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'{{Short description|Boxing title}} The '''World Colored Heavyweight Championship''' was a title awarded to [[African-American|black]] boxers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This was the only recognized heavyweight championship available to black boxers prior to [[Jack Johnson (boxer)|Jack Johnson]] winning the [[List of heavyweight boxing champions|world heavyweight title]] in 1908. The title continued to exist until the reign of [[Joe Louis]] as universally recognized champ, as the [[color bar]] against black heavyweights was enforced during and for a generation after Jack Johnson's reign as world champ. ==Drawing the color line== Though not sanctioned by any governing body, the colored heavyweight title was publicly recognized due to the color bar in pro boxing in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when white champions drew the color line and would not defend the title against a black man. In the heavyweight division, the color bar was adamantly defended by "The Boston Strong Boy", [[bare-knuckle boxing]] champ [[John L. Sullivan]], the first modern heavyweight champ, who had fought black fighters on his way up to the title but would not defend it against a black man. Succeeding white heavyweight champs [[James J. Corbett|James Corbett]] and [[James J. Jeffries]] followed the same pattern. Since the white champs had fought black fighters as equals on their way up, the color bar undeniably was maintained due to racial prejudice. Since black boxers were being denied a shot at the world title solely due to their race, the general public gave credence to the colored heavyweight title. ==Maintaining the color bar== The color bar remained in force even after [[African-American]] heavyweight title holder [[Jack Johnson (boxer)|Jack Johnson]] won the world's heavyweight title in 1908, thus ensuring the colored title remained the ultimate prize for all other black boxers. Once he was the world's heavyweight champ, Johnson (who relinquished the colored title) never fought black opponents, either. He denied matches to black heavyweights [[Joe Jeanette]] (his successor as colored heavyweight champ) and [[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 shot at the title allegedly because such top boxing promoters as [[Tex Rickard]] believed that a fight between two black boxers would not draw at the gate. ===Johnson, Jeanette & Langford=== Jack Johnson fought Joe Jeanette a total of seven times, all during his reign as colored champ 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). In their first match on 1905, they had fought to a draw, but in their second match on 25 November 1905, Johnson lost as he was disqualified in the second round of a scheduled six-round fight. Johnson continued to claim the title because of the disqualification. After Johnson became the first African-American Heavyweight Champion of the World on December 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 later took the title from McVey in a 49-round bout on April 17 of that year in Paris for a purse of $6,000 ({{inflation|USD|6000|1909|fmt=eq|r=-3}}). Sam Langford subsequently claimed the title during Jeanette's reign after Johnson refused to defend the World Heavyweight Championship against him. Eighteen months later, Jeanrette lost the title to Langford. Johnson never again fought Jeanette despite numerous challenges and avoided Langford, whom he had fought once while he was the colored champ and beaten him very severely on points in a 15-rounder. In August 1914, as Johnson neared the end of his troubled reign, there were reports that Johnson had agreed to fight Langford for the world heavyweight title in Paris, but nothing came of it. After losing his world heavyweight championship, Johnson never again fought for the colored heavyweight crown. Because great boxers of the era were barred from fighting for the heavyweight championship because of [[Racism in sport|racism]], 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 (civil rights issue)|color line]] against his own people."<ref>{{cite web|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|publisher=[[Hudson Reporter]]|accessdate=20 May 2012|archive-date=9 April 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> ==Black Heavyweight Championship== The [[Black Heavyweight Championship]] was a title in pretense claimed by [[Klondike (boxer)|Klondike Haynes]] and later by [[Frank Childs]], a two-time holder of the World Colored Heavyweight title. ==Proposed World Boxing Council title== The [[World Boxing Council]] attempted to create a similar championship in 2004 called the All African World Championship, which would be open to boxers of African descent from any country as well as boxers of any race living in Africa.<ref>{{cite web |title=WBC Press Release: All Africa World Championships |url=http://www.hardcoreboxing.net/WBC_AllAfricaChamp.htm |website=Hard Core Boxing |accessdate=2016-12-11 |date=2004-12-04}}</ref> This proposal was met with worldwide criticism,<ref>{{cite news |title=Johnson finally gets a break |url=http://www.trentonian.com/article/TT/20041226/SPORTS03/312269985 |accessdate=2016-12-11 |work=[[The Trentonian]] |date=2004-12-26}}</ref> and the World Boxing Council ultimately abandoned the idea. ==List of champions == Eighteen men were recognized as World Colored Heavyweight Champion, combining for 28 total reigns.<ref>"[http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?s=da4d45d1bbdb7b5470a137160e4a966c&t=4553 Lineage of the coloured heavyweight title]" eastsideboxing.com</ref> {| class="wikitable sortable" width=98% style="text-align:center;" !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=0%|# !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=14%|Name !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=0%|Reign !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=13%|Date !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=5%|Days<br/>held !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=19%|Location !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=5%|Defenses !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=44% class="unsortable"|Notes |- |{{sort|01|1}} |{{sort|Smith, Charles|[[Charles C. Smith (boxer)|Charles C. Smith]]}} |{{sort|01|1}} |{{dts|1876}} |Unknown |{{sort|0|&mdash;}} |0 |align=left|{{small|Smith claimed the title and offered to take on all challengers.}} |- |{{sort|02|2}} |{{sort|Grant, Morris|[[Morris Grant]]}} |{{sort|01|1}} |{{dts|1878}} |Unknown |[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[United States|USA]] |1 |align=left|{{small|Lost title to Charles Hadley on points in four-round bout}} |- |{{sort|03|3}} |{{sort|Hadley, Charles|[[Charles Hadley]]}} |{{sort|01|1}} |{{dts|1881|01|14}} |{{age in days|month1=01|day1=14|year1=1881|month2=02|day2=23|year2=1883}} |[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[United States|USA]] |{{sort|03|3}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Morris Grant|url=http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=40012&cat=boxer|publisher=BoxRec|accessdate=20 May 2012}}</ref> |align=left|{{small|Fought Grant Morris 10 times while champ, compiling record of 8 wins, 1 loss, and 1 no decision}} |- |{{sort|04|4}} |{{sort|Godfrey, George 1853|[[George Godfrey (boxer born 1853)|George Godfrey {{small|(b. 1853)}}]]}} |{{sort|01|1}} |{{dts|1883|02|23}} |{{age in days|month1=02|day1=23|year1=1883|month2=08|day2=24|year2=1888}} |[[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], USA |{{sort|02|2}} || |- |{{sort|05|5}} |{{sort|Jackson, Peter|[[Peter Jackson (boxer)|Peter Jackson]]}} |{{sort|01|1}} |{{dts|1888|08|24}} |{{age in days|month1=08|day1=24|year1=1888|month2=12|day2=21|year2=1896}} |[[San Francisco]], [[California]], USA |0 |align=left|{{small|The title was vacated in 1896.}} |- |{{sort|06|6}} |{{sort|Armstrong, Bob|[[Bob Armstrong (boxer)|Bob Armstrong]]}} |{{sort|01|1}} |{{dts|1896|12|21}} |{{age in days|month1=12|day1=21|year1=1896|month2=01|day2=29|year2=1898}} |New York City, New York, USA |{{sort|01|1}} |align=left|{{small|Defeated Charley Strong.}} |- |{{sort|07|7}} |{{sort|Childs, Frank|[[Frank Childs]]}} |{{sort|01|1}} |{{dts|1898|01|29}} |{{age in days|month1=01|day1=29|year1=1898|month2=09|day2=14|year2=1898}} |[[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], USA |{{sort|02|2}} || |- |{{sort|08|8}} |{{sort|Byers, George|[[George Byers (boxer)|George Byers]]}} |{{sort|01|1}} |{{dts|1898|09|14}} |{{age in days|month1=09|day1=14|year1=1898|month2=03|day2=16|year2=1901}} |Chicago, Illinois, USA |{{sort|04|4}} |align=left|{{small|Frank Childs defeated Bob Armstrong on March 4, 1899 in Cincinnati, Ohio in a fight announced as being for the title, despite Childs' loss to Byers six months earlier.}} |- |{{sort|09|9}} |{{sort|Childs, Frank 2|Frank Childs}} |{{sort|02|2}} |{{dts|1901|03|16}} |{{age in days|month1=03|day1=16|year1=1901|month2=02|day2=24|year2=1902}} |[[Hot Springs, Arkansas|Hot Springs]], [[Arkansas]], USA |0 || |- |10 |[[Ed Martin (boxer)|Ed Martin]] |{{sort|01|1}} |{{dts|1902|02|24}} |{{age in days|month1=02|day1=24|year1=1902|month2=02|day2=05|year2=1903}} |Chicago, Illinois, USA |{{sort|02|2}} |align=left|{{small|Childs continued to claim the title until losing to Jack Johnson on October 21, 1902.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=11620&cat=boxer|title=Frank Childs - Boxer|publisher=[[BoxRec]]|accessdate=August 23, 2011}}</ref>}} |- |{{sort|11|11}} |{{sort|Johnson, Jack|[[Jack Johnson (boxer)|Jack Johnson]]<ref>[http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00014275.html ESPN] Ron Flatter: Johnson boxed, lived on own terms, accessed Sep 2, 2010</ref>}} |{{sort|01|1}} |{{dts|1903|02|05}} |{{age in days|month1=02|day1=05|year1=1903|month2=12|day2=26|year2=1908}} |[[Los Angeles]], California, USA |{{sort|17|17}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=1187&cat=boxer|title=Jack Johnson - Boxer|publisher=[[BoxRec]]|accessdate=August 23, 2011}}</ref> |align=left|{{small|The title was vacated after Johnson won the [[List of heavyweight boxing champions|World Heavyweight Championship]] on December 26, 1908.}} |- |{{sort|12|12}} |{{sort|McVea, Sam|[[Sam McVea]]}} |{{sort|01|1}} |{{dts|1909|02|20}} |{{age in days|month1=02|day1=20|year1=1909|month2=04|day2=17|year2=1909}} |[[Paris]], [[France]] |{{sort|01|1}} |align=left|{{small|Defeated Joe Jeanette.}} |- |{{sort|13|13}} |{{sort|Jeanette, Joe|[[Joe Jeanette]]}} |{{sort|01|1}} |{{dts|1909|04|17}} |{{age in days|month1=04|day1=17|year1=1909|month2=09|day2=06|year2=1910}} |Paris, France |{{sort|01|1}} |align=left|{{small|Jeanette beats McVey in a 49-round bout lasting 3½" hours, for a purse of $6,000. Subsequently, Sam Langford claimed the title during Jeanette's reign after Jack Johnson refused to defend the World Heavyweight Championship against him.}} |- |{{sort|14|14}} |{{sort|Langford, Sam|[[Sam Langford]]}} |{{sort|01|1}} |{{dts|1910|09|06}} |{{age in days|month1=09|day1=06|year1=1910|month2=12|day2=26|year2=1911}} |Boston, Massachusetts, USA |{{sort|03|3}} |align=left|{{small|Sam Langford defends his claim to the title, beating Jeanette on points in a 15-round bout.}} |- |{{sort|15|15}} |{{sort|McVea, Sam 2|Sam McVea}} |{{sort|02|2}} |{{dts|1911|12|26}} |{{age in days|month1=12|day1=26|year1=1911|month2=04|day2=08|year2=1912}} |[[Sydney]], [[Australia]] |0 || |- |{{sort|16|16}} |{{sort|Langford, Sam 2|Sam Langford}} |{{sort|02|2}} |{{dts|1912|04|08}} |{{age in days|month1=04|day1=08|year1=1912|month2=05|day2=01|year2=1914}} |Sydney, Australia |{{sort|02|2}} || |- |{{sort|17|17}} |{{sort|Wills, Harry|[[Harry Wills]]}} |{{sort|01|1}} |{{dts|1914|05|01}} |{{age in days|month1=05|day1=01|year1=1914|month2=11|day2=26|year2=1914}} |[[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]], USA |{{sort|01|1}} || |- |{{sort|18|18}} |{{sort|Langford, Sam 3|Sam Langford}} |{{sort|03|3}} |{{dts|1914|11|26}} |{{age in days|month1=11|day1=26|year1=1914|month2=01|day2=03|year2=1916}} |Los Angeles, California, USA |0 || |- |{{sort|19|19}} |{{sort|Wills, Harry 2|Harry Wills}} |{{sort|02|2}} |{{dts|1916|01|03}} |{{age in days|month1=01|day1=03|year1=1916|month2=02|day2=11|year2=1916}} |New Orleans, Louisiana, USA |0 || |- |{{sort|20|20}} |{{sort|Langford, Sam 4|Sam Langford}} |{{sort|04|4}} |{{dts|1916|02|11}} |{{age in days|month1=02|day1=11|year1=1916|month2=01|day2=25|year2=1917}} |New Orleans, Louisiana, USA |0 || |- |{{sort|21|21}} |{{sort|Tate, Bill|[[Bill Tate (boxer)|Bill Tate]]}} |{{sort|01|1}} |{{dts|1917|01|25}} |{{age in days|month1=01|day1=25|year1=1917|month2=05|day2=02|year2=1917}} |[[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]], [[Missouri]], USA |0 || |- |{{sort|22|22}} |{{sort|Langford, Sam 5|Sam Langford}} |{{sort|05|5}} |{{dts|1917|05|02}} |{{age in days|month1=05|day1=02|year1=1917|month2=04|day2=14|year2=1918}} |[[St. Louis]], Missouri, USA |{{sort|01|1}} || |- |{{sort|23|23}} |{{sort|Wills, Harry 3|Harry Wills}} |{{sort|03|3}} |{{dts|1918|04|14}} |{{age in days|month1=04|day1=14|year1=1918|month2=10|day2=12|year2=1926}} |[[Panama City, Panama|Panama City]], [[Panama]] |{{sort|25|25}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=17615&cat=boxer|title=Harry Wills - Boxer|publisher=[[BoxRec]]|accessdate=August 23, 2011}}</ref> |align=left|{{small|The title was vacated after Wills lost by disqualification to [[Jack Sharkey]] on October 12, 1926.}} |- |{{sort|24|24}} |{{sort|Godfrey, George 1897|[[George Godfrey (boxer born 1897)|George Godfrey {{small|(b. 1897)}}]]}} |{{sort|01|1}} |{{dts|1926|11|08}} |{{age in days|month1=11|day1=26|year1=1926|month2=08|day2=15|year2=1928}} |[[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], New York, USA |{{sort|03|3}} |align=left|{{small|Defeated Larry Gaines.}} |- |{{sort|25|25}} |{{sort|Gains, Larry|[[Larry Gains]]}} |{{sort|01|1}} |{{dts|1928|08|15}} |Unknown |[[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], New York, USA |0 |align=left|{{small|The title was later vacated.}} |- |{{sort|26|26}} |{{sort|Godfrey, George 1897 2|George Godfrey {{small|(b. 1897)}}}} |{{sort|02|2}} |{{dts|1931|08|24}} |{{age in days|month1=08|day1=24|year1=1931|month2=10|day2=09|year2=1933}} |[[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], [[Canada]] |{{sort|03|3}} |align=left|{{small|Defeated [[Seal Harris]].}} |- |{{sort|27|27}} |{{sort|Walker, Obie|[[Obie Walker]]}} |{{sort|01|1}} |{{dts|1933|10|09}} |{{age in days|month1=10|day1=09|year1=1933|month2=07|day2=20|year2=1935}} |[[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], USA |0 || |- |{{sort|28|28}} |{{sort|Gains, Larry 2|Larry Gains}} |{{sort|02|2}} |{{dts|1935|07|20}} |Unknown |[[Leicester]], [[England]] |{{sort|03|0}} |align=left|{{small|Title became extinct after [[Joe Louis]] won the World Heavyweight title on June 22, 1937.}} |- |} ==See also== *[[World Colored Light Heavyweight Championship]] *[[World Colored Middleweight Championship]] *[[World Colored Welterweight Championship]] *[[Black Heavyweight Championship]] *[[World White Heavyweight Championship]] ==References== {{reflist}} [[Category:Defunct boxing titles]] [[Category:Black culture]]'