Brew News: President Obama Set To Pardon Boxing Champ....

Looks like it's gonna happen. In 1913, boxing champ Jack Johnson was convicted of violating the "Mann Act" against transporting women across state lines for immoral purposes. The woman, who later became his second wife, was white. He hauled ass to France but later in 1920 still ended up serving a year in prison for his heinous 'Jungle Fever' crime.

SOURCE:

Congress approved a resolution Wednesday urging a presidential pardon for Jack Johnson, the late black heavyweight champion who was imprisoned because of his romantic ties with a white woman.

The House passed the resolution by voice vote, about a month after the Senate approved it.

Johnson became the first black heavyweight champion in 1908, a century before the nation elected Barack Obama its first black president. The Senate resolution was sponsored by Obama's 2008 GOP rival, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

"I'm pleased the House has joined the Senate in passing a resolution to express the sense of Congress that Jack Johnson, the best heavyweight fighter of his era, should receive a posthumous pardon for being convicted of violating the Mann Act in 1913," said McCain.

The resolution's House sponsor, New York Republican Peter King, said that he was thrilled that after five years of efforts, it's passed both chambers of Congress.

"Jack Johnson is a trailblazer and a legend, whose boxing career was cut short due to unjust laws and racial persecution," King said. "I urge the president to do the right thing and take the final step and grant his pardon."

The White House, which didn't comment after Senate passage, had no immediate comment Wednesday night.