The first black heavyweight champion of the world, Jack Johnson lived in grand style and became one of the best-known figures of the early twentieth century. Boxing promoters, outraged that a black man should hold the title, sent out a cry for a "Great White Hope" to defeat him. In addition, in a time of extreme prejudice against interracial unions, Johnson married three white women in his lifetime. He was convicted of violating the Mann Act, which made it illegal to transport women across state lines for "immoral purposes." Sentenced to prison, he fled to Canada and was an exile for years.

Jack Johnson was born in Galveston, Texas, in 1878 and had his first series of fights as a teenager, earning his life-long nickname of "Lil' Arthur." At age 17, he traveled to Chicago, New York, and to Denver, Colorado, picking up fights whenever he could. In 1898, Johnson had...