Tommy Burns

In the end, this is all real life stuff, of course.

In the end, traveled halfway around the world chasing the current world heavyweight champion at the time, a man by the name of Tommy Burns, finally forcing his hand in Australia.

Tommy Burns mentioned a price of $30,000 thinking that was a ludicrous price and a promoter in Australia stumped up the money, basically forcing his hand because at that stage people didn't want to give a black man a world title shot.

Jim Jefferies, who had been the champion prior to that, didn't want to and it just wasn't really going to happen.

And then, of course, he became World Heavyweight Champion by humiliating Tommy Burns, really.

And then the concept of the Great White Hope became a thing as a succession of white challengers were searched for high and low to bring the World Heavyweight title back under white control.

and jack johnson people didn't like the fact that jack johnson was a black man but it was also the type of black man that he was he was outspoken uh he would gloat over his opponents he was happy to be seen with white women which as you mentioned at the start caused all kinds of problems for him because white America, a certain section of white America at least, could not cope with the world heavyweight champion being a black man, the ultimate symbol of superiority, physical superiority.

his arm.

Hart knocked out Root in the 12th round, but Hart's reign as Jim Jeffries' champion was destined for an early closeout.

Some seven months after his victory over Jack Root, Hart lost to Tommy Burns.

One of the most underrated champions in heavyweight history, Burns was a French Canadian who scaled 180 pounds, but who was only 5'7", making him the shortest of all the 22 heavyweight champions.

champions.On July 4th, 1907, Burns knocked out Bill Squires in one round in Colma, California.

Following his success, Burns sought and fought heavyweight matches around the world, fighting first in London, then Paris, and later Australia.

All in all, fighting from Great Britain to Kangaroo land, Burns racked up seven knockouts in nine months.

But then on the day after Christmas, 1908, Tommy Burns made a mistake, for it was on that historic date that he climbed into the ring with a man called Jack Johnson.

Known as Little Arthur, Johnson fought the greatest men of his time.

It, it is that lost decade, 'cause you have s- you know, the...

I mean, the earlier days in Australian boxing was, you know, hosting, uh, we, we just did a, a big series on Hugh D. McIntosh running the Jack Johnson and Tommy Burns fight and, you know, we were the peak of, uh, international boxing for a while there, and then this sort of decline before it's picked up again.

And even now we've got some real top superstars.

Because it is a bit off Broadway in this period, is that why you think some of these stories are, are wilder than what when it's sort of a cleaned up version?