Champion

I wanted to end Black History month on a, well, black history note. I just didn't know how. I was going to talk about Jack Johnson, the first heavyweight champion of color who had a swagger that would make today's rappers take notice. But in doing my research on Johnson, I noticed another more important boxing champion of color.

Joe Gans, who correct last name is Gant (a misspelling of his last name was never corrected and stuck) was a Baltimore native who was the first champion of color, period. He won the lightweight belt from Frank Erne in 1902 and held the title for six years. He knocked out Erne in round one in their rematch from two years earlier when Gant suffered a eye cut that caused him to withdraw. He won his belt six years before Johnson won his. Gant, nicknamed "The Old Master", had a career record of 138 wins, ten losses, 15 draws and 25 no-contests.

While he was considered one of the best fighters (pound-for-pound) in history, he also was the entrepreneur. On October 29th, 1907, he opened the Goldfield Hotel for business. The hotel, located on the corner of East Lexington and Colvin Streets, was one of the earliest integrated clubs in the nation. Jazz great Eubie Blake got his start there. Jack Johnson, partly inspired by Gant, purchased his own club in New York where it eventually became the Cotton Club. Gant died three years later in August 1910 of tuberculosis at the age of 35 and is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Baltimore.

I really don't have any ideal why Gant never got the big publicity that he should have gotten. It could be partial payback for when Johnson started his run, even though Gant was considered a boxing gentleman. He paved the way for future champions that included Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker and "Sugar "Shane Mosley. I was looking for a book to start reading (Joe Gans: A Biography of the First African American World Boxing Champion) and I found it.