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Boxing



  • Is Ali the Last American Hero? Who Else is There?

    by Robert Lipsyte

    "I’ve been wondering lately just how Ali actually reached such heights. There are plenty of people alive today who once hated him and yet, in American popular culture, he’s now a secular saint."



  • Jack Johnson and Africa: Boxing and Race in Colonial Africa

    by Abraham Tapiwa Seda

    Jack Johnson's achievement as the world heavyweight champion had cultural significance far beyond the United States, as European colonial regimes that had used sports like boxing as instruments of social control found that they could also be instruments of rebellion and rejection of white supremacy.



  • On this Day in 1938, Joe Louis and Max Schmeling Went to War

    Although his title fight with Joe Louis was treated as a symbol for both racial conflict and the looming battle between fascism and democracy, the German heavyweight was relieved to be dumped as a mascot of the Nazi party after a decisive loss to the African American champion.