World Colored Middleweight Championship
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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 Theodore "Tiger" Flowers (August 5, 1895 – November 16, 1927) was an American professional boxer. Nicknamed "The Georgia Deacon", he rose to prominence in the early 20th century, becoming the first African-American World Middleweight Boxing ...
(5 August 1895 - 16 November 1927) winning the world middleweight boxing championship by defeating
Harry Greb Edward Henry Greb (June 6, 1894 – October 22, 1926) was an American professional boxer. Nicknamed "The Pittsburgh Windmill", he is widely regarded by many boxing historians as one of the best pound for pound boxers of all time. He was the Ame ...
on 26 November 1926. Two world colored middleweight champions, George Byer and
Sam Langford Samuel Edgar Langford (March 4, 1886 – January 12, 1956), known as the Boston Tar Baby, Boston Terror and Boston Bonecrusher, was a Black Canadian boxing standout of the early part of the 20th century. Called the "Greatest Fighter Nobody Know ...
, went on to win the World Colored Heavyweight Championship.


Negro Middleweight Champion

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 ...
, "The Darkey Wizard", claimed the Negro Middleweight Championship of the World during the 1880s. He lost in a title fight on 26 Jan 1887 in New York City 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 ...
in Boston, in which they drew in the scheduled 13 rounds. Another three rounds were tacked onto the bout and Binney won the fight.


Colored Champions

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, Minnesota 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 2 May 1887, when he
knocked out A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving strikin ...
Taylor in the 38th or 40th round of their bout. Martin lost his title to
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 ...
on 30 November 1891 in
San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " 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 fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
. On 29 February 1892, The Black Pearl fought
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 first fight since losing the title to Binney and was defeated. Turner claimed the title but never defended it. Binney was considered the lineal champ; he had also defeated the holder of the Negro Middleweight title.


20th Century

From 1912 to 1924, there was a continuous line of colored middleweight champs. The last title holder of this era was
Larry Estridge Larry Estridge (born 17 June 1902, St. Kitts, British West Indies) was a middleweight boxer and the last holder of the World Colored Middleweight Championship. The 5'7" middleweight fought out of New York City from 1922 to 1929, racking up a c ...
, who defeated previous title holder
Panama Joe Gans Panama Joe Gans was a black boxer who held the World Colored Middleweight Championship for four years, shortly before it was discontinued. Born Cyril Quinton Jr. on November 14, 1896 in Barbados, British West Indies and raised in the Panama Can ...
in a fight at
Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...
on July 26, 1924. He defended the title against Gans at Queensboro Stadium in
Long Island City, Queens Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the ...
, New York on August 11 of that year. It was his sole title defense. Gans had won the title from George Robinson in
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
on October 8, 1920. He defended the title twice in 1923, racking up no decisions (and thus keeping his title) against Whitey Black on May 14 in Detroit and against Tiger Flowers in Toledo, Ohio on May 25. He knocked out Willie Walker via a 9th round K.O. in New York City on June 30. After Tiger Flowers lost the title in 1926, there was one more African American middleweight champ,
Gorilla Jones William Landon Jones (1906–1982) known as "Gorilla" Jones, was an American boxer who held the NBA Middleweight Boxing Championship of the World. Although he was nicknamed "Gorilla" for his exceptional reach, Jones is to be distinguished from the ...
, who reigned for six months in 1932. There would not be another black middleweight champ until
Sugar Ray Robinson Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regard ...
in 1950.


Revived Title

The colored middleweight title was revived in the early 1940s.
Charley Burley Charley Burley (September 6, 1917 – October 16, 1992) was an American boxer who fought as a welterweight and middleweight from 1936 to 1950. Archie Moore, the light-heavyweight champion who was defeated by Burley in a 1944 middleweight bout, w ...
, who had been the colored welterweight champ, fought
Holman Williams Holman Williams (January 30, 1915 in Pensacola, Florida – July 15, 1967) was a world welterweight and middleweight boxing contender. Williams is a member of the infamous Murderers' Row, a group of black fighters who were never able to get a worl ...
for the championship on 14 August 14, 1942, and won on a 9th round TKO. Williams won the title on a decision in their rematch on 16 October 1942, then lost the title on 15 January 1943 to the Cocoa Kid in a 12-round decision. The Kid never defended the title.


List of champions

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See also

* World Colored Heavyweight Championship *
World Colored Light Heavyweight Championship The World Colored Light Heavyweight Championship was a title created in 1921, when African American boxers were prevented from contending for the world light heavyweight title by the color bar. On 30 May 1921, Kid Norfolk fought Lee Anderson for ...
*
World Colored Welterweight Championship The World Colored Welterweight Championship was a title that existed during the time of the color bar in professional boxing. On 26 July 1936, Herbert Lewis Hardwick ("The Cocoa Kid") met Young Peter Jackson at Heinemann Park in New Orleans, Lou ...
* Black Heavyweight Championship *
World Negro Middleweight Championship The Negro Middleweight Championship of the World was a title in pretense claimed by Johnny Banks, an African-American boxer (born December 25, 1861, in Richmond, Virginia) who fought under the sobriquet "The Darkey Wizard" during the mid-1880s. He ...


References

Defunct boxing titles