When sports icon Jack Johnson became the first black man to win the world heavyweight title in boxing in Sydney in 1908, he made a special trip to a cemetery in Australia to pay tribute to a man largely forgotten by history, Peter Jackson.
Jackson, a black man, was a luminary of Australian sport in the late 19th century and was considered by many to be the greatest fighter of his time.
Dubbed the ‘Black Prince’ by Australian fans and hailed as ‘Peter the Great’ in England, he was denied a shot at the world heavyweight title because of the color of his skin – but his legacy extends far beyond the sport.
Jackson was born in the West Indies in 1861 and came to Australia as a teenager, where he would find work as a sailor in Sydney Harbour.
Blessed with unique athleticism and cat-like reflexes, he soon caught the attention of famed boxing trainer Larry Foley, who encouraged him to train at his boxing academy on George Street.
Peter Jackson (pictured) was considered by many to be the greatest boxer of his time
Jackson claimed both the Australian and World Colored Heavyweight boxing titles
The talented youngster became obsessed with the sport and stepped up to take his first professional fight in 1882.
With the help of Foley, who refined and developed his skills, Jackson claimed the Australian heavyweight title in 1886 and made headlines across the country.
With no one left to fight in Australia, Jackson decided to travel to the US in search of the world heavyweight title, which was held by ‘Boston Strong Boy’ John L Sullivan.
Jackson soon claimed the World Colored Heavyweight Championship by defeating George Godfrey in California later that year, and went on to best British Empire champion Jem Smith and a host of other top boxers of the era.
Jackson quickly became a worldwide celebrity, with some historians claiming that he was the most famous black person in the world at the end of the 19th century.
Abolitionist Frederick Douglass is said to have kept a photo of the Australian fighter in his office and says, “Peter does a lot with his fists to settle the Negro question.”
However, champion John L. Sullivan refused to fight Jackson because of his race, stating, “I won’t fight a nigger.” I never have and I never will.”
Jackson and Sullivan were famously introduced in 1891, and when asked afterwards what he thought of Jackson by the American newspaper The Chronicle, Sullivan didn’t hold back.
John L. Sullivan (pictured) did not want to give Jackson a shot at the title because of the color of his skin
Many who saw Peter Jackson in his prime believe he would have defeated Sullivan
‘I’m more satisfied with him than I expected. This is the first time in my life that I have spoken to him. But he’s a ****r, and that settles it for me. God didn’t intend him to be as good as a white man, or he would have changed his color, you see?’
Sullivan was an extremely talented boxer in his prime, but many pundits of the time believed that Jackson would have had his number if they had fought.
Nat Fleischer, founder and publisher of The Ring magazine, known as the “bible of boxing,” said Sullivan drew the “color line” to avoid fighting Jackson – and that he probably would have been beaten by the Australian if the two had ever met. the ring.
In 1891, Jackson fought future world champion ‘Gentleman’ Jim Corbett in a grueling match in San Francisco. The fight would go 61 rounds, with the fight subsequently declared a no-contest as neither man was the clear winner.
Corbett would defeat Sullivan the following year to claim the heavyweight crown, leaving Jackson out in the cold.
Try as he might, Jackson could not get the rematch with Corbett and, after beating Commonwealth champion Frank Slavin in 1892, he seems to have resigned himself to the fact that he would never get a shot at the world heavyweight title.
Jackson, who was well read and reportedly enjoyed quoting William Shakespeare, spent the next few years doing exhibition events and appearing in the play Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
It was during this time that Jackson is said to have battled bouts of alcoholism and allowed his physical condition to decline.
When he finally entered the ring again six years later in 1898, against future heavyweight champion Jim Jeffries, Jackson was a shadow of his former self, and was brutally knocked out in the third round.
Jackson contracted tuberculosis and returned to Australia with his career in tatters. He died in 1901 and the public raised money for a memorial in Brisbane
Around this period Jackson would contract tuberculosis and eventually return to Australia in 1900 in very poor health with his boxing career in tatters.
Jackson was transferred to the small town of Roma in Queensland, where it was believed the dry, warm air would benefit his condition. However, he died in 1901 at the age of 40.
Hundreds turned out to lay Jackson to rest at Brisbane’s Toowong Cemetery, which some claimed was the largest burial the city had seen to date.
Later, money was raised through a public appeal for a beautiful marble monument with the words from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar ‘This was a man’.