On July 4, 1910, more than twelve thousand people, mostly white men, gathered in a makeshift stadium in the little desert town of Reno, Nevada. They were gathered to see their hero, the retired white Heavyweight Champion of the World, Jim Jeffries, take back the title from the African-American current champion, Jack Johnson.

In this Flash feature, Learn more about the circumstances that brought Johnson and Jeffries together, key moments of the fight, newspaper coverage of the match, and the race riots that racked the country in the days afterwards.

Through special arrangement with Blue Note Records, Fight of the Century features selections from the original music score to the film by Wynton Marsalis, available from ShopPBS.

This feature requires the free Flash player from Macromedia, version 6 or higher.