On 115 years ago today, July 4, 1910 (May 28, 1910, the 1910 lunar calendar), black boxer Johnson successfully defended his defense, causing racial riots in the United States. Champion Jack Johnson July 4, 1910. Jack Johnson knocked down Jim Jeffries in the 15th round in order to retain the title of the world heavyweight boxing championship. As soon as the incident happened, fierce racial riots broke out across the United States. After the battle at the Reno Boxing Arena, groups of black and white people walking on the street fought each other. Eight black people were reported dead. Dozens of people were injured. A black man was hacked to death almost instantly by a white man on a New Orleans tram for announcing Johnson's victory in a mocking tone. He bled to death before being taken to the hospital. Jeffries, who had retired from boxing, was too fat and inelegant, but still agreed to come and compete. "I can't come back," said the defeated Jeffries. Johnson was so confident in victory that he didn't show off the casual courage of training on the field. From the fourth round, he seemed to have changed from confidence to arrogance. He is fighting to get 60% of the $101,000, but he doesn't seem very interested in it. "I think this guy is an opponent." Johnson was heard saying this between games. In the sixth round, Johnson punched Jeffries in the eye, which most people felt heralded his eventual victory. This convinced those who were skeptical that Johnson defeated Tommy Burns in the 1908 Sydney race to win the championship. Opposition against blacks winning the championship was so high that in St. Joseph, Missouri, a white male was beaten by a crowd for siding with blacks.