Who is the first black boxer?

[boxingnewbie]

Someone asked me this "riddle" and I've put in the following answers, all wrong:

- Charles Smith
- Joe Johnson
- Jack Johnson
- Bill Richmond
- Tommy Molineaux
- Joe Gans / Joseph Gant

HELP! I cannot solve it and it's driving me nuts!!!!

[orbtastic]

Is it simply a question of firsts?

Jack Johnson the first black heavyweight champ in the gloved era

Gans the first black non heavyweight world champ (lightweight)

Tom Molineaux first black man to fight for the bare knuckle heavyweight championship

Richmond one of the pioneers, not sure if he was the first but certainly one of the biggest names of that era.

Smith was the first "colored" world champion at heavyweight.

Not heard of Joe Johnson but I will assume he was the first "coloured" world champ outside heavyweight.

[boxingnewbie]

Is it simply a question of firsts?

Jack Johnson the first black heavyweight champ in the gloved era

Gans the first black non heavyweight world champ (lightweight)

Tom Molineaux first black man to fight for the bare knuckle heavyweight championship

Richmond one of the pioneers, not sure if he was the first but certainly one of the biggest names of that era.

Smith was the first "colored" world champion at heavyweight.

Not heard of Joe Johnson but I will assume he was the first "coloured" world champ outside heavyweight.

Thanks for replying! It's actually a "riddle" so I would assume the first black boxer in recorded history, regardless of category.

I'm not even sure if the "boxer" refers to the gloved era or BKB.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

George Dixon was the first world champion.

[elmersalsa]

The great Joe Gans was the first Black American world boxing champion.

[orbtastic]

Yeah, I forgot about Dixon to be fair (who was Canadian).

I'm curious about the OP's answer though, it's [the question] either phrased badly or it's something massively different from what most would guess at?