Former Republican presidential hopeful John McCain has called upon President Barack Obama to pardon the first black man ever to win the world heavyweight boxing crown.
The boxing legend Jack Johnson was prosecuted and convicted of having a consensual relationship with a white woman in 1913, an already outdated charge, to try to take away his boxing crown.
Mr McCain, the Senator from Arizona, says the charge was racially motivated, should have been dismissed from the records and quashed many years ago.
He added: 'I've been a very big fight fan, I was a mediocre boxer myself. I also know how it feels to have my ass beaten by a black opponent in the recent election."
