Peter Jackson (boxer)

Jackson was born in Christiansted on the island Saint Croix, which was then the capital of the Danish West Indies. (Subsequently, part of the U.S. Virgin Islands.) His family originally came from Montego Bay, Jamaica.[2] His father, also called Peter Jackson, was a warehouseman and the grandson of a freed slave who had been owned by a planter with the surname of Jackson. Born a free man, Peter was in principle (at least) a Danish citizen before he gained Australian citizenship. Jackson had a good primary school education before becoming a mariner. Originally working on ships as a deckhand in the Sydney Docks since he was 14, he used his fists to quell a mutiny. This garnered him some notoriety and brought him to the attention of Larry Foley which started his career in boxing.[3]

Peter Jackson

Jackson won the Australian heavyweight title in 1886 with a knockout of Tom Lees in the 30th round. Jackson was at one stage a pupil of "The Black Diamond" Jack Dowridge, a Barbadian Immigrant who pioneered boxing in Queensland, Australia. Among Dowridge's other pupils was "Gentleman Jack" John Reid McGowan, a fellow Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame Inductee. After establishing his boxing career, and like many of Australia's best boxers of this era, Jackson left for America. He arrived in San Francisco on 12 May 1888.[1] and promptly beat "Old Chocolate" Godfrey to gain the world 'colored' heavyweight championship.[3] During his stay in America, Jackson frequently sparred with Lees. Jackson would become an instructor at the California Athletic Club in San Francisco. He was considered one of the most "scientific" boxers of his day due to his footwork and technical proficiency.[1][4]

Jackson would once again embark on to strange lands after a year in America, leaving that country for Great Britain. Jackson fought for a 1,000 pounds and the inaugural British Commonwealth title against Jem Smith, winning due to the latter's use of wrestling tactics in the second round.[5] Later that year, during a short stay in Dublin, Jackson challenged anyone to stay in the ring with him for 4 rounds. Local champion Peter Maher, who was 20 years old at the time, was the man who took up his bet. Jackson thoroughly beat him in 3 rounds. Maher would go on to have a successful career, winning over 100 bouts. During Jackson's later years there was talk of a rematch against Maher that never materialized.[1]

Jackson repeatedly tried to secure a fight against world champion John L. Sullivan to no avail. Sullivan cited the color bar as the reason for his refusal, claiming he would never fight a black man. On 21 May 1891, in Benicia, California Jackson fought the future world champion James Corbett. The match with Corbett went 61 rounds before it was declared no contest, as both boxers were too exhausted to continue.[3] Jackson's last defense of his Commonwealth title came against his long-time rival and fellow Australian Frank Slavin. Both Slavin and Jackson had trained under Larry Foley and a real feud had existed between them for several years, due to Slavin's racism and a romantic triangle with a woman named Josie Leon. Although they had brawled before, this was the first and only professional bout between them. After a frenetic start to the fight, Jackson would gain the upper hand en route to a 10th-round knockout of Slavin.[6]

After a long hiatus in which he only took part in exhibitions, he lost a bout to the powerfully built James J. Jeffries. Jeffries was another great boxer who would hold the championship of the world in the early 1900s.

Jackson gained some fame during his stay in America. He stated his desire to play Othello, but it never came to fruition.[7] However, he starred in a touring production of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Despite his celebrity, Jackson would run into financial troubles following his retirement from the ring. Jackson's health rapidly decayed following his bout against Jeffries, making it impossible for him to box. Several benefits were held in order to send him back to Australia.[8]

Jackson died of tuberculosis in Roma, Queensland and was buried at Toowong Cemetery.[3] A short time after becoming the first black heavyweight champion of the world in 1908, "The Galveston Giant" Jack Johnson, made a pilgrimage to Jackson's grave, a measure of the respect in which the man was held not only in Queensland, but in the boxing community worldwide.[9] Jackson's tomb is emblazoned with the words "This was a man".

[10]

Gravesite of Peter Jackson at Toowong Cemetery.

Peter Jackson & James Corbett

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
71	Loss	42-5-3 (2)	Jim Jeffords	TKO	4	23 Aug 1899	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
70	Loss	42-4-3 (2)	James J. Jeffries	KO	2	22 Mar 1899	San Francisco, California, USA
69	Win	N/A	Denny Kelliher	NWS	3	28 Nov 1892	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
68	Win	42-3-3 (2)	Frank Slavin	KO	10	30 May 1892	National Sporting Club, London, United Kingdom	Retained Commonwealth heavyweight title
67	Win	41-3-3 (2)	Joe Butler	PTS	3	17 Feb 1892	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
66	Win	40-3-3 (2)	Jack King	TKO	2	12 Jan 1892	Chicago, Illinois, USA
65	Win	39-3-3 (2)	James Dalton	KO	3	12 Jan 1892	Chicago, Illinois, USA
64	N/A	38-3-3 (2)	James J. Corbett	NC	61	21 May 1891	California A.C., San Francisco, California, USA
63	Draw	N/A	Mick Dooley	NWS	4	19 Nov 1890	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
62	Draw	38-3-3 (1)	Joe Goddard	PTS	8	20 Oct 1890	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	Retained Commonwealth heavyweight title
61	Draw	N/A	Martin Costello	NWS	4	18 Sep 1890	Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
60	Win	N/A	Mick O'Brien	NWS	4	13 Sep 1890	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
59	Draw	N/A	Martin Costello	NWS	4	9 Sep 1890	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
58	Draw	N/A	Martin Costello	NWS	4	8 Sep 1890	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
57	Draw	N/A	Mick Dooley	NWS	3	2 Sep 1890	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
56	Draw	N/A	Mick Dooley	NWS	4	30 Aug 1890	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
55	Win	38-3-2 (1)	Tom Johnson	PTS	4	22 Jul 1890	Marysville, California, USA
54	Win	37-3-2 (1)	"Denver" Ed Smith	TKO	5	19 May 1890	Chicago, Illinois, USA
53	Win	36-3-2 (1)	Dick Keating	KO	1	Apr 1890	Louisville, Kentucky, USA
52	N/A	35-3-2 (1)	Jack Fallon	NC	2	4 Mar 1890	Brooklyn, New York, USA
51	Win	35-3-2	Guy the Gypsy	KO	2	21 Feb 1890	Washington, District of Columbia, USA
50	Win	34-3-2	James J. Walker	KO	1	20 Feb 1890	Washington, District of Columbia, USA
49	Win	33-3-2	Peter Maher	RTD	3	24 Dec 1889	Leinster Hall, Dublin, Ireland
48	Win	32-3-2	W Woodhams	TKO	3	2 Dec 1889	Brighton, United Kingdom
47	Win	31-3-2	Scotchy Gunn	PTS	4	2 Dec 1889	Brighton, United Kingdom
46	Win	30-3-2	Woolf Bendoff	TKO	2	29 Nov 1889	Portsmouth, United Kingdom
45	Win	29-3-2	Sailor White	TKO	3	29 Nov 1889	Portsmouth, United Kingdom
44	Win	28-3-2	Skinner	DQ	2	27 Nov 1889	Plymouth, United Kingdom
43	Win	27-3-2	Charles Burgin	TKO	2	23 Nov 1889	London, United Kingdom
42	Win	26-3-2	Horace Horrigan	TKO	2	21 Nov 1889	Astley's Amphitheatre, London, United Kingdom
41	Win	25-3-2	Jem Smith	DQ	2	11 Nov 1889	London, United Kingdom	Won Commonwealth heavyweight title
40	Win	24-3-2	Alf Mitchell	PTS	4	15 Oct 1889	Astley's Amphitheatre, London, United Kingdom
39	Win	23-3-2	Alf Ball	KO	2	15 Oct 1889	Astley's Amphitheatre, London, United Kingdom
38	Win	22-3-2	Jem Young	PTS	4	14 Oct 1889	Astley's Amphitheatre, London, United Kingdom
37	Win	21-3-2	Jack Partridge	KO	3	7 Oct 1889	Astley's Amphitheatre, London, United Kingdom
36	Win	20-3-2	Jack Fallon	PTS	4	19 Aug 1889	New York City, New York, USA
35	Win	19-3-2	James Ginger McCormick	KO	2	9 Aug 1889	Hoboken, New Jersey, USA
34	Win	18-3-2	Billy Baker	RTD	3	8 Aug 1889	Hoboken, New Jersey, USA
33	Win	17-3-2	Paddy Brennan	TKO	1	5 Aug 1889	Buffalo, New York, USA
32	Win	16-3-2	Tom Lynch	DQ	2	30 Jul 1889	Buffalo, New York, USA
31	Win	15-3-2	Billy Baker	PTS	4	29 Jul 1889	Buffalo, New York, USA
30	Win	14-3-2	George Peters	TKO	3	25 Jul 1889	Detroit, Michigan, USA
29	Win	13-3-2	Charles Brown	TKO	4	11 Jul 1889	Chicago, Illinois, USA
28	Win	12-3-2	Shorty Kincaid	TKO	2	11 May 1889	Virginia City, Nevada, USA
27	Win	11-3-2	Patsy Cardiff	TKO	10	26 Apr 1889	California A.C., San Francisco, California, USA
26	Win	10-3-2	Joe McAuliffe	KO	24	28 Dec 1888	California A.C., San Francisco, California, USA
25	Win	9-3-2	George Godfrey	TKO	19	24 Aug 1888	California A.C., San Francisco, California, USA	Won the World Colored Heavyweight Championship
24	Win	8-3-2	MJ Sullivan	KO	2	20 June 1888	San Francisco, California, USA

• List of heavyweight boxing champions

• Boxing: Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame - Peter Jackson
• Boxing: The Best Heavyweights to Never Get a Title Shot at the Wayback Machine (archived 4 March 2005)
• IBHOF / Peter Jackson
• Peter Jackson at the Wayback Machine (archived 27 October 2009)
• Boxing record for Peter Jackson from BoxRec
• Jackson, Peter — Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search
• Peter Jackson: A Biography of the Australian Heavyweight Champion, 1860–1901 by Bob Petersen