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Randy Roberts,
Papa Jack: Jack Johnson And The Era Of White Hopes, Page 222
"Eventually not even craftsmanship was enough. In May 1926 Johnson Defeated Pat Lester in a match held in Nogales, Mexico. He won, but he was far from impressive."
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Sports Illustrated, Finis Far, "Jack and the Game," June 22nd 1959
"Johnson also made appearances as a fighter long after the age when boxers usually are retired. He was 48 when he beat Pat Lester in the bull ring at Nogales, Mexico in 15 rounds. Lester was a strong young heavyweight who
had never been defeated and was thought to be a contender for the championship then held by Jack Dempsey. The wire services reported Johnson in his best form, picking off punches as a shortstop catches a bounding ball and joking with friends from the 25th (Negro) U.S. Infantry, whose camp was just across the border and who made a killing with their bets."
https://www.si.com/vault/1959/06/22/607 ... d-the-game
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After Johnson, Pat Lester dropped six of his next seven fights, three by points, three by KO - just how good was this guy? A contender for Dempsey is hard to buy; also he had five loses going into the Johnson fight - why
Sports Illustrated would claim he '
had never been defeated' is puzzling. I looked closely at Boxrec, they don't ID the five loses as newspaper decision, including them instead in his record - although I guess they could still be. Would be interesting to see what the
The Ring Record Book had his record at when the article was written back in 1959. But either way, he looks to have been done when Johnson catches up to him; odd considering he was only 25 at the time.
