BoxRec

many fight buffs will recognize the name of John Lester Johnson as one of the African American fighters Jack Dempsey fought. Johnson broke Dempsey's ribs, the fight went to a full ten rounds, a no decision affair which some writers said Dempsey won, but Dempsey himself never thought so.

Box rec shows he fought langford and Harry Wills.
So much for boxing history.

I was watching a 1940 John Garfield prison movie..Castle On the Hudson, and saw Johnson's name in the cast. He played the standard token Black prisoner that was common in this genre then. His is a small part, but he has some lines..in one he insists on being called by his name and not "cueball." and he makes an impact. He is credited in 30 movies, from 1921 to 1943....almost always bit parts....a jungle "native"...a doorman..etc...the usual casting of Blacks at that time. He was born in 1893 and died in 1968, in obscurity.

The source for this is my grandfather who was born in Cuba in 1912 (he passed away in 1989) He had told me about it but I had forgotten it until I picked up some old clippings of him when I was in Cuba a few years ago. Here it goes...

John Budinich was a Chilean who was beaten by John Lester Johnson in Havana and the man who allegedly brought boxing to Cuba for the first time. By 1915 Cuba had his first heavyweight champ, A hulkish construction worker named Anastasio Peñalver . The catch here is that he was the champ because he was the only Cuban heavyweight at the time.

Peñalver didn't have any rivals. Enter John Lester Johnson, who fought him in Havana in February 1915 (BOXREC has the fight in march). As said before, Johnson had already knocked out Budinich in an exhibition match a few months prior.

They say that Peñalver took a pounding and his seconds were forced to throw in the towel to stop the merciless beating in the third. It was also reported that Peñalver was so furious with Johnson that he threatened to kill him, even picking up a few rocks that were on the premises after the fight, because he had been disrespectful in kicking his butt in front of his friends and family (!!!)

A much better match was held later that month in Havana when Sam McVey and Battling Jim Johnson fought to a draw in 20 rounds (BOXREC has it as a McVey win)

Of course one month later Havana saw Jess Willard taking the title from Jack Johnson, but that's another story...

Hello jaclem, and everybody! I do know that some criticise dempsey for his showing against johson, compared to langford's performance against him, but it must be appreciated that dempsey was virtually malnourished and apparently sleeping rough up to the time he met johnson. [lol, admittedly that was a feeble two cents after such a lengthy hiatus, but bare with me i have travelled the world in a couple of short months, and need to regain a healthy amount of cynicism to post again with any authority].