Lucas Browne went into enemy territory and got off the deck to claim a piece (okay, a little shard) of the world heavyweight title. He now owns the distinction of being the first heavyweight titlist from Australia.
Congrats to Browne who showed a lot of grit, but let's not forget Australia' first great heavyweight, Peter Jackson, who undoubtedly would have beat Lucas Browne to the punch (pun intended) if John L. Sullivan hadn't drawn the color line.
Jackson was born in St. Croix in what was then the Danish West Indies, but arrived in Australia as a schoolboy and had his early fights in Sydney. There was a lot of hooey written about him, but one fact that is absolutely true is that he engaged future heavyweight champion Jim Corbett in a fight that lasted four hours and three minutes -- and he did it with one of his legs swaddled in bandages, having injured his leg several weeks before the match when a carriage he was riding in overturned. Jackson was favored to beat Corbett, notwithstanding his physical ailment. For the record, the fight was stopped by the referee and declared a draw, by which time, it appears, most in the audience had fallen asleep.
The prominent boxing historian Tracy Callis wrote "Jackson was more scientific than Jack Johnson, was faster and smoother than Joe Louis but hit just as hard and possessed footwork similar to Muhammad Ali."
I'm not willing to go that far, but "Prince Peter" was obviously a great talent. He got knocked out in his last two fights, but by then he was in his late thirties and likely already afflicted by the tuberculosis that would kill him at age 40.
Congrats to Browne who showed a lot of grit, but let's not forget Australia' first great heavyweight, Peter Jackson, who undoubtedly would have beat Lucas Browne to the punch (pun intended) if John L. Sullivan hadn't drawn the color line.
Jackson was born in St. Croix in what was then the Danish West Indies, but arrived in Australia as a schoolboy and had his early fights in Sydney. There was a lot of hooey written about him, but one fact that is absolutely true is that he engaged future heavyweight champion Jim Corbett in a fight that lasted four hours and three minutes -- and he did it with one of his legs swaddled in bandages, having injured his leg several weeks before the match when a carriage he was riding in overturned. Jackson was favored to beat Corbett, notwithstanding his physical ailment. For the record, the fight was stopped by the referee and declared a draw, by which time, it appears, most in the audience had fallen asleep.
The prominent boxing historian Tracy Callis wrote "Jackson was more scientific than Jack Johnson, was faster and smoother than Joe Louis but hit just as hard and possessed footwork similar to Muhammad Ali."
I'm not willing to go that far, but "Prince Peter" was obviously a great talent. He got knocked out in his last two fights, but by then he was in his late thirties and likely already afflicted by the tuberculosis that would kill him at age 40.
Congrats to Lucas Browne, but let's not forget Australia's Uncrowned Heavyweight Champion
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