Summary
It was the fight of the century, July 4th 1910, when Tim Jeffries, the so-called Great White Hope, was stopped by Jack Johnson in the 15th round. Suddenly white supremacy didn't seem so self-assured. In America there were riots, while a follow up fight in Britain - between Johnson and the British champion, Bombardier Wells - never took place. A leader in the Times newspaper had urged the promoter to consider 'the special position of trusteeship for coloured subject peoples which the British empire holds ....'
Jack Johnson, also known as the Galveston Giant, has been proposed by Matthew Syed, a recent sports journalist of the year. His nomination is based not only on Johnson's life, but what he came to represent. The expert is Kasia Boddy, author of Boxing: A Cultural History. The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer Miles Warde.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | My name is Annie Matmanis and my name is Nick Grimshaw. How long have we known each other babe? |
| 0:05.0 | Probably 20 years now and in that time we've always worked in and around music right? |
| 0:10.0 | We have. So it kind of makes sense that we do a podcast better. It sounds |
| 0:13.9 | like he's been 20 years in the making. It's not a avatar for podcasts basically, but it is good. |
| 0:18.6 | So we put the world to rights with |
| 0:23.3 | your mate about over a pint. |
| 0:24.7 | Side-tracked with us, Annie and Nick, listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:29.7 | Thank you for downloading this great lives podcast from BBC Radio 4. |
| 0:34.0 | For more information and details of other podcasts, just visit BBC.co. UK slash radio 4. |
| 0:40.0 | There have been many boxing matches dubbed the fight of the century, but the one that deserved that name took place in Reno in Nevada on July 4, 1910. |
| 0:52.0 | In one corner was Jack Johnson. July 4th, 1910. |
| 0:53.0 | In one corner was Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight champion of the world and |
| 0:58.7 | our subject today. |
| 1:00.4 | In the other Jim Jeffries, an undefeated former champion who came out of retirement to take Johnson on. |
| 1:07.0 | I feel obligated, he said to the sporting public at least to make an effort to reclaim the championship for the white race. |
| 1:15.6 | I should step into the ring again and demonstrate that the white man is king of them all. |
| 1:20.9 | Amazingly, you can watch highlights of that 1910 encounter on YouTube and underneath |
| 1:26.2 | read modern comments that suggest that among some people attitudes to race have barely changed |
| 1:32.2 | in a hundred years. |
| 1:33.0 | Boxing historians meanwhile will probably say that as a contest it doesn't match up |
| 1:38.0 | to the rumble in the jungle or the thriller in Manila, |
| 1:41.0 | but the news that Jim Jeffries, the great white hope as they called him, had been |
... |
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