9-th, 2004 - 21: 1   (Posted By: Webmaster)
Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson
GALLANT KNIGHT OF THE PRIZE RING (1861-1901)

PETER JACKSON, "Black Prince Peter," is, by reputation, the most graceful, most gentlemanly figure who ever stepped into the prize ring. Six feet one and a half, weighing 192 pounds, sinewy, handsome, he had a body that would have delighted a sculptor of ancient Greece. And his manners were equally pleasing.
Jeffrey Farnol, the boxing expert, who knew him, said:

Perhaps for his size the most finished and beautiful boxer ever seen; magnificently shaped from head to foot, his every move graceful; also, he was incredibly quick and very sure. He was both, in looks, manners, and behavior, the very best of his type, delightfully modest and thoroughly sportsmanlike.

Wignall says:
Peter trod as daintly as a cat; the pristine energy of savage haunts was in his style; his eye was like a panther's. The head was carried on a powerful neck that rose like a pyramid from the broad shoulders. Every line of the figure from the jaunty head to the nimble feet was clean-cut and graceful and the whole gave an astonishing impression of the lithe activity and superb strength.

Nat Fleischer, boxing authority, says:

He was a sharpshooter, scientific, a two-fisted fighter. The most feared of his time, he is rated among the ring Immortals because he possessed every asset of a great champion even though he never gained the world crown.

Peter Jackson was born in the Danish West Indies, not in Australia, as is generally believed. He went to Australia at the age of six with his parents, had his early training there, and was so beloved by the Australians that they claimed him as their own.
An excellent swimmer with a magnificent style, he gave swimming exhibitions and attracted the attention of Jem Mace, former champion of England, who trained him as a boxer. He had some reverses at first, being knocked out by Bill Farnon in 1884 in three rounds, but finally he defeated the Australian champion, Tom Lees, and was given the title.

With no opponents worthy of him there, he yearned for America, where there were plenty of fighters, and arrived in California in I888, bringing with him the massive gold belt of the Australian championship. At San Francisco the sportsmen marveled at him and were eager to match him with other fighters, but one look at him and the white fighters scurried like rabbits to cover behind the color line. they knew that Jackson's fists had the driving force of a trip-hammer. His favorite blow was the one-two--a right to the stomach and a left between the eyes. There was but one Negro fighter in America near worthy of him: the original George Godfrey, and a match was arranged between the two. But Jackson beat him with such form and captivating ring grace that the more sportsmanlike whites began ridiculing the white fighters for taking refuge behind the color line until Jack McAuliffe, the leading heavyweight on the Pacific Coast, agreed

Page:  [ 1 ]  2  3  4  5  6