February 28: On This Day in World History … briefly
At a time when most white American fighters adhered to the so-called 'colour line', refusing to fight African Americans, Burns had half a dozen contests with black boxers before his clash with the legendary Jack Johnson.
1906: Hart ‘Burns’ after 20 rounds
Heavyweight boxer Tommy Burns beat Marvin Hart in 20 rounds in Los Angeles to claim the world heavyweight title. Born Noah Brusso, Burns was the only Canadian-born World Heavyweight Boxing Champion at the time. The first to travel the globe in defending his title, Tommy made 11 title defences despite often being the underdog due to his size. Burns famously challenged all comers as Heavyweight Champion, leading to a celebrated bout with the American Jack Johnson. According to his biographer, Burns insisted:
“I will defend my title against all comers, none barred. By this I mean white, black, Mexican, Indian, or any other nationality. I propose to be the champion of the world, not the white, or the Canadian, or the American. If I am not the best man in the heavyweight division, I don’t want the title.”
Burns was the first heavyweight champion to fight with a Jewish challenger, defeating Joseph ‘Jewey’ Smith in a fight staged in Paris. He also fought a bout with a Native American on his way to the championship. According to one biography, he had two black sparring partners and was married to a black woman for a brief time. However, fans were more interested in the referee James J Jeffries, who retired unbeaten as world champion in 1905. He was unbeaten in 22 fights and only retired because he could not find a sufficiently worthy opponent.
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
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