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Johnny Banks (born December 25, 1861, in
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), was an African American
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...
who fought under the sobriquet "The Darkey Wizard" and was the Negro Middleweight Champion of the World during the mid-1880s. Standing 5'6" tall (some sources claim he was 5'5.5" tall), Banks fought out of
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at a weight of 128-160 lbs. from 1883 to 1899. In his career, he racked up an official record of 11 wins (three by K.O.) against eight losses (being K.O.ed three times) and 17 draws. Most of his fights went unrecorded. Boxing historian
Nat Fleischer Nathaniel Stanley Fleischer (November 3, 1887 – June 25, 1972) was a noted American boxing writer and collector. Career Fleischer was born in New York City. After he graduated from City College of New York in 1908, Fleischer worked for the ''N ...
claimed that he fought as many as five times a week in
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and he averaged a fight per week for five years. Fleischer claimed that Banks won over 90% of his bouts. Reportedly, Banks contorted his mouth as he fought and snorted, grunted, and yelled while in the ring. He was a very smart boxer with a good
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. He claimed the Negro Middleweight title but lost it to James Desverney on January 26, 1887, in a fight in New York City when he was disqualified in the ninth round.


References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, Johnny 1861 births Boxers from Virginia African-American boxers Middleweight boxers World colored middleweight boxing champions Year of death missing American male boxers