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• Crazy Fourth: How Jack Johnson Kept His Heavyweight Title and Put Las Vegas, New Mexico, On the Map by Toby Smith
• Michael Hurd

Jack Johnson, the ostentatious Black world heavyweight champion from Galveston, had a penchant for White women, gaudy displays of wealth, and a carefree disregard for racism. Those seeking a savior to dethrone Johnson hoisted journeyman Jim Flynn onto a pedestal in 1912 as their "great white hope" for reclaiming a vital rung in the White supremacy hierarchy. From the outset, however, Flynn would prove to be no more than a great White nope.

The fight itself took a back seat to the comedic manner in which it was organized, according to Toby Smith's aptly titled Crazy Fourth: How Jack Johnson Kept His Heavyweight Title and Put Las Vegas, New Mexico, On the Map. Smith, a former sportswriter for the Albuquerque Journal, researched microfilm news clips and photographs at the New Mexico Highlands University library in Las Vegas, New Mexico, to produce this delightfully entertaining yarn about a farcical fight and the colorful characters who somehow made it happen. Smith's remaining sources, ninety-six books and newspapers, yielded literary gold in collective histories and personalities.

Smith masterfully traces the fight's evolution from its beginning in Paris, France. After a chance meeting betweee ambitious wrestling promoter Jack Curley and Johnson, Curley immediately had visions of "making [End Page 357] everyone as rich as Rockefeller" (2) if he could stage a title fight for Johnson. Flynn had grown up in Pueblo, Colorado, just two hundred miles north of the fight's site, and shoveled coal as a locomotive fireman. Calling himself "The Fighting Fireman," he signed up for the match and asked for no compensation beyond an opportunity to beat Johnson, who got a guaranteed $30,000 purse. It did not matter to Curley or anyone else that Johnson had already left Flynn unconscious with an eleventh-round knockout in a 1907 match.

Smith introduces readers to the fight's eager financiers, a local group led by businessman Charles Francis "King" O'Malley, who had a sketchy baseball past; mayor and fire chief Robert Taupert; and Ed Plowman, a hotel supervisor, all of whom thought the fight would "bring a long standing historic presence" (26) to Las Vegas. They raised $100,000, and the bout was scheduled for the Fourth of July. The fight's ill-conceived arena was built on a vacant lot and included wooden-plank seating, all reserved and all at the same eye-level, for nearly 18,000 fans. Fewer than 5,000 fans actually attended.

In chapter 16, "Rolling Out the Stereotypes," Smith delves into the racial climate in New Mexico and reveals the urgent reasons many hoped for Johnson's defeat: "He was the nightmare that woke white supremacists in a cold sweat. He was simply big, black, and belligerent. If others were irked by his actions, that was not his problem" (89). Meanwhile, a somehow overly confident Flynn felt up to the task: "I am going to get the championship title back for the white race" (46). Of course, he did not win, leaving Smith to succinctly summarize the bout: "Not for one moment was the fight a thing of beauty" (139). The match did put Las Vegas, New Mexico, on the map but not in a flattering way. As the Chicago Inter Ocean newspaper headline read: "Las Vegas 'Battle' Worst In History Of American Ring."

This book is a fun read and should carry appeal not only to boxing fans, but also to regional and sports historians as well.

审核人：

• 疯狂四度：杰克·约翰逊（Jack Johnson）如何保留自己的重量级头衔，并将新墨西哥州的拉斯维加斯放在托比·史密斯的地图上
• 迈克尔·赫德

杰克逊·约翰逊（Jack Johnson），来自加尔维斯顿（Galveston）的黑人世界重量级冠军，对白人妇女情有独钟，富丽堂皇地展示了财富，并且对种族主义无忧无虑。那些寻求救世主约翰逊的救世主于1912年将职业旅行者吉姆·弗林（Jim Flynn）登上了一个基座，作为他们在白人至上的统治体系中重获生命的“最大的白色希望”。然而，从一开始，弗林将被证明只是一个伟大的白人。

根据托比·史密斯（Toby Smith）恰当地题为《疯狂的第四：杰克·约翰逊（Jack Johnson）如何保持他的重量级头衔》和《新墨西哥州拉斯维加斯在地图上》，这场斗争本身在喜剧方式的安排上倒退了一步。史密斯（Smith）是《阿尔伯克基杂志》（Albuquerque Journal）的前体育节目作者，他在新墨西哥州拉斯维加斯的新墨西哥高地大学图书馆研究了缩微胶片的新闻剪辑和照片，以制作出令人愉悦的有趣故事，讲述了一场激烈的闹剧和五颜六色的人物。史密斯剩余的资料，即96本书和报纸，在集体历史和个性方面创造了文学上的黄金。

史密斯从法国巴黎开始就很好地追踪了这场斗争的演变。在一次偶然的机会见面后，Curley怀bit着雄心勃勃的摔角促进者Jack Curley和Johnson的想法，如果他能为Johnson进行冠军争夺，他的愿景是[让[End Page 357]每个人都像洛克菲勒一样富有]（2）。弗林在战斗地点以北200英里处的科罗拉多州的普韦布洛（Pueblo）长大，并铲起煤作为机车消防员。他自称为“战斗消防员”，报名参加了比赛，除了击败约翰逊的机会之外，他没有要求赔偿，约翰逊得到了3万美元的保证奖金。对于Curley或其他任何人来说，约翰逊已经在1907年的比赛中以第11轮淘汰赛让弗林昏迷都没关系。

史密斯（Smith）向读者介绍了这场斗争的热心金融家，这是一个由商人查尔斯·弗朗西斯·“国王”·奥马利（Charles Francis“ King” O'Malley）领导的本地组织，他过去曾有过粗略的棒球生涯。市长兼消防局局长罗伯特·陶珀特（Robert Taupert）；以及酒店主管埃德·普洛曼（Ed Plowman），所有人都认为这场斗争将“使拉斯维加斯具有悠久的历史影响力”（26）。他们筹集了100,000美元，比赛预定在7月4日举行。这场战斗的构思不佳的竞技场建在一个空地上，其中包括木板座椅，所有座椅都保留下来，并且高度相同，可容纳近18,000名球迷。实际参加活动的粉丝不到5,000。

在第16章“消除陈规定型观念”中，史密斯深入研究了新墨西哥州的种族气候，并揭示了许多希望约翰逊击败的紧迫原因：“他是一场噩梦，冷汗唤醒了白人至上主义者。黑人，好战。如果其他人对他的举动感到不满，那不是他的问题”（89）。同时，某种程度上过于自信的弗林（Flynn）意识到了这一任务：“我将为白人比赛夺回冠军头衔”（46）。当然，他没有获胜，让史密斯简洁总结了这一回合：“打架绝不是一件美事”（139）。这场比赛确实使新墨西哥州的拉斯维加斯出现在地图上，但并不引人注目。正如《芝加哥国际海洋杂志》的头条标题：“拉斯维加斯之战”

这本书读起来很有趣，不仅应该吸引拳击迷，而且还应该吸引地区和体育史学家。