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1910 Jack Johnson Presentational Gold Watch Fob Gifted at Start of Training for Jim Jeffries Bout.. ...
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Sold on Aug 18, 2018 for:
$19,920.00
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Description
A good luck charm from the co-promoters of this historic Heavyweight Championship match...
1910 Jack Johnson Presentational Gold Watch Fob Gifted at Start
of Training for Jim Jeffries Bout.There is scarcely a move made by the current President of the United States that doesn't elicit shouts of approval and revulsion from the rival parties, but a rare exception to that dynamic was witnessed on May 24th of this year when Donald Trump granted a posthumous pardon to former Heavyweight Champion of the World Jack Johnson, "to correct a wrong that occurred in our history and to honor a truly legendary boxing champion." More than a century after the force of American law was put to shameful effect to undermine an innocent man, Johnson finally had the justice that had eluded him.
From the moment that Johnson had claimed pugilism's throne with a 1908 knockout of reigning champion Tommy Burns, a desperate search for a "Great White Hope" capable of reclaiming the title had begun. But as every challenger was battered to the canvas by the dark-skinned Champion, a new strategy emerged to displace Johnson through a racist perversion of the Mann Act's implementation, suggesting that Johnson's white wife had been a victim of a crime due to the color of her husband's skin. Johnson would be driven into exile from the United States for seven years before returning in 1920 to serve a year at Leavenworth Penitentiary, his Championship having been surrendered under controversial circumstances five years prior.
It remains a dark irony that Johnson would almost certainly have never been stripped of his homeland or his freedom had he fallen in 1910 to the gloved fists of Jim Jeffries, who explained that he had been roused from retirement feeling, "obligated to the sporting public at least to make an effort to reclaim the Heavyweight Championship for the white race."
Here we present the most significant artifact to emerge from that fabled 1910 showdown between Jack Johnson and Jim Jeffries--a gold watch fob presented to the former by the co-promoters for one of the most important boxing matches ever waged.
The obverse pictures a pair of figural boxers framed by text that reads "Jeffries - Johnson" above and "California 1910" below, a contradiction to the ultimate Reno, Nevada site due to the legal troubles which necessitated a venue change. Verso is artfully engraved, "Presented to Jack Johnson, Heavy-Weight Champion of the World By Tex Rickard & Jack Gleason, May 10, 1910." Maker's mark below reads, "Solid Gold, Larson & Co., S.F." The relic survives in stunning NM-MT condition, weighing fourteen grams (14 g.). Dimensions are approximately 1.75x1.5".
Included in the lot is a 1978 letter from noted British boxing writer Gilbert Odd to our consignor which reads, in part, "What a pleasant surprise to receive your letter, also to send me photographs of the Watch Fob that quite obviously is genuine and was presented to Johnson two months before his historic contest with Jim Jeffries, for which Rickard and Gleason were co-promoters. No doubt it was part of the bribe that enabled them to outbid all other promoters for this much publicized bout." 1978 letter of provenance from Gilbert Odd.
Auction Info
2018 August 18-19 Summer Platinum Night Sports Collectibles Auction #50005 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
August, 2018
18th-19th
Saturday-Sunday
Internet/Mail Bids: 2
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 1,905
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
20% of the successful bid per lot.
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