"Battling" Jim Johnson (September 2, 1887 – November 1, 1918) was an American boxer who fought as a heavyweight from 1908 to 1918. He had little success and lost with great frequency to top boxers such as Sam Langford, Joe Jeanette, Sam McVey, Harry Wills and Kid Norfolk.

In spite of this, Jack Johnson, the first black world heavyweight champion, gave him a title shot. When they fought in Paris in August 1913, it was the first time that two black boxers had fought for the world heavyweight title. Battling Jim was the only black fighter Johnson faced during his reign as heavyweight champ from 1908 to 1915.

Title Shot Battling Jim fought former colored champ Joe Jeanette four times between 19 July 1912 and 21 January 1912 and lost all four fights. The only fighter of note he did beat in that period was future colored champ Big Bill Tate, whom he K.O.-ed in the second round of a scheduled 10-round bout. It was Tate's third pro fight.

In November 1913, the International Boxing Union declared the world heavyweight title held by Jack Johnson to be vacant. The heavyweight title fight between the two Johnsons, scheduled for 10 rounds, was held on 19 December 1913 in Paris. It was the first time in history that two blacks fought for the world heavyweight championship.

Johnson v. Johnson While the Johnson v. Johnson fight had been billed as a world heavyweight title match, in many ways, it resembled an exhibition. A sportswriter from the Indianapolis Star reported that the fight crowd became unruly when it was apparent that neither boxer was putting up a fight.

"Jack Johnson, the heavyweight champion, and Battling Jim Johnson, another colored pugilist, of Galveston, Texas, met in a 10-round contest here tonight, which ended in a draw. The spectators loudly protested throughout that the men were not fighting, and demanded their money back. Many of them left the hall. The organizers of the fight explained the fiasco by asserting that Jack Johnson's left arm was broken in the third round. There is no confirmation of a report that Jack Johnson had been stabbed and no evidence at the ringside of such an accident. During the first three rounds he was obviously playing with his opponent. After that it was observed that he was only using his right hand. When the fight was over he complained that his arm had been injured. Doctors who made an examination, certified to a slight fracture of the radius of the left arm. The general opinion is that his arm was injured in a wrestling match early in the week, and that a blow tonight caused the fracture of the bone."

Because of the draw, Jack Johnson kept his championship. After the fight, he explained that his left arm was injured in the third round and he could not use it.

Later career Battling Jim's next fight, four months later, also was a title match. On 27 March 1914 in New York City, Sam Langford won a newspaper decision in a ten-rounder with Johnson. According to the New York Times, the colored heavyweight champ "won by a wide margin" because Johnson "failed to show anything remotely resembling championship ability."

Battling Jim fought Langford ten more times (including two more colored title matches). Two of the fights were draws, including their last fight on 22 September 1918, which was also Battling Jim's last pro bout. He faced Joe Jeanette five more times and did not win a single contest. Two of their fights were draws and their last fight on 20 August 1918, Battling Jim's penultimate pro fight, was a no decision.

Of the other colored heavyweight champs that Battling Jim battled, he won only one fight, against Harry Wills, because he broke his wrist blocking a punch in a non-title match and Johnson won by a technical knockout. Battling Jim lost his other two fights with Wills and lost the five fights he had with ex-colored heavyweight champ Sam McVey in the post-Jack Johnson title shot period.

Illness and death Jim was signed to fight Sam Langford in a 12-round fight at the Crescent Athletic Club in Lowell, Massachusetts. However, the fight was postponed due to the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic. While waiting for the bout to be rescheduled, Johnson contracted the disease. After he was removed from the hospital, he died after a few days of pneumonia.

Record and legacy Battling Jim ended with a career record of 30 wins against 31 losses and six draws when his newspaper decisions are factored in. Looking at his dismal performance with the top black heavyweights of his era and his inability to best a one-armed Jack Johnson, Battling Jim Johnson cannot be considered a top contender of his era or a worthy opponent when Jack Johnson awarded him the sole title shot given to a black boxer in the 29 years between Jack and Joe Louis winning the heavyweight crown.

Professional boxing record All information in this section is derived from BoxRec, unless otherwise stated.

Official record

All newspaper decisions are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column. ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes84Loss27–18–7 Joe JeanettePTS?Aug 27, 1918 83Loss27–17–7 Sam LangfordNWS8Aug 22, 1918 82Loss27–17–7 Sam LangfordNWS8Aug 5, 1918 81Loss27–17–7 Kid NorfolkNWS4Jul 16, 1918 80Loss27–17–7 Sam LangfordPTS10Jun 19, 1918 79Loss27–16–7 Sam McVeyPTS25Oct 14, 1917 78Win27–15–7 Jeff ClarkTKO8 (15)Sep 16, 1917 77Loss26–15–7 Sam McVeyPTS20Aug 12, 1917 76Loss26–14–7 Tango KidDQ8 (10)Jun 29, 1917 75Loss26–13–7 Harry WillsNWS10Jun 1, 1917 74Win26–13–7 Harry WillsTKO2 (12)Feb 7, 1917 73Loss25–13–7 Sam LangfordPTS12Jan 1, 1917 72Loss25–12–7 Sam LangfordKO12 (12)Dec 12, 1916 71Win25–11–7 Lowe SimmsKO5 (10)Sep 15, 1916 70Loss24–11–7 Joe BondsPTS10Aug 1, 1916 69Win24–10–7 Jack ThompsonKO3 (20)May 18, 1916 68Win23–10–7 Kyle WhitneyKO2 (20)Apr 13, 1916 67Draw22–10–7 Jack ThompsonPTS10Dec 3, 1915 66Draw22–10–6 Jeff ClarkPTS15Nov 1, 1915 65Loss22–10–5 Sam LangfordPTS15Oct 18, 1915 64Loss22–9–5 Andre AndersonTKO9 (10)Oct 4, 1915 63Draw22–8–5 Soldier KearnsNWS10Sep 21, 1915 62Loss22–8–5 Harry WillsNWS10Jul 5, 1915 61Loss22–8–5 Sam McVeyNWS10Jun 9, 1915 60Loss22–8–5 Sam LangfordNWS10Jun 8, 1915 59Win22–8–5 Joe JeanetteNWS10May 10, 1915 58Draw22–8–5 Joe Battling WoodsNWS10 (?)May 3, 1915 57Win22–8–5 Arthur PelkeyKO7 (10)Apr 30, 1915 56Loss21–8–5 Sam LangfordNWS10Apr 6, 1915 55Loss21–8–5 Sam McVeyPTS20Feb 20, 1915 54Win21–7–5 Fred JacksonTKO4 (10)Jan 11, 1915 53Loss20–7–5 Sam McVeyNWS10Dec 10, 1914 52Draw20–7–5 Joe JeanettePTS12Nov 10, 1914 51Draw20–7–4 Sam LangfordPTS12Sep 15, 1914 50Loss20–7–3 Sam LangfordNWS10Aug 12, 1914 49Loss20–7–3 Joe JeanetteNWS10Aug 5, 1914 48Loss20–7–3 Joe JeanetteNWS10Jul 15, 1914 47Loss20–7–3 Joe JeanetteNWS10Jul 1, 1914 46Loss20–7–3 Porky Dan FlynnPTS12May 19, 1914 45Loss20–6–3 Sam LangfordNWS10Mar 27, 1914 44Draw20–6–3 Jack JohnsonPTS10Dec 19, 1913 43Win20–6–2 Jim EssonKO1 (?)Jun 22, 1913 4219–6–2 Kid JacksonNC?May 29, 1913 41Win19–6–2 Bob ScanlonTKO6 (20)May 26, 1913 40Win18–6–2 Kid JacksonTKO10 (?)May 3, 1913 39Win17–6–2 Gustave MarthuinTKO8 (20)Apr 28, 1913 38Win16–6–2 Con O'KellyKO11 (15)Apr 3, 1913 37Loss15–6–2 Joe JeanetteDQ15 (?)Jan 21, 1913 36Win15–5–2 Tom OverbyKO6 (10)Jan 16, 1913 35Loss14–5–2 Joe JeanetteNWS10Jan 1, 1913 34Win14–5–2 Bill TateKO2 (10)Dec 1, 1912 33Win13–5–2 Tom OverbyNWS6Nov 26, 1912 32Win13–5–2 Black BillKO7 (10)Nov 12, 1912 31Loss12–5–2 Joe JeanetteNWS10Oct 30, 1912 30Win12–5–2 Bill WatkinsKO2 (5)Sep 30, 1912 29Win11–5–2 Joe JeanetteNWS6Jul 19, 1912 28Win11–5–2 Chuck CarletonNWS6May 20, 1912 27Loss11–5–2 Fred StorbeckPTS20Apr 4, 1912 26Win11–4–2 Tom CowlerPTS15Mar 30, 1912 25Loss10–4–2 Alf LangfordDQ3 (20)Jan 29, 1912 24Win10–3–2 Dennis HaughKO3 (?)Dec 8, 1911 23Loss9–3–2 Matthew CurranDQ4 (20)Dec 1, 1911 22Loss9–2–2 Alf LangfordKO4 (20)May 22, 1911 21Win9–1–2 Seaman George PascallKO6 (10)Feb 20, 1911 20Win8–1–2 Jewey SmithTKO11 (20)Jan 23, 1911 19Win7–1–2 Fred DrummondTKO4 (10)Jan 7, 1911 18Loss6–1–2 Sam McVeyKO21 (25)Nov 19, 1910 17Win6–0–2 Gustave MarthuinPTS10Oct 9, 1910 16Win5–0–2 Jim MaherKO3 (10)Sep 1, 1910 15Win4–0–2 Alexandre MeunierKO5 (10)Aug 19, 1910 14Draw3–0–2 Sam McVeyPTS15Aug 7, 1910 13Draw3–0–1 Tom OverbyNWS6May 31, 1910 12Win3–0–1 Morris HarrisNWS6May 23, 1910 11Loss3–0–1 Sam LangfordNWS6May 14, 1910 10Draw3–0–1 Tony RossNWS6Apr 19, 1910 9draw3–0–1 Tom OverbyPTS10Apr 14, 1910 8Draw3–0 Al KubiakNWS6Mar 29, 1910 7Win3–0 Charley StevensonNWS6Mar 14, 1910 6Win3–0 Tom OverbyNWS6Mar 5, 1910 5Win3–0 Tom OverbyNWS6Feb 19, 1910 4Loss3–0 Jeff ClarkNWS6Feb 14, 1910 3Win3–0 George Kid CottonPTS8Jan 17, 1910 2Win2–0 Battling HarrisPTS8Jan 3, 1910 1Win1–0 Battling BrooksTKO4 (6)Mar 26, 1909

Unofficial record

Record with the inclusion of newspaper decisions in the win/loss/draw column.