Jack Blackburn

Charles Henry ‘Jack’ Blackburn, born January 1st 1883, was a fighter who hailed from Versailles, Kentucky. Despite a respectable career as a lightweight boxer, mixing it with names such as legends Joe Gans and Sam Langford, his justifiable claim to boxing immortality comes from his status as a boxing trainer. More specifically, he was the trainer responsible for the technical beauty that was the legendary heavyweight champion, Joe Louis.

As  a fighter, Jack Blackburn compiled a record 38-3-12 with 50 no decisions. Blackburn himself claimed to have had a total of 385 fights altogether. Blackburn was a no-fear warrior who only weighed 135 pounds, but often fought larger men, even including exceptional fighters such as Sam Langford(who fought at heavyweight) and the legendary Harry Greb (who fought at light heavyweight).  In January 1909, Blackburn’s career was derailed after he went on a shooting spree in Philadelphia, where he shot three people, including his wife. He was convicted of manslaughter and it in his time in his prison, where he started teaching young children to box. He was eventually let out on good behaviour early after serving eight years of his fifteen years.

Blackburn was heavily involved in Louis’ training

Blackburn developed four fighters that would go to become world champions: lightweight Sammy Mendell, welterweight Jackie Fields, bantamweight Bud Taylor and of course, the great Joe Louis. Joe Louis was no doubt his greatest creation. Before Joe Louis teamed up with Jack Blackburn, the young Louis was simply just a power puncher. Blackburn sensed Louis’ potential, and instilled in him the mastery of balance, timing and accuracy. No argument can be made that Louis is one of the greatest ‘text-book’ fighters in all of boxing history. Sam Langford admired the skill of Joe Gans, and in Joe Louis he saw the potential for the young heavyweight to become just as great , acknowledging that ‘he can hit, he is fast, and is no slouch at employing ring craft. I am glad I am still able to see enough.’

Jack Blackburn turned Joe Louis into an unstoppable champion

More than simply being his boxing trainer, Blackburn was also one of Louis’ closest friends and the two would call each other ‘chappie’. But certainly it was the pugilistic combination between the two that boxing history will remember most. It may be difficult to believe initially, but Joe Louis was a fighter who lacked the ability to properly set his feet to generate power properly and string together meaningful combinations, but as a result of Blackburn’s tutelage Joe Louis transformed into one of the most potent punchers in boxing.

Joe Louis defended his title a record 25 times. However, Jack Blackburn didn’t live to see out the whole of his star pupil’s career, dying on April 24th 1942. Joe Louis described it as a terrible shock in his whole life,  as “Jack started me in the boxing game and followed me all the way through. He made a fighter of me and did more for me than anyone else.” You cant help but share the same gratitude, appreciative of his creation of such a champion.