Fighting in the first half of his career as a lightweight and later a welterweight, he was known for an exceptional defense and fought many men above his weight class, including six bouts with the great Sam Langford.

[5] On January 10, 1906, Blackburn defeated Holly at the National Sporting Club in Wilmington, Delaware, in a close six-round newspaper decision.

[5] Boxing with a three-inch reach advantage on November 2, 1903, Blackburn impressively defeated the great World Lightweight Champion Joe Gans in a close non-title, six-round newspaper decision at the Washington Sporting Club in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[5] On January 8, 1904, Blackburn drew with Black boxer Sam Bolen in a close fifteen-round decision at Shlegel's Hall in Baltimore, Maryland.

[5] On October 13, 1905, Blackburn fought a fifteen-round pre-arranged draw at the Marlborough Theatre in Marborough, Massachusetts, with Black New York based boxer Larry Temple.

On December 23, 1903, perhaps in one of his most memorable fights, Blackburn met Langford for the first time in a twelve-round pre-arranged draw at the Central Athletic Club in Boston, Massachusetts.

[4][5] On September 20, 1905, in front of a substantial crowd of 600, at the Lyric Athletic Club in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Blackburn and Langford met in a ten-round draw.

The boxing was fierce and drew blood and both boxers had the better of their opponent at times, with Langford finding a way to counter the keen left of Blackburn.

Langford would take the World Colored Middleweight Championship defeating Young Peter Jackson in a twenty-round bout on November 12, 1907, at the Pacific Athletic Club in Los Angeles.

On January 2, 1904, Blackburn defeated well known light and welterweight Jimmy Gardner at the Central Athletic Club in Boston, Massachusetts in a twelve-round points decision.

[5] On January 3, 1906, Blackburn first met Black boxer George Gunther at New Castle, Pennsylvania in a fifteen-round bout, defeating him in the opinion of several newspapers.

[5][14] Gunther would face many great boxers in his career including Sam Langford, Harry Lewis, and George Carpentier in France.

On July 8, and September 5, 1907, Blackburn won by newspaper decision and then lost on points to talented opponent Jim Barry who outweighed him by about twenty pounds in both matches.

[15] Barry had been a Montana cowboy and would fight some talented heavyweights in his career including Sam Langford, Battling Levinsky, and Billy Miske, though he would die tragically in a shooting after a boxing match in Ancon, Panama in March 1917.

[18] The New York Age wrote that "Blackburn was a marvel of science, and self-possession, outboxing his opponent at every angle, judging distance better and hitting a harder blow.

"[19] Boxing as a 147-pound welterweight on June 10, 1908, Blackburn was defeated by Philadelphia Jack O'Brien in a six-round bout at the National Athletic Club.

In their November 23, 1908, six round bout, at the opening of Duquesne Gardens as a fight venue in Pittsburgh, The Pittsburgh Post wrote that "from start to finish, Blackburn danced around the Rochester man (Donovan), landing six blows to his opponent's one," and that he used a large repertoire of blows against which Donovan's only effective defense was to clinch.

He served four years and eight months for manslaughter as the result of a tragic shooting spree he instigated that led to several deaths in Philadelphia in 1909.

[3][24][25] After the completion of his jail sentence, Blackburn usually fought closer to the welterweight and light middleweight divisions, but continued to fight highly skilled opponents.

His loss of training and advancing age caused by his sentence affected his boxing somewhat, and he won fewer bouts subsequent to his jail term.

In one of his first bouts after his prison term, fighting as a 150-pound light middleweight, he lost to Gunboat Smith in a six-round newspaper decision in front of 3000 fans at the National Athletic Club in Philadelphia on May 20, 1914.

[26] Smith would meet Battling Levinsky and Jack Dempsey on several occasions in his career, and was considered one of the top white heavyweight contenders at the time.

Even against the great competitor Greb who was known to throw an exceptionally large number of punches, the Post wrote that Blackburn "blocked, side-stepped, slipped, rode, and ducked", putting up an excellent defense.

[5] On October 20 and November 3, 1916, Blackburn lost twice to powerful hitter Joe Borrell by six-round newspaper decisions at the Nonpareil Athletic Club in Philadelphia.

On June 22, 1920, Blackburn met the great future 1923 Colored Light Heavyweight World Champion Kid Norfolk, originally William Ward, losing in a fourth-round knockout at Madison Athletic Club in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

A match with such a glaring weight discrepancy would not have been made among more contemporary boxers, though Blackburn had a slight advantage in height and reach.

[33] On March 7, 1923, Gans fought Ray Pelkey, in what was likely his last recorded bout, at the Auditorium in Oakland, California, losing in a third-round knockout.

Blackburn's greatest achievement as a trainer came on June 22, 1937, when Joe Louis took the World Heavyweight Championship from Jim Braddock at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois in an eighth-round knockout.

He had been suffering from pneumonia for two months, beginning shortly before Joe Louis met Abe Simon at Madison Square Garden in March of that year.

His funeral, which several thousand attended, took place on the South side of Chicago at Pilgrim Baptist Church on April 29, 1942.