref name="auto3"/>

[[File:Johnson jeff.jpg|thumb|[[James J. Jeffries]] fights Johnson in 1910]]
Jeffries mostly remained hidden from media attention until the day of the fight, while Johnson soaked up the spotlight. [[John L. Sullivan]], who made boxing championships a popular and esteemed spectacle, stated that Johnson was in such good physical shape compared to Jeffries that he would only lose if he had a lack of skill on the day of the fight. Before the fight, Jeffries remarked, "It is my intention to go right after my opponent and knock him out as soon as possible". While his wife added, "I'm not interested in prizefighting but I am interested in my husband's welfare, I do hope this will be his last fight". Johnson's words were "May the best man win".<ref name="RR">{{cite web|title=Jack Johnson vs James Jeffries Race Riots |date=July 4, 1910 |url=http://able2know.org/topic/196794-1 |publisher=Able2know.org |access-date=November 27, 2014}}</ref>

Racial tension was brewing in the lead up to the fight and to prevent any harm from coming to either boxer, guns were prohibited within the arena along with the sale of alcohol and anyone who was under the effects of alcohol. Apples and all other potential weapons were barred. Behind the racial attitudes which were being instigated by the media was a major investment in gambling for the fight, with 10–7 odds in favor of Jeffries.<ref name="RR" />

The fight took place on July 4, 1910, in front of 20,000 people, at a ring which was built just for the occasion in downtown [[Reno, Nevada]]. Jeffries proved unable to impose his will on the younger champion and Johnson dominated the fight. By the 15th round, after Jeffries had been knocked down twice for the first time in his career, Jeffries' corner [[Submission (combat sports)|threw in the towel]] to end the fight and prevent Jeffries from having a knockout on his record.<ref name="biography.com" />

Johnson later remarked he knew the fight was over in the 4th round when he landed an [[uppercut]] and saw the look on Jeffries face, stating, "I knew what that look meant. The old ship was sinking". Afterwards, Jeffries was humbled by the loss and what he had seen of Johnson in their match. "I could never have whipped Johnson at my best", Jeffries said. "I couldn't have hit him. No, I couldn't have reached him in 1,000 years".<ref name="biography.com" />

The "Fight of the Century" earned Johnson $65,000 (over ${{Inflation|US|0.065|1910|r=1|fmt=c}} million in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars) and silenced the critics, who had belittled Johnson's previous victory over Tommy Burns as "empty", claiming that Burns was a false champion since Jeffries had retired undefeated. [[John L. Sullivan]] commented after the fight that Johnson won deservedly, fairly and convincingly,

{{blockquote|The fight of the century is over and a black man is the undisputed champion of the world. It was a poor fight as fights go, this less than 15-round affair between James J. Jeffries and Jack Johnson. Scarcely has there ever been a championship contest that was so one-sided. All of Jeffries much-vaunted condition amounted to nothing. He wasn't in it from the first bell tap to the last&nbsp;... The negro had few friends, but there was little demonstration against him. (Spectators) could not help but admire Johnson because he is the type of prizefighter that is admired by sportsmen. He played fairly at all times and fought fairly.&nbsp;... What a crafty, powerful, cunning left hand (Johnson) has. He is one of the craftiest, cunningest boxers that ever stepped into the ring.&nbsp;... They both fought closely all during the 15 rounds. It was just the sort of fight that Jeffries wanted. There was no running or ducking like Corbett did with me in New Orleans (1892). Jeffries did not miss so many blows, because he hardly started any. Johnson was on top of him all the time.... (Johnson) didn't get gay at all with Jeffries in the beginning, and it was always the white man who clinched, but Johnson was very careful, and he backed away and took no chances, and was good-natured with it all&nbsp;... The best man won, and I was one of the first to congratulate him, and also one of the first to extend my heartfelt sympathy to the beaten man.<ref name="Sullivan" />}}

====Riots and aftermath====
{{main|Johnson–Jeffries riots}}
[[File:LA Times, 7 July 1910.png|thumb|''The LA Times'' noted the explosive nature of Johnson's victory by featuring this cartoon in which a stick of dynamite suggests that it would not have caused as much violence as the fight did.]]
The outcome of the fight triggered [[Mass racial violence in the United States|race riots]] that evening—the [[Independence Day (United States)|Fourth of July]]—all across the United States, from Texas and [[Colorado]] to New York and Washington, D.C.<ref name="Riots">{{cite news |title=A Black Champion's Biggest Fight |url=https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2020/07/a-black-champions-biggest-fight/ |access-date=March 29, 2023 |work=Saturday Evening Post}}</ref> Johnson's victory over Jeffries had dashed white dreams of finding a "great white hope" to defeat him. Many whites felt humiliated by the defeat of Jeffries.<ref name="Burns" />

Black Americans, on the other hand, were jubilant and celebrated Johnson's great victory as a victory for racial advancement. Black poet [[William Waring Cuney]] later highlighted the black reaction to the fight in his poem "My Lord, What a Morning".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pool|first1=Rosey E.|title=Beyond the blues: new poems by American Negroes|publisher=Hand and Flower Press|page=81|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=havoAAAAIAAJ|language=en|year=1962}}</ref>

Race riots, initiated by whites and blacks, erupted in New York, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Atlanta, St. Louis, Little Rock and Houston. In all, riots occurred in more than 25 states and 50 cities.<ref name="Riots"/> At least twenty people were killed in the riots and hundreds more were injured.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/305329/contributors |title=Contributors: Jack Johnson (American boxer) |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=November 27, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042462/1910-07-05/ed-1/seq-1/ |title=Los Angeles herald [microform]. (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900–1911, 5 July 1910, Image 1 |date=July 5, 1910 |publisher=Chronicilingamerica.loc.gov |access-date=November 27, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1910-07-06/ed-1/seq-4/ |title=New-York tribune. (New York [N.Y.]) 1866–1924, July 06, 1910, Page 4, Image 4|date=July 6, 1910|page=4|publisher=Chronicilingamerica.loc.gov |access-date=November 27, 2014}}</ref><ref>[https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045433/1910-07-06/ed-1/seq-3/ "Deaths Result From Race Riots"]. ''[[The Washington Herald]]''. July 6, 1910. p. 3. Chronicling America, United States Library of Congress.</ref><ref>[https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042462/1910-07-05/ed-1/seq-1/ "Fight News is Followed by Race Riots in Many Parts of Country"]. ''Los Angeles Herald''. July 5, 1910. p. 1. Chronicling America, United States Library of Congress.</ref><ref>[https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1910-07-05/ed-1/seq-2/ "Whites and Blacks Riot"]. ''[[New York Tribune]]'' July 5, 1910, p. 2. Chronicling America, United States Library of Congress.</ref>

====Film of the bout====
''[[The Johnson–Jeffries Fight]]'' film received more public attention in the United States than any other film to date and for the next five years, until the release of ''[[The Birth of a Nation]]''.<ref name="cinema">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9cc71Uekc_EC&pg=PA502 |date=August 1, 2004 |title=Encyclopedia of Early Cinema |isbn=9780415234405 |last1=Abel |first1=Richard|publisher=Taylor & Francis }}</ref> In the United States, many states and cities banned the exhibition of the Johnson–Jeffries film. The movement to [[Censorship|censor]] Johnson's victory took over the country within three days after the fight.<ref name="ssrn.com">{{cite SSRN|ssrn=1563863 |title=The Johnson–Jeffries Fight and Censorship of Black Supremacy}}</ref>

Two weeks after the match former President [[Theodore Roosevelt]], an avid boxer and fan, wrote an article for ''[[The Outlook (New York)|The Outlook]]'' in which he supported banning not just moving pictures of boxing matches, but a complete ban on all prize fights in the US. He cited the "crookedness" and gambling that surrounded such contests and that moving pictures have "introduced a new method of money getting and of demoralization".<ref name="ssrn.com" /> 

In 2005, the film of the Jeffries–Johnson "Fight of the Century" was entered into the United States [[National Film Registry]] as being worthy of preservation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/film/nfr2005.html |title=National Film Registry 2005: Films Selected to the National Film Registry (National Film Preservation Board, Library of Congress) |publisher=Loc.gov |access-date=November 27, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208150126/http://www.loc.gov/film/nfr2005.html |archive-date= February 8, 2014 }}</ref>

The six fights for which the major films were made, starring Johnson, were
# Johnson–Burns, released in 1908<ref name="cinema" />
# Johnson–Ketchel, released in 1909<ref name="cinema" />
# Johnson–Jeffries, released in 1910<ref name="cinema" />
# Johnson–Flynn, released in 1912<ref name="cinema" />
# Johnson–Moran, released in 1914<ref name="cinema" />
# Johnson–Willard, released in 1915<ref name="cinema" />

===Maintaining the Color Bar===
The color bar remained in effect even under Johnson. Once he was the world's heavyweight champ, Johnson did not fight a black opponent for the first five years of his reign. He denied matches to black heavyweights [[Joe Jeanette]], one of his successors as colored heavyweight champ, [[Sam Langford]], who beat Jeanette for the colored title and the young [[Harry Wills]], who was colored heavyweight champ during the last year of Johnson's reign as world's heavyweight champ.

Blacks were not given a chance at the title because Johnson maintained that he could make more money fighting white boxers. In August 1913, as Johnson neared the end of his reign as world heavyweight champ, there were rumors that he had agreed to fight Langford in Paris for the title, but it did not happen. Johnson alleged that Langford was unable to raise the $30,000 for his guarantee.

Because black boxers with the exception of Johnson had been barred from fighting for the heavyweight championship, Johnson's refusal to fight African-Americans offended the African-American community since the opportunity to fight top white boxers was rare. Jeanette criticized Johnson, saying, "Jack forgot about his old friends after he became champion and drew the color line against his own people."<ref>{{cite news |last=Rosero |first=Jessica |title=Native sons and daughters North Hudson native and 20th century boxing sensation Joe Jeanette |url=http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/2407742/article-Native-sons-and-daughters-North-Hudson-native-and-20th-century-boxing-sensation-Joe-Jeanette |newspaper=Hudson Reporter |access-date=May 20, 2012 |archive-date=April 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409015903/http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/2407742/article-Native-sons-and-daughters-North-Hudson-native-and-20th-century-boxing-sensation-Joe-Jeanette |url-status=dead }}</ref>

====Johnson v. Johnson====
When Johnson finally agreed to take on a black opponent in late 1913, it was not Sam Langford the current colored heavyweight champ that he gave the title shot to. Instead, Johnson chose to take on [[Jim Johnson (boxer)|Battling Jim Johnson]], a lesser-known boxer who in 1910 had lost to Langford and had a draw and loss via KO to Sam McVey, the former colored champ. Battling Jim fought former colored champ Joe Jeanette four times between July 19, 1912, and January 21, 1913, and lost all four fights. The only fighter of note who he did beat during that period was the future colored champ [[Bill Tate (boxer)|Big Bill Tate]], whom he KO-ed in the second round of a scheduled 10-round bout. It was Tate's third pro fight.

In November 1913, the [[International Boxing Union (1913–1946)|International Boxing Union]] had declared the world heavyweight title held by Jack Johnson to be vacant. The fight, scheduled for 10 rounds, was held on December 19, 1913, in Paris. It was the first time in history that two blacks had fought for the world heavyweight championship

<blockquote>Jack Johnson, the heavyweight champion, and Battling Jim Johnson, another colored pugilist, of Galveston, Texas, met in a 10-round contest here tonight, which ended in a draw. The spectators loudly protested throughout that the men were not fighting, and demanded their money back. Many of them left the hall. The organizers of the fight explained the fiasco by asserting that Jack Johnson's left arm was broken in the third round. There is no confirmation of a report that Jack Johnson had been stabbed and no evidence at the ringside of such an accident. During the first three rounds he was obviously playing with his opponent. After that it was observed that he was only using his right hand. When the fight was over he complained that his arm had been injured. Doctors who made an examination, certified to a slight fracture of the radius of the left arm. The general opinion is that his arm was injured in a wrestling match early in the week, and that a blow tonight caused the fracture of the bone.</blockquote>{{long quote|date=June 2016}}

Because of the draw, Jack Johnson kept his championship. After the fight, he explained that his left arm was injured in the third round and he could not use it.

===Title loss===
[[File:Panorama of Willard - Johnson fight, Havana, Cuba.jpg|thumb|center|800px|A panorama of the Willard–Johnson fight, Havana, Cuba]]
On April 5, 1915, Johnson lost his title to [[Jess Willard]], a working cowboy from Kansas who started boxing when he was 27 years old. With a crowd of 25,000 at [[Oriental Park Racetrack]] in [[Havana, Cuba]], Johnson was knocked out in the 26th round of the scheduled 45 round fight. 

Johnson is said by many a year after the fight to have spread rumors that he took a [[Match fixing#History|dive]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1959/06/22/jack-and-the-game|title=As fugitive, loser, prisoner and failure, Jack Johnson – 06.22.59 com (1959-06-22). Retrieved on 2010-10-26.|work=SI.com|access-date=September 30, 2014}}</ref> but Willard is widely regarded as having won the fight outright. Many people thought Johnson purposely threw the fight because Willard was white, in an effort to have his [[Mann Act]] charges dropped. Willard ironically responded, "If he was going to throw the fight, I wish he'd done it sooner. It was hotter than hell out there."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rarenewspapers.com/view/608832?acl=834710632&imagelist=1|title=Jess Williard... Jack Johnson... – RareNewspapers.com|website=rarenewspapers.com|access-date=2019-10-24}}</ref>

===Post-championship===
After losing his world heavyweight championship, Johnson never again fought for the world or colored heavyweight crowns. His popularity remained strong enough that he recorded for [[Ajax Records]] in the 1920s.<ref>{{cite book |title= American Record Labels and Companies – An Encyclopedia (1891-1943)|last1= Sutton|first1= Allan|last2= Nauck|first2=Kurt|year= 2000|publisher= Mainspring Press|location= Denver, Colorado|isbn= 0-9671819-0-9|pages= 3–4}}</ref> Johnson continued fighting, but age was catching up with him. He fought professionally until 1938 at age 60 when he lost 7 of his last 9 bouts, losing his final fight to Walter Price by a 7th-round TKO. It is often suggested that any bouts after the age of 40—which was a very venerable age for boxing in those days—not be counted on his actual record, since he was performing in order to make a living.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |url=http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/jjohn.htm |title=Cyber Boxing Zone – Jack Johnson |publisher=Cyberboxingzone.com |access-date=September 30, 2014}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{YouTube|Fqod-seL8gw}}</ref>

He also indulged in what was known as "cellar" fighting, where the bouts, unadvertised, were fought for private audiences, usually in cellars or other unrecognized places. There are surviving photographs of one of these fights. Johnson made his final ring appearance at age 67 on November 27, 1945, fighting three one-minute exhibition rounds against two opponents, [[Joe Jeanette]] and John Ballcort, in a benefit fight card for U.S. War Bonds.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1"/>