George Dixon: The Short Life of Boxing’s First Black World Champion, 1870–1908 by Jason Winders is now available, and 25% off when you order at uapress.com
On September 6, 1892, a diminutive Black prizefighter brutally dispatched an overmatched white hope in the New Orleans Carnival of Champions boxing tournament. That victory sparked celebrations across Black communities nationwide but fostered unease among sporting fans and officials, delaying public acceptance of mixed-race fighting for half a century. This turn echoed the nation’s disintegrating relations between whites and Blacks and foreshadowed America’s embrace of racial segregation.
In this work of sporting and social history, we have a biography of Canadian-born, Boston-raised boxer George Dixon, the first Black world champion of any sport and the first Black world boxing champion in any division. George Dixon chronicles the life of the most consequential Black athlete of the nineteenth century and details for the first time his Carnival appearance, perhaps the most significant bout involving a Black fighter until Jack Johnson began his reign in 1908. Yet despite his triumphs, Dixon has been lost to history, overshadowed by Black athletes whose activism against white supremacy far exceeded his own.
George Dixon reveals the story of a man trapped between the white world he served and the Black world that worshipped him. By ceding control to a manipulative white promoter, Dixon was steered through the white power structure of Gilded Age prizefighting, becoming world famous and one of North America’s richest Black men. Unable to hold on to his wealth, however, and battered by his vices, a depleted Dixon was abandoned by his white supporters just as the rising tide of Jim Crow limited both his prospects and the freedom of Blacks nationwide.
“Before there was Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, and Jack Johnson, there was George Dixon. Although just ninety-seven pounds when he first entered the ring, the diminutive Dixon punched above his weight to become one of the most famous athletes during the Gilded Age. Jason Winders rescues the tale of this first Black world boxing champion from history’s dustbin and gives readers ringside seats as Dixon battles not just fellow fighters but also the racism of Jim Crow America while becoming champion on three continents. Thoroughly researched, this book brings to life the true story of a remarkable sporting trailblazer.”
—Christopher Klein, author of Strong Boy: The Life and Times of John L. Sullivan, America’s First Sports Hero