Boxing's Heavyweight Championship Lineage
Tommy Burns
1906-08
Standing just 5-foot-7 and 175 pounds, Burns -- known as "The Little Giant Of Hanover" -- became the only Canadian-born heavyweight champion when he outpointed Marvin Hart over 20 rounds in 1906. Burns made 11 title defenses over the next two years before losing to Jack Johnson in Australia, where local police stopped the one-sided bout in the 14th round.
Burns was the first heavyweight champion to agree to title defenses against an African-American and a Jewish fighter, saying, "I propose to be the champion of the world -- not the white, or the Canadian, or the American. If I am not the best man in the heavyweight division, I don't want the title."
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