The Negro Middleweight Championship of the World was a title in pretense claimed by

Johnny Banks Johnny Banks (born December 25, 1861 in Richmond, Virginia), was an African American boxer who fought under the sobriquet "The Darkey Wizard" and was the Negro Middleweight Champion of the World during the mid-1880s. Standing 5'6" tall (some ...

, an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

(born December 25, 1861, in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

) who fought under the sobriquet "The Darkey Wizard" during the mid-1880s. He claimed the Negro Middleweight Championship but lost it in a title fight on January 26, 1887, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to James Desverney when he was disqualified in the ninth round on a foul. (Desverney apparently never defended the title.) Banks's next fight was with future colored middleweight champ

Ed Binney Ed Binney (April 19, 1864 – unknown) was an African American boxer who was the colored middleweight champion of the World in the 1890s. Born Edward Phinney in Washington, D.C., the middleweight fought out of Boston and Cambridge, Massachuse ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, in which they drew in the scheduled 13 rounds after going easy on each other, to the disgust of the crowd and the bout promoters. Faced with losing their purses, the fighters fought another three rounds and Binney won the fight. The title was doomed when Desverney failed to defend it and

Harris Martin Harris Martin (April 2, 1865 – April 26, 1903) was an American boxer known as "The Black Pearl". He declared himself the first colored middleweight champion of the world after a fight with "Black Frank" Taylor in Minneapolis in 1887. Harris ...

, "The Black Pearl", declared himself the world colored middleweight champion after beating "Black Frank" Taylor in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

on May 2, 1887. Harris lost his title to

on November 30, 1891, in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. The Black Pearl fought and was defeated by

Charley Turner Charley Turner (1 January 1862 – 13 August 1913) was an African American boxer who claimed to be the colored middleweight champion of the World in the Gay Nineties. Born in Stockton, California in 1862, Turner was known as "The Stockton Cycl ...

, "The Stockton Cyclone", in his next fight on February 29, 1892. Turner claimed the colored middleweight title but The Black Pearl already had lost it to Binney. Binney was considered the lineal colored middleweight champ, and he also had defeated the former holder of the Negro middleweight title, which went into abeyance.

List of champions

Two men were recognized as World Negro Heavyweight Champion, a title that went into abeyance as the

World Colored Middleweight Championship The World Colored Middleweight Championship was a title awarded to black boxers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This was the only recognized middleweight championship available to blacks prior to Tiger Flowers (5 August 1895 - ...

became the recognized title for African American boxers in that weight class.Lineage of the coloured heavyweight title
eastsideboxing.com

References

{{reflist Defunct boxing titles

List of champions

See also

References