The Fight of the Century was a boxing match between the first Black world heavyweight champion, Jack Johnson, and the previously undefeated world heavyweight champion James J. Jeffries, on July 4, 1910. Jeffries, came out of retirement to challenge Johnson, saying "I am going into this fight for the sole purpose of proving that a white man is better than a Negro". Jeffries—who boasted that he had never been knocked down in a fight—fell three times to Johnson's punches, and was being counted out