Johnny Banks (born December 25, 1861, in

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), was an African American

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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

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

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

right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...

. 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