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 Hype all involved in the fight (citing the Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney battle in 1982 and the playing of the race card in that instance as a precedent), and he vows to either find or "create" a white contender in no time at all. After failing to find a white boxer currently in the sport suitable by any means, he discovers that Roper actually lost to a white boxer, Terry Conklin (Peter Berg), back in his amateur days. The Sultan and his unethical crew (which contains actors Cheech Marin, Jon Lovitz, Salli Richardson and Corbin Bernsen) find Conklin in Cleveland,