Colour Line Greats - Where it all Began

There have probably been better fighters featured in this very occaisonal series than George Godfrey but given he possibly has the dubious distinction of being the first fighter denied opportunities as a consequence of his colour it seemed only appropriate Godfrey should feature at some point.

Born on Prince Edward Island in 1853 Godefrey moved to the states with his mother and brother settling in Boston. Despite being reasonably well educated within the confines of the educational opportunities available to blacks at the time Godfrey found his way to the gym of Pofessor John Bailey who rated Godfrey highly and arranged many of Godfrey's early matches the most notable of which was a draw with the well respected Charles Hadley. Whilst Godfrey was well respected by the Boston fight crowd, in the 1870's there was really only one name on everyone's lips in those circles at the time, the soon to be legendary John L Sullivan who was cutting a swathe through the local opposisiton on his march to the title and ring immortality.

Despite Sullivan's obvious ability enough was thought of Godfrey for many to feel he was a genuine threat to Sullivan, so much so that a fight was arranged between the two at Professor Bailey's gym in September 1880. However this is where the picture becomes a little confusing, what is known is both fighters were there and stripped for action but the fight most assuredly did not happen. Some reports claimed police broke up the fight, others claimed for reasons unknown Sullivan refused to fight, a claim Godfrey occasionally corroborated. However Godfrey frequently claimed Sullivan had no intention of taking the fight and had arranged for the police to break it up but went through the whole charade to satisfy those who argued Godfrey had his measure. Godfrey was quoted as saying "He had no intention from the start. If he had not shwon up, he would have been accused of avoiding me outright. He could not have then made up the story about the police"

Whatever the truths of this evening the column inches it garnered did not convert into immediate opportunities for Godfrey and he spent much of the next couple of years carving out a living in sparring exhibitions. This was to change in 1883 when Godfrey was given an opportunity to challenge fromer opponent Charles Hadley for the coloured championship. In an interesting piece of gamesmanship Hadley insisted on John L Sullivan as referee being only too aware of the history between the two. Whatever Hadley's thinking was in asking for this it was to prove futile as Godfrey readily agreed to Sully as ref and handled Hadley a dominant beating before stopping him in six rounds.

Whilst it would be inaccurate to call Godfrey the first to hold the title coloured champion as many had claimed the title over the last 40 years, but it was not till Godfrey held the laurels that the title gained traction beyond the black community. This was down to Godfrey's excellence as a pugilist and also his character outside the ring where both black and white followers of the sport acknowledged he was a gentleman whose style in the ring was an excellent reflection of the shift from the days of the London Prize rules to the Marquis of Queensbury rules that were slowly starting to take over.

The real tragedy of Godfrey's career is during his prime years he spent much of his career chasing a shot at now world champion John L Sullivan who seemed intent on sticking to his oft repeated claim that he would never fight a black man and for five years after beating Hadley Godfrey barely secured a fight of any note, either engaging in exhibitions or six rounders against guys ill equipped to match up with his excellent abilities. Whilst by 1888 it was still true that Sullivan or any of the other white contenders wanted nothing of Godfrey one man arrived on American shores who was only too happy to meet him, when the peerless Peter Jackson landed from Australia.

Jackson arrived in the States with a repuation few had held previously and the sports were keen to see if his reputation was warranted, however were loath to match him with a white contender on the off chance he was as good as his reputation had suggested. Given this a Godfrey Jackson match was a natural and in August the fight duly came to pass. It was apparent by the second round that Jackson was no hype job as he moved Godfrey around at will and began to hand Godfrey a fearsome beating. Godfrey's problem was he frequently relied on his strength to overcome opponents but against Jackson who stood 3 and a half inches higher than him and outweighed him by 20 pounds this asset was completely negated. However whilst Godfrey could not prove his superiority over Jackson he did prove his bravery staying nineteen rounds with his clearly superior opponent before admitting defeat.

This defeat all but ended Godfrey's title aspirations as he would now always play second fiddle to Jackson. That is not to say he did not still have some notable results defeating fighters as good as Denver Ed Smith and Patsy Cardiff. The last fight of note for Godfrey was against former Sullivan victime Jake Kilrain and in a fight where Godfrey again conceded 20 pounds to his opponent Godfrey was defeated in 44 rounds although again he was praised for his pluck and sportsmanship in constantly taking the fight to his much larger opponent.

Although Godfrey would fight on for another four years he was done as a contender. On reviewing his career it is easy to see the losses to Jackson and Kilrain and see a guy who lost when he stepped up but for me that would be to do him a disservice as it would disregard the five peak years when he was largely unable to secure a fight of any meaning and also disregard the weight issues Godfrey suffered, he rarely weighed abouve 175 so was too large for the middles and too light for the top tier heavies but operated in the era before the light heavyweight division so had little choice but to make these concessions to the big guys.

Whilst it seems Godfrey did carry some bitterness to Sullivan into his retirement he is unusual for black fighters of his era as he appears to have been shrewd with his money and lived in relative comfort until his untimely death in 1901 through a heart related illness.

Nice article Rowley and always heartwarming to see my man Jackson once again being brought to the attention of the great unwashed.

Godfrey reminds of the likes of Sam McVea who whilst decent in his own right, seemed destined to be considered as something of an also-ran when compared to his more illustrious compatriots.

As dispiriting as Godfrey's tale may be, at least he was able to see out the end of his days in comfort, unlike Jackson, who died penniless.

What's perhaps more saddening is that the likes of one Mr Holyfield would have done well to study his boxing history a little closer and perhaps ensure he was going to be well provided for in his dotage.

Another great article Rowley - have you tired of 100+ replies now? I think the absence of a happy ending is more intriguing than the fairytale ending. To think, you go through your entire career being the best but unable to substantiate it, then having to play second fiddle to another great. I guess its hard to believe what they went through especially considering how easy the current lot have it in comparison. Peter Jackson is Daves fetish?

Ah crossed posts. Recommend a book then Dave?

Come now Shah, you know I started my Jackson-a-thon as a tongue in cheek response to the bandwaggoning antics of certain posters on here. Our dear departed Windy was one of the (very) few who gave me props for the article but Jackson become something of a favourite of mine as a result of it (I've since felt it would be fun to mention it if it ever came up in the pub after we'd had twelve lots of "I like Ricky Hatton best" or "Prime Mike Tyson is the greatest ever....PHACKT!!!!!!".....but having a daughter seems to have dramatically curtailed my going-out/having a life of my own.

There aren't many books on Jackson although the most recent is by a fellow called Bob Petersen. It's about £30+ and although I've only read a few extracts online, it does seems a little stale and statistic heavy. There's also a book by A G Hales called, "The Romantic career of Peter Jackson" which apparently weaves fact and fiction into one seemless tract. It's been greeted with lukewarm appreciation by most boxing historians. The last copy I saw went for £95 on ebay (It WAS an original copy though...well over 100 years old).

The one book I do own is by a chap called Tom Langley but Petersens' book is considered the definitive version of Peter Jackson's career.

Easy there Dave, deep breath. I think my daughter was born just a week or two before yours -she'll be a year old in just over 2 weeks. I've been trying to buy a book about boxing but every time I do - I consider how many nappies, milk, baby wipes or toys I can buy with that money and desist Work and home for me with the occasional sheesha night with a neighbour.

Ok cheers - I'll have a look and compare the nappies to book ratio.

My little girl is going to be nine months old in a couple of weeks and I'm exaggerating how much she has curtailed my going-out activities but I agree with you on the amount of times I've had had to think "Do I need that for myself or do I just want it?" and bought baby clothes instead.

Still, she does sit and watch the boxing with me when I get the opportunity. Kell Brook is a (strange) favourite of my wife's so chances are we'll all try and watch the fight this weekend.

Yeh just wait till she starts slapping you in the face - Ive had to make mine stop watching the career in videos section because she keeps right crossing my wife then giving her a gap toothed grin.

Back on topic, how many of the the Colour line greats ever got a shot or were considered the uncrowned great in their day by consensus. I can imagine the politics of the day were one thing but surely fans and/or writers of the sport might have put forward theories even if it was just between the black fighters. I imagine this research has been conducted afterwards so perhaps an unbiased observer during their time?

Much to Rowley's annoyance, I do like to point out that Sully's trainer always believed his man would have lost to Jackson which made it so much easier to avoid having to fight him.

As for whether or not the were considered uncrowned champions in their day, I think it's only with the passage of time that people have come to consider the likes of Jackson, Langford etc as the best fighters never to hold the belt although there were a number of black sociologists at the time who were effusive in their praise of black fighters (although they can easily be accused of bias and not indicative of a wider consensus)

I do think there are a few that would have almost certainly won the titles Dave had their opportunity been forthcoming Dave, think at the time it was a realistic fight Jackson would have beaten Sullivan. I know a lot disagree but I personally view Langford against Johnson is a real pick em and whilst I'd probably favour Dempsey early in his reign think you have to give Wills a real shot against him.

Is difficult to know how they were regarded at the time as so many of the reports in the press on them are coloured by the racism of the times but there were occasions where even in those times they did get their dues. In on of the earlier threads I did there was a quote from a paper on Jeff Clarke saying had he been given the chance he could have cleared up the confusion around the middleweight title in the wake of Ketchel's death but you'd probably have to say fair reports or comments like this tended to represent the exception rather than the norm.

Apologies, I'm not denying that many would have in all likelihood won any titles fights they'd been granted. I was trying to say that the vast majority were not considered Champions in waiting by the writers of the day (although as you say, that may have been more due to the racism than any real sporting opinion)

Another good read Jeff. You're writings getting very polished.