The Burns-Johnson Fight - Paperback

by Tom Thompson (Compiled by)

Boxing Day lived up to its name in 1908 when Tommy Burns, the Heavyweight Champion of the World fought Jack Johnson the Coloured Champion of the World, at the Sydney Stadium, putting Australia on the international sporting map and changing boxing forever... Over time critics have moved to see that the events of Boxing Day 1908 in Sydney, when the acknowledged Champion of the World was defeated by the skills of a negro from Galveston, Texas, is the true Fight of the Century; a fight against racial discrimination in sport and in life. - From the Introduction

This book draws together for the first time the major writings and images of the period November and December 1908, when Burns and Johnson trained and fought in Sydney, including rare photographs and ephemera drawn from the great boxing collections.