I Take My Pen In Hand

My name is familiar to a great many people chiefly because I have held the heavyweight boxing championship of the world, and because for more than a quarter of a century I have figured prominently in the making of world ring history. On more than one occasion I have been the central character in sensational episodes which stirred the interest and curiosity of the public. But I am not writing this history of my life — full of experiences and adventures as it is — because of these facts.

On the contrary, in looking back over the years of my tumultuous career, I am astounded when I realize that there are few men in any period of the world's history, who have led a more varied or intense existence than I. My life, almost from its very start, has been filled with tragedy and romance, failure and success, poverty and wealth, misery and happiness. All these conflicting conditions that have crowded in upon me and plunged me into struggles with warring forces have made me somewhat of a unique character in the world of today, and the story of the life I have led may therefore not only contain some interest if told for its own sake, but may also shed some light on the life of our times.

Quick changes have come into my life on numerous occasions. I have been tossed from one extreme to the other within a few hours. Sometimes I found myself in the midst of disaster and of ten I arose to unexpected heights of affluence, power and prominence. Many, many times fortune has virtually dropped into my hands and as many times it has slipped magically from my grasp.

I have attained the peaks of victory in gruelling fights with men as eager, as ambitious, as alert and as strong as I. With these victories generally came great sums of money, sometimes almost more than I ever dreamed of possessing. I was surrounded by countless admiring friends all intent on acclaiming me the greatest in my line; all eager to shout my praises; all striving for my esteem and for my bounty. By a sudden flip of fortune I have seen these friends melt away. But there have been many who have proved staunch throughout the years; who have shared with me in my successes and victories and who have suffered with me in the moments of failure, disappointment and bitterness.

I have known the tremendous exaltation of victory in the ring, in love, in business and in controversies of all kinds, and I have been cast down into the despair that sometimes comes with failure. I have traveled in nearly every country of the world and wherever I have gone I have had adventures that men of my race and nation have never had. I have mingled with notable people of every land. I have been with kings and queens; monarchs and rulers of nations have been my associates. In all the great gathering places of the world where the elite of every nation have met and are meeting, I have enjoyed the distinction of being a celebrity pointed out over all others.

In my life there have been many women, and with women there has come great happiness and also grief and tragedy. Women have come into my life and gone out of it leaving memories, many of which I treasure and many of which I would forget if I could. However, these women whom I have known and loved have been salient factors in my life. They have been the inspiration that urged me to strive for the uppermost places; they have been the cause of situations which turned the eyes of the world upon me, some merely gleaming with morbidness, others flashing condemnation and hate.

I have had my innings with the law. I know the bitterness of being accused and harassed by prosecutors. I know the horror of being hunted and haunted. I have dashed across continents and oceans as a fugitive, and I have matched my wits with the police and secret agents seeking to deprive me of one of the greatest blessings man can have — liberty. And after I had eluded them, after I had spent months in fighting for my cherished freedom and enjoying it at a dearly purchased price, I voluntarily relinquished it and surrendered myself, knowing that I should have to enter prison.

In my fight for my freedom I felt that whatever my conduct had been which led to accusations against me and conviction, it had been no worse than that of thousands of others. I felt that I had committed no heinous crime and that because of my color, perhaps, and because of prejudices and jealousies I was being persecuted and prosecuted. However, after months abroad, always alert lest I should be led into some trap that would mean loss of my freedom, I decided that I would return to my native country, submit to the demands of the law, and clear my "debt to society."

It was this desire to return to my own people and to again look on scenes that I loved and cherished that made my fight with Willard in Cuba, as far as I was concerned, merely an incident, a step in the direction of the goal toward which my heart led me — my home. In order to return to this home and ultimately resume my activities among those who meant most to me I was willing to make any sacrifice. This desire to wipe out prejudices against me and to still criticism of my conduct included my willingness to permit Willard to acquire the heavy-weight championship of the world and my consent to go to prison.

Having disclaimed my intention to write this record of my life because of my attainments in the prize ring or because of the prominence I have achieved in sensational news stories, I wish to go a little further and deny also that I am engaging in this sketch of my life for the purpose of def ending myself against charges that were brought against me. I am not attempting this enterprise to explain and excuse my faults and mistakes, nor to win sympathy and smooth over the rough places in my life. On the contrary, I feel that the story of my life is one that will prove interesting and entertaining to my readers as the story of a man, and that it will not be without good results. I am not pointing out any morals, yet when one suffers the inevitable consequences that ensue when the wrong course is chosen or mistakes are made and frankly admits and describes these mistakes and their results, surely it will prove of some benefit if it aids others to avoid similar mistakes and the attending unhappiness and disappointments.

I have no quarrel with fate, nor do I cling to the absurd belief that fate has set any special mark upon me. Yet fate must have intended me for adventures and experiences...