Jack, Beau

▪ 2001

Sidney Walker 

      American boxer (b. April 1, 1921, Augusta, Ga.—d. Feb. 9, 2000, Miami, Fla.), was twice world lightweight champion (1942, 1943) and was one of the main attractions at Madison Square Garden in New York City during the 1940s. A shoeshine boy in his youth, he got his first taste of boxing by participating in Southern “battle royals”—an outlawed form of boxing in which black fighters fought blindfolded in a ring before white audiences. He made his professional debut in 1940. A relentless puncher with extraordinary stamina, he first captured the world lightweight title with a three-round knockout of Tippy Larkin at the Garden in December 1942. He lost to Bob Montgomery in May 1943 but avenged the defeat in a return bout in November 1943. In all, Jack headlined boxing events at the Garden a total of 21 times, more than any other fighter of his era. Financially impoverished in later life, he settled in Miami, where he returned to shining shoes and tutored boxers at the famed Fifth Street Gym. He also became an outspoken advocate of a pension plan for boxers.

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