WHAT follows is not intended as a definitive list, merely my own personal selection of the 25 most significant black fighters from boxing history. My selection is predominantly influenced by historical, cultural and social significance, as opposed to pure pugilistic prowess. In other words, this is not an attem pt to rank fighters using ‘pound-for-pound’ criteria. Furthermore, it should be noted that my chosen 25 are not ranked in any order, other than the chronology of their birth.
My bias towards contextual factors is reflected in the fact that of the 25 boxers featured, only one is still active, and only four were born post-1945 - a stark demonstration of how boxing has receded from being a central facet of British and American life to, frankly, a niche concern.
Thankfully, the advances made in terms of civil rights and equality legislation in recent decades have made it harder for modern-day black athletes to assume the towering social significance that many of their forebears did.
Today, thank goodness, we write about ‘boxers’, full stop, without recourse to adjectival descriptions referring to colour or creed.
Nevertheless, the fighters featured here – as well as many others – often ploughed a lonely furrow within a world wracked with hateful racist invective and outrageous institutional biases and prejudices.
As such, they deserve to be remembered for their towering contributions to the sometimes glorious, sometimes shameful, but always fascinating history of the prize ring.
Bill Richmond
(1763-1829)
There are several recorded instances of black boxers engaging in bareknuckle bouts from the late 1700s, but Richmond was the first to achieve stardom in the days when pugilists were among the foremost celebrities in England. Indeed, such was his fame that he was one of the boxers invited to act as an usher at the coronation of George IV in 1821. Born a slave in Staten Island, New York, Richmond secured his freedom courtesy of an English general who brought him to England and paid for his education. Although he never won the hallowed Championship of England, the ‘Black Terror’ assembled an impressive
