Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali will be playing boxing great Jack Johnson in an upcoming limited HBO series.
The six-part series titled ‘Unruly’ will be a dream role for Ali who gushed about potentially playing the boxing champion as far back as 2017. “He is somewhat of a tragic figure, but I would love to play Jack Johnson,” Ali once said in an interview. “Johnson is one of my dream roles, but I really just want the opportunity to go on a hero’s journey. I’ve never done that.”
When Jack Johnson’s career was done he finished with a record of 73-13-10 and in 1908 he became the first Black world heavyweight champion in the history of boxing after defeating Tommy Burns. What other boxing great do you think should get their own biopic?
