Jack London character is based on Hawaiian leper Kaluaikoolau, who in 1893 revolted and resisted capture from forces of the Provisional Government of Hawaii in the Kalalau Valley. An amateur boxer and avid boxing fan, London reported on the 1910 Johnson–Jeffries fight, in which the black boxer Jack Johnson vanquished Jim Jeffries, known as the "Great White Hope". In 1908, London had reported on an earlier fight of Johnson's, contrasting the black boxer's coolness and intellectual style, with the apelike appearance and fighting style of his Canadian opponent, Tommy Burns, 'what . . . [won] on Saturday was bigness, coolness, quickness, cleverness,
The Great White Hope That's my story!" Ali was fighting being drafted into the Army at the time on grounds of being a conscientious objector. "The Great White Hope" premiered at the Arena Stage in December, 1967. The initial production at Arena Stage, paid for in part by two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, was so well-received that the entire original cast, including James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander, moved to Broadway. It was the first time the cast of a regional theater production was brought to Broadway. The play opened on Broadway on October 3, 1968, and closed on January