Jack Johnson Boxing Tommy Burns One of a Kind Display

Description

As far as I’m concerned, this is the most stunning and unique framed Jack Johnson display on the market today.
The STAR amongst stars is one of the most desirable and culturally important tickets one could ever hope to own.  I am referring to the historic, 1908 battle between then Champion Tommy Burns and Jack Johnson, who went on to become the first Black Heavyweight Champion.  I know of two stubs that exist in this larger stub form.  One is not graded (in private hands), and then this gem, which is carries a grade of PSA FAIR 1.5 (#63390959).  There are two other stubs that are in the PSA Population Report (graded at a PSA POOR 1), but I can’t say if those two are the larger form (as this one is) or the smaller, true “stub” portion (which was meant to be kept by the attendee).  The smaller version is very plain and only 40% of the size of this ornate version (which was supposed to be kept by the house).  Try to find another one and get back to me.  You won’t.
Below the ticket is a signed cut of Jack Johnson that he inscribed and dated in 1943.  It has been authenticated and encapsulated by PSA (#84104228).
Yet, to me, what makes this display so additionally interesting is the signed 6” x 9-1/2” photo of Champion Tommy Burns, (the signature has been PSA/DNA authenticated, #X03703)…and especially the inscription.  It reads:
To my friend / Klondike Mike / Mike Mahoney / Tommy Burns / P.S. The only man that / gave me a K.O. to / the solar plexus / in a rough & tumble / fight in Nome / Alaska - 1905 – June 17th
To those who may not be familiar, let me inform you a bit about “Klondike” Mike Mahoney.  Mike Mahoney was a legendary bare knuckle brawler from the Yukon, who was also a very impressive musher, having once crossed 400 miles of frozen tundra in 24 days while being chased by a pack of wolves.  Mahoney was paid hefty sums of money to carry the biggest loads of gold out of the Yukon.  His legendary strength, stamina, Arctic survivability, skill with sled dogs, and his reputation as a boxer made him the go-to guy men trusted who could protect large sums of gold hauled out of the Yukon.  Mike earned ,500 (a massive sum in 1900) by enduring a 2 week dog sled trek carrying a huge load of gold for a successful miner.  The largest load of gold ever brought to Seattle from the Yukon was the personal fortune of Mike Mahoney, who lived off his gold earnings for the remainder of his life.  It’s said that his story inspired authors like Jack London to base many of their courageous characters off of him.  He was a living legend across the Alaskan icefields, a trailbreaker, gold miner, hunter and lumberman.  He was a giant of a man whose physical prowess was matched only by the legends that grew around him…and most of the legends were true.  A book was written about him titled “Klondike Mike – An Alaskan Odyssey, by Merrill Denison, in 1948.  Mahoney is one of the few men who went to Alaska during the big gold rush, struck it rich, and managed to come out with his stake intact.  But the young Canadian behemoth who wandered so casually up White Pass in 1897 was unusual in more ways than one.  A superb physical specimen (he never smoke or drank), he piled up still unbroken records for endurance under the most grueling Arctic conditions.  He was the greatest musher of his time, often covering 80 miles in a day by dog team.  He once walked over the man-killing Chilkoot Pass carrying a piano on his back.  His epic trek of more than 400 miles while carrying the frozen body of Judge Humes (who passed in 1904) while fighting off a pack of hungry wolves, inspired Robert Service’s “The Cremation of Sam McGee”.  An original photo of Judge Humes body along with Mahoney’s sled dogs, copyrighted by Mike Mahoney himself, resides in the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Mahoney knew Service, Jack London and Soapy Smith (famous American con artist and gangster in the American frontier) – personally.  He was a friend of Tex Rickard’s when Tex was dealing faro (a gambling card game that originated in France) in a log saloon and turned down the great promoter’s offer to make him a champion.  As far as the boxing world knows, he had boxed in his youth in Ontario but he is best remembered for challenging Noah Brusso (aka Tommy Burns) to a “lumberjack” match, where kicks and bare fists were allowed.  Rickard promoted the fight at the Athletic Club, which was in the back room of the Northern Saloon (owned by Rickard in Nome).  Rickard talked Burns into taking the fight by declaring it for the “Championship of Alaska”.  Burns had traveled to the Yukon Territory to see a mine he had won in a poker game.  This is where he met “Klondike” Mike Mahoney in an “unrecorded” fight.  Everyone placed their money on the favorite, Burns, and the fight was according to traditional boxing rules except that kicking was allowed.  Mahoney decided he could take Burns by just his fists but had a change of heart once the future heavyweight champion started cutting into him.  Mahoney decided to let it all go when he downed Burns with a solar plexus kick early in the match but would later lose by KO.
Mahoney grew into an American legend, and was referenced in pop culture many times (in addition to books being written about him)”
1.
The folk song “Klondike Mike”, written and sung by Hal Wills, mentions Mahoney’s legendary exploits
2.
Time Magazine featured an article about Mike Mahoney in their July 9, 1948 issue
3.
Marvel Comics portrayed Klondike Mike in the Captain Marvel story, Alaskan Adventure published in their 1942 issue
4.
Many of the famous wilderness stories found in the books of Jack London (Call of the Wild and White Fang), Robert Service and Rex Breach are credited as drawn from the personal experiences of Mike Mahoney.
5.
The movie “City of Gold” (1957) tells the true life story in documentary form of the gold town Dawson City, where Mike reigned as a local legend, and was nominated for an Academy Award.
So we have a 1905, dated, signed photo by Tommy Burns (most likely actually signed while champion, in the 1906-1908 timeframe, considering that he’s wearing a championship belt) and inscribed to the legendary “Klondike” Mike Mahoney.  This item alone is worthy of special attention and consideration as a unique American artifact.
Finally, we have a PSA authenticated and encapsulated (#84297670), Type 1. c. 1910s, INCREDIBLE, Rene Dazy photo of Jack Johnson in fight pose.  The photo itself measures 4-3/8” x 6-3/8”.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a finer Type 1 Jack Johnson photo in all my years of collecting.
This museum-quality display has been professionally framed and matted by Field of Dreams in Plano, TX, using acid-free materials and UV protective glass.
This piece is stunning in person and certainly one-of-a-kind in every way.  It measures 21” x 37”.
It should be hanging either in a museum, the International Boxing Hall of Fame…or the Smithsonian.