Madrid, 1916: Arthur Cravan (real name Fabian Lloyd), poet, bohemian and boxer, the publisher of the aggressive art magazine  "Maintenant" (from 1912 to 1915, in Paris), was a real dadaist in his own life, long before "Cabaret Voltaire" (that’s why dadaists liked him so much). In April 1916, Cravan happened to be in Madrid, where he challenged the first African-American heavyweight-boxing champion of the world (1908-1915), legendary Jack Johnson. Cravan was knocked-out in the first round. Nevertheless, it is not a little thing at all to be beaten by Jack Johnson. Can you find me another artist in the whole 20th Century or today, which dared to fight with a heavyweight-boxing champion of the world! The last time Cravan was seen on the coast of Mexico in 1918; he set out alone on a sailboat to Venezuela and disappeared without a trace, never to be seen again. I was lately reading the magazine "Maintenant" from 1913 (online), where I found Cravan’s text: "C‘etait la nuit du vingt-trois mars dix-neuf cent treize. Par instant, j’ entendais siffler un remorqueur, et je me disais:"Pourquoi es-tu si  poétique, puisque tu ne vas pas plus loin que Rouen, et que tu ne cours aucun danger? Ah! laisse-moi rire, rire, mais rire comme Jack Johnson!"
In my translation: "It was the night of March 23, 1913. For a moment I heard the whistle from a tug, and I said to myself: Why are you so poetic, because you don’t go further than Rouen, living in total safety? Ah! Let me laugh, laugh, but laugh as Jack Johnson!" Now it’s clearer to me why Cravan had to challenge a heavyweight-boxing champion of the world, Jack Johnson.