World Colored Heavyweight Championship

The World Colored Heavyweight Championship was a title awarded to black boxers in the late 1800s and early twentieth century. It was created because white boxers drew the color line and refused to defend the World Heavyweight Championship against black boxers. The colored title was not sanctioned by a governing body, and sometimes there was more than one claimant to the title.

In 1908, Jack Johnson defeated Tommy Burns to became the first black boxer to win the World Heavyweight Championship. Because Johnson refused to defend against any of the leading black boxers, claiming the fights wouldn't draw crowds, the colored title continued to exist. Every champion after Johnson continued to draw the color line until Jim Braddock defended the title against Joe Louis in 1937. After Louis won the World Heavyweight Championship, the colored title ceased to exist.

No.	Champion	Date	Opponent	Result
1	C.C. Smith	1876
2	Morris Grant	1878
3	Charles Hadley	January 14, 1881	Morris Grant	W 3
4	George Godfrey	February 23, 1883	Charles Hadley	KO 6
5	Peter Jackson	August 24, 1888	George Godfrey	TKO 19
6	Bob Armstrong 1	December 21, 1896	Charley Strong	KO 19
7	Frank Childs	January 29, 1898	Bob Armstrong	KO 2
8	George Byers	September 14, 1898	Frank Childs	W 20
9	Frank Childs	March 16, 1901	George Byers	KO 17
10	Denver Ed Martin	February 24, 1902	Frank Childs	W 6
11	Jack Johnson	February 5, 1903	Denver Ed Martin	W 20
12	Sam McVea 2	February 20, 1909	Joe Jeannette	W 20
13	Joe Jeannette	April 17, 1909	Sam McVea	RTD 49
14	Sam Langford 3	September 6, 1910	Joe Jeannette	W 15
15	Sam McVea	December 26, 1911	Sam Langford	W 20
16	Sam Langford	April 8, 1912	Sam McVea	W 20
17	Sam Langford 4	May 1, 1914	Harry Wills	ND 10
18	Sam Langford	November 26, 1914	Harry Wills	KO 14
19	Joe Jeannette	April 13, 1915	Sam Langford	W 12
20	Sam McVea	June 29, 1915	Sam Langford	W 12
21	Harry Wills	September 7, 1915	Sam McVea	W 12
22	Harry Wills	January 3, 1916	Sam Langford	W 20
23	Sam Langford	February 11, 1916	Harry Wills	KO 19
24	Sam Langford 5	May 12, 1916	Joe Jeannette	KO 7
25	Bill Tate	January 25, 1917	Sam Langford	W 12
26	Sam Langford	May 1, 1917	Bill Tate	KO 5
27	Harry Wills	April 14, 1918	Sam Langford	KO 6
28	Bill Tate 6	January 2, 1922	Harry Wills	DQ 1
29	George Godfrey 7	November 8, 1926	Larry Gains	TKO 6
30	Larry Gains	August 15, 1928	George Godfrey	DQ 3
31	George Godfrey 8	August 24, 1931	Seal Harris	KO 2
32	Obie Walker	October 9, 1933	George Godfrey	W 10
33	Larry Gains	July 20, 1935	Obie Walker	W 15

¹ After Peter Jackson relinquished the title, Bob Armstrong defeated Charley Strong and claimed the vacant title.
² Jack Johnson relinquished the title after he defeated Tommy Burns to win the world heavyweight title. Sam McVea defeated Joe Jeannette and claimed the vacant colored title.
³ Sam Langford defended his claim to the title against Joe Jeannette. In 1909, after Jack Johnson refused to give him a title shot, Langford claimed the colored title.
⁴ The winner of the fight was disputed, with both Sam Langford and Harry Wills claiming victory and the title.
⁵ Sam Langford defeated Joe Jeannette for the undisputed world colored heavyweight championship
⁶ Bill Tate and Harry Wills fought to a ten-round draw four days later, both claiming the title.
⁷ The title was declared vacant after Harry Wills lost to Jack Sharkey. George Godfrey defeated Larry Gains and claimed the vacant title.
⁸ After Larry Gains relinquished the title, George Godfrey defeated Seal Harris and claimed the vacant title.

Sources:
The Freeman - The Recent Langford-Wills Bout
Wikipedia - World Colored Heavyweight Championship
East Side Boxing - Lineage of the coloured heavyweight title