How Many Heavy Champs Were Imprisoned Before Winning The Title?

[Ivich]

How many heavyweight champions spent time in jail BEFORE they won the title?
I can think of three.
Jack Johnson
Rocky Marciano
Sonny Liston
Was John L Sullivan ever jailed for prizefighting before he was champ?

[JAB5239]

How many heavyweight champions spent time in jail BEFORE they won the title?
I can think of three.
Jack Johnson
Rocky Marciano
Sonny Liston
Was John L Sullivan ever jailed for prizefighting before he was champ?

Tyson. I'd bet a few of the ABC titlists from the 80's would make the list.

[Rockybigblower]

.......9.....

[Tatabanya]

Leon Spinks just missed it. He was arrested quite shortly after he lifted Ali's title.

Ike Ibeabuchi. Because he WOULD have won a title, had he not been arrested.

[Willie Pep 229]

How many heavyweight champions spent time in jail BEFORE they won the title?
I can think of three.
Jack Johnson
Rocky Marciano
Sonny Liston
Was John L Sullivan ever jailed for prizefighting before he was champ?

What did JJ get busted for, before becoming champion?

Being a Black man in turn of the century America virtually guaranteed you would be screwed over eventualy with a vacancy charge, even when not gulity. You end up doing 30 days on a road gang for doing nothing.

It was a way for Southern States to extract free labor from Black men during the segregation period.

Do you know if it was one of these bogus charges or did he actually commit a crime?

[Ivich]

What did JJ get busted for, before becoming champion?

Being a Black man in turn of the century America virtually guaranteed you would be screwed over eventualy with a vacancy charge, even when not gulity. You end up doing 30 days on a road gang for doing nothing.

It was a way for Southern States to extract free labor from Black men during the segregation period.

Do you know if it was one of these bogus charges or did he actually commit a crime?

Johnson spent some days in jail for fighting Joe Choynski.
The photo is misleading they were actually in segregated cells,but were allowed out to spar each day.

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[Slugfester]

Prisons and jails are not the same thing. In some cases jails are actually worse. Many fewer guards in those county jails. Back then, who knows? It was all hard.

[Willie Pep 229]

Prisons and jails are not the same thing. In some cases jails are actually worse. Many fewer guards in those county jails. Back then, who knows? It was all hard.

Have a friend who just retired as a "jail" guard after 30 years.

I asked him about the situation. He said it was pretty calm and non eventful. They were either short timers (lots of DUI) or waiting for court, either way --> "the idiots still thought they had a chance to get out, so were on their best behavior."