Joe Jennette was born in North Bergen, New Jersey, on August 26, 1879. "Jeremiah" was the son of
Benjamin Franklin and Mina Jennette. Joe's father was a blacksmith. Interestingly, Joe's mother was white,
she was born in Bavaria, Germany yet is listed as "black" in an 1880's census report of New Jersey. The black
population in Germany during the time period was extremely small, is that even if she were not "black," she
would have been listed as such because of the obvious social and racial intolerance of the period.
Joe was raised in a very discilpined and hard-working family. He first worked with his father as an apprentice
blacksmith; later, around the turn of the century, Joe began to drive a coal truck for Jagels & Bellis, a
notable organization of the period.
In 1904, Joe began his ring career with an exhibition against a journeyman fighter named Arthur Dickinson
in Jersey City, NJ. Joe lost the decision, but held his own with Dickinson and decided to give the fight game a
chance. In a 1912 interview, he credited his friends with encouraging him, but said that the main reason for
his decision to become a fighter was that he didn't have to work as hard and the compensation was just too
good to pass up.
Despite Joe's brief training in pugilism, he showed that he could mix it up with the best of them by fighting
Jack Johnson seven times and Sam Langford three times in his first 22 fights. Joe ended up beating Jack
once on a foul in 2 rounds, losing once on a 15-round decision, and drawing once over 10 rounds. The other
four fights were recorded as no-decisions. As for Langford, Joe beat Sam by tko in 8 rounds, lost a 15-round
decision, and, in 1907, drew over 12 rounds.
Although Joe would never again fight Johnson after their 10-round draw in 1907, despite constant
challenges while Jack was champion, Joe and Sam Langford would fight on at least 11 other occasions. It
should be pointed out that until Joe Louis became heavyweight champion, many white boxers would only
rarely fight outside of their race. Accordingly, black pugilists were left to fighting each other again and again.
Joe was no exception, fighting nearly half of his recorded 165 bouts against 8 to 10 other black boxers of his
day.
Joe's greatest accomplishments came during his three trips to Paris, France. The backlash of Johnson's
victory in Australia and Jack's unwillingness to fight any other Black fighters left Joe with very few
competitive and profitable bouts in the United States. Joe, hearing about the acceptance of Black fighters in
Paris and the lucrative purses being offered, decided to set sail to Europe. Under the guidance of Dan
McKettrick, the very worldly, educated, and resourcefuul editor of the New York World, Joe arrived in Paris
in the early part of 1909. Source: cyberboxingzone
Benjamin Franklin and Mina Jennette. Joe's father was a blacksmith. Interestingly, Joe's mother was white,
she was born in Bavaria, Germany yet is listed as "black" in an 1880's census report of New Jersey. The black
population in Germany during the time period was extremely small, is that even if she were not "black," she
would have been listed as such because of the obvious social and racial intolerance of the period.
Joe was raised in a very discilpined and hard-working family. He first worked with his father as an apprentice
blacksmith; later, around the turn of the century, Joe began to drive a coal truck for Jagels & Bellis, a
notable organization of the period.
In 1904, Joe began his ring career with an exhibition against a journeyman fighter named Arthur Dickinson
in Jersey City, NJ. Joe lost the decision, but held his own with Dickinson and decided to give the fight game a
chance. In a 1912 interview, he credited his friends with encouraging him, but said that the main reason for
his decision to become a fighter was that he didn't have to work as hard and the compensation was just too
good to pass up.
Despite Joe's brief training in pugilism, he showed that he could mix it up with the best of them by fighting
Jack Johnson seven times and Sam Langford three times in his first 22 fights. Joe ended up beating Jack
once on a foul in 2 rounds, losing once on a 15-round decision, and drawing once over 10 rounds. The other
four fights were recorded as no-decisions. As for Langford, Joe beat Sam by tko in 8 rounds, lost a 15-round
decision, and, in 1907, drew over 12 rounds.
Although Joe would never again fight Johnson after their 10-round draw in 1907, despite constant
challenges while Jack was champion, Joe and Sam Langford would fight on at least 11 other occasions. It
should be pointed out that until Joe Louis became heavyweight champion, many white boxers would only
rarely fight outside of their race. Accordingly, black pugilists were left to fighting each other again and again.
Joe was no exception, fighting nearly half of his recorded 165 bouts against 8 to 10 other black boxers of his
day.
Joe's greatest accomplishments came during his three trips to Paris, France. The backlash of Johnson's
victory in Australia and Jack's unwillingness to fight any other Black fighters left Joe with very few
competitive and profitable bouts in the United States. Joe, hearing about the acceptance of Black fighters in
Paris and the lucrative purses being offered, decided to set sail to Europe. Under the guidance of Dan
McKettrick, the very worldly, educated, and resourcefuul editor of the New York World, Joe arrived in Paris
in the early part of 1909. Source: cyberboxingzone
1886 - 1968
1906 - 1993
Agnes in Paris
1909 - 1995
Joe and daughter Agnes
