George Godfrey (II) The Leiperville Shadow (January 25, 1897 – August 13, 1947) was the ring name of Feab Smith Williams, a heavyweight boxer from the state of Alabama who fought from 1919 to 1937. He named himself after George "Old Chocolate" Godfrey, a Black Canadian boxer from the bare-knuckle boxing days who had been a top name during the John L. Sullivan era. Old Chocolate had been the fourth fighter to reign as World Colored Heavyweight Champion while the second George Godfrey was the 20th fighter to hold the colored heavyweight title.

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Quick Facts Born, Died ...

George Godfrey
Born	Feab Smith Williams (1897-01-25)January 25, 1897 Mobile, Alabama
Died	August 13, 1947(1947-08-13) (aged 50) Los Angeles, California
Nationality	American
Other names	The Leiperville Shadow
Statistics
Weight(s)	Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Reach	79.5 in (202 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	124[1]
Wins	97
Wins by KO	79
Losses	21
Draws	2

Close

The colored heavyweight title was recognized due to the color bar in pro boxing in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when white champions drew the color line and would not defend the title against a black man. In the heavyweight division, the color bar was adamantly defended by Old Chocolate Godfrey's contemporary, "The Boston Strong Boy", John L. Sullivan. Ironically, it remained in force even after colored heavyweight title holder Jack Johnson won the world's heavyweight title in 1908. Johnson never fought black opponents either, allegedly because such top promoters as Tex Rickard believed that a fight between two black boxers would not draw at the gate. He was also the only man to ever defeat the 7 foot 9 inch giant Gogea Mitu.

Because of the color bar in the heavyweight division that continued until the rise of Joe Louis in the 1930s, the second Godfrey Williams never fought for the world heavyweight championship, like the man he had named himself after. He did win the International Boxing Union's version of the world heavyweight championship in 1935, two years before Louis became the second black man to become the universally recognized world heavyweight champ.

Boxing's second George Godfrey fought ring legend Sam Langford three times. Godfrey, who was 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) tall and weighed between 220 and 260 lb (118 kg) during his career, dwarfed the 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Langford. Despite his advantage in size, height and weight, Godfrey was knocked out in two of the three matches in 1920 and 1921. He did manage a draw in his first bout with Langford in 1920.

Godfrey is said to have been instructed by promoters on a number of occasions to carry opponents if he wanted to receive more important fights. He was outpointed over 10 rounds in 1926 by future champion Jack Sharkey and in 1928 by Johnny Risko, but outpointed Paolino Uzcudun in 1928.

Godfrey died on August 13, 1947, in his home and was found a week later, aged 50. His funeral was attended by many boxers, including former heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey, former light heavyweight champion Jack Root, former middleweight champion Gorilla Jones, and others included footballer Dick Donald and boxing manager Mike McNulty.^[9]

In 2003, Godfrey was named to the Ring magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.

In 2007, he was elected into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Godfrey had a brief career in movies making five motion pictures from 1926 to 1937. His most famous role was as the cook in Paramount Pictures's 1926 Old Ironsides. His final role was as himself in MGM's Big City which starred Spencer Tracy.