Peter Jackson won Australian Heavyweight Boxing Championship - September 25, 1886

On this day in 1886, Peter "Black Prince" Jackson won the Australian Heavyweight Boxing Championship, becoming the first Black man to win a national boxing crown. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class. It's a production of I
Heart Radio. Hi, I'm Eves and welcome to This Day
in History Class, a show that uncovers history one day
at a time. Today is September. The day was September.

(00:27):
Boxer Peter Black Prince Jackson won the Australian Heavyweight boxing Championship,
becoming the first black man to win a national boxing crown.
Peter was born on July three, eighteen sixty one, and
Christians did St. Croix, Virgin Islands. His grandfather was freed
from slavery under a planter whose last name was Jackson.

(00:50):
His father, also named Peter Jackson, was a warehouseman. He
was educated up to a primary level, but soon left
to work at see When he was young, he moved
to Australia, settling in Sydney around eighteen eighty. He worked
on the waterfront and in hotels. While in Australia, he

(01:11):
learned to fight under the instruction of Larry Foley, a
successful Australian middleweight championship boxer. Between eighteen eighty three and
eighteen eighty six, Jackson fought seven times. One of those
times he fought with bare knuckles, and he only lost
to Bill Farnum in eighteen eighty four. On September eighteen

(01:33):
eighty six, Jackson defeated Australian boxer Tom Lee's by total
knockout in the thirtieth round. That fight won him the
heavyweight championship of Australia. At six ft one and a
half inches or a hundred and eighty seven centimeters and
a hundred ninety pounds or eighty six kilograms, Jackson was big, fast,

(01:54):
and he had a good reach out of worthy opponents
and seeking more money, jack And left Australia and headed
to the United States. In Britain, he ended up in
San Francisco in eighteen eighty eight, associating himself with the
California Athletic Club and teaching boxing. After winning a few
fights and building his reputation there, he headed to New York,

(02:16):
taking on fights and exhibitions along the way. From there
he went to England. From eighteen eighty eight to eighteen
nine two. He fought twenty eight men and did not
lose any of his fights, though he did come close
in his eight round draw in Melbourne in October of
eighteen ninety against Joe Goddard, another notable fight was his

(02:37):
bout with James J. Corbett in May of eighteen ninety
one in San Francisco, which was a sixty one round
four hour draw. Jackson really had his sight set on
fighting the Boston strong Boy, John L. Sullivan, an Irish
American boxer who was a highly paid and well known
heavyweight champion, but Sullivan refused to fight Jackson, a black man,

(03:00):
because of the color line. Jackson was successful despite racism
and discrimination. He was a celebrated boxer and respected athlete,
and he achieved some fame. He was allowed in the
National Sporting Club rooms in London, but racism did show
up even in his praise. He was called Peter the

(03:20):
Great and the Black Prince, and he was uplifted for
being a gentleman and modest, contrary to white perceptions of
black people. He had a quote respectable character. As his
boxing career came to a close, he dealt with depression,
drank and spent money without discussion. His health declined and

(03:41):
he developed tuberculosis. He continued teaching boxing, managed a pub,
boxed exhibitions, and was an actor on a touring production
of Uncle Tom's Cabin In Jackson lost his first fight
in fourteen years to Jim Jeffries. The next here, Jackson
lost his fight against Jim Jeffords in Vancouver, the last

(04:04):
fight of his career. At the same time, his health
was declining. In July of nineteen o one, Jackson died
of tuberculosis. He was buried at the Brisbane General Cemetery.
Less than a decade later, Jack Johnson became the first
black world heavyweight champion. I'm Eve Jeff Coote and hopefully

(04:25):
you know a little more about history today than you
did yesterday. You can learn more about history by following
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HD podcast. Thanks for showing up. We'll meet here again tomorrow.

(04:50):
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