Jack Johnson was the Muhammad Ali of his day. He was the first black heavyweight champion and was also the first African American pop culture icon. Johnson first became the heavyweight champion of Negro boxing. Jim Jeffries, the white champ at the time, refused to fight Johnson because he was black. In 1908, Johnson knocked out Tommy Burns to become world champion, although he was not officially given the title until 1910 when he finally fought and beat Jeffries in Las Vegas. Jeffries had come out of retirement to become the first of many so-called “great white hopes.” Johnson’s life has recently been thrust back into the spotlight because of the Ken Burns special Unforgivable Blackness. This is a lined piece of paper with the rare signature of Jack Johnson along with the autograph of fellow boxer Tom Sharky, known as the Sailor. Sharky took a major beating from Johnson. LOA.