From the Annals of Bloodsport – In 1878, Jack Johnson nicknamed the “Galveston Giant” was born in Galveston. Johnson won the world heavyweight title on December 26, 1908 when he beat Canadian Tommy Burns, in Sydney, Australia. Johnson had stalked Burns around the world for almost two years and frequently taunted him in the press for refusing to fight. After Johnson won the title, white racism against him intensified. There was a call for a “Great White Hope” to take the title away from Johnson. In covering one of his fights, the New York Times wrote, “If the black man wins, thousands and thousands of his ignorant brothers will misinterpret his victory as justifying claims to much more than mere physical equality with their white neighbors.” Johnson faced a series of fighters each billed by boxing promoters as a “Great White Hope” and in 1909 alone, he beat Frank Moran, Tony Ross, Al Kaufman, and the middleweight champion Stanley Ketchel. The inability of any white fighters to take down Johnson and a huge payday prompted retired champion James J. Jeffries to reluctantly come out of retirement. Jeffries had not fought for 6 years and reportedly lost over 100 pounds in training. The fight took place on July 4, 1910 in Reno, Nevada in front of 20,000 spectators. Jeffries was ineffective and Johnson dominated the fight knocking down Jeffries for the first time in his career. Before the 15th round, Jeffries´ corner threw in the towel to end the fight and prevent Jeffries from having a knock out on his record. Afterwards, Jeffries was humbled by the loss and what he’d seen of Johnson in their match. “I could never have whipped Johnson at my best,” Jeffries said. “I couldn’t have hit him. No, I couldn’t have reached him in 1,000 years.”