George Dixon

CTL-E-6874 · Person · other · 1870–1908

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07746 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-6874.

George Dixon (1870–1908), known as "Little Chocolate," was the Canadian bantamweight and featherweight champion born in Africville, Halifax, Nova Scotia — this record is his, and not any later boxer of the same name. A Boston resident from 1887, Dixon became the first Black world boxing champion on June 27, 1890, when he knocked out Nunc Wallace of England in London to win the world bantamweight championship — a first stated by both Encyclopaedia Britannica and the International Boxing Hall of Fame biography carried by BoxRec. He then held the world featherweight championship in multiple reigns into 1900, becoming the first boxer to win world titles in more than one weight class. Britannica credits him with 158 bouts including 33 championship fights across 1886–1906, while noting some historians count far more including exhibitions. His dates are contested: most records give July 29, 1870 – January 6, 1908, while Britannica gives his death as January 6, 1909; both are shown here, never blended.

The record

• Also known as: Little Chocolate

Notes

Sports Encyclopedia roster CTL-SPE-0438. Identity: the CANADIAN bantamweight/featherweight champion born in Halifax, Nova Scotia — not any later namesake. Firsts disposition: 'First Black world boxing champion' (1890) ASSERTED — supported by Encyclopaedia Britannica and the International Boxing Hall of Fame biography (via BoxRec). Flags: dates contested and shown unblended — birth year given as 1870 by Britannica and BoxRec (some sources give 1869/1870 variants); death January 6, 1908 per BoxRec/IBHOF against Britannica's January 6, 1909; era follows the IBHOF-line date (1908) with the dispute stated in the description and here. Bout totals also diverge by source and are attributed, not merged. Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Dixon won a world title in 1890, in London, as a Black Canadian from Africville — three geographies that each tried to claim or erase him. The record holds all three at once. Photo: CLEARED — George-Dixon-cabinet-card-c1890.png, Public domain (period cabinet card of this Dixon; later namesakes rejected).

Relationships

• Boston, Massachusetts — based in
  George Dixon was a resident of Boston from 1887 and fought out of Boston (BoxRec lists Boston as his hometown) during his championship career.

Sources

• Encyclopaedia Britannica. "George Dixon." Encyclopaedia Britannica. Accessed 2026-11-03. https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Dixon-boxer (build store)
• BoxRec. "George Dixon." BoxRec Wiki, carrying the International Boxing Hall of Fame biography (Class of 1990). Accessed 2026-11-03. https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php?title=George_Dixon&oldid=162046 (build store)
• JRank. "George Dixon Biography." Biography.jrank.org. Accessed 2026-11-03. https://biography.jrank.org/pages/2743/Dixon-George.html (build store)

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Record CTL-E-6874 · Combined Graph record U-07746 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 3 sources · 1 mapped relationship.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

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