Boxing was usually prohibited in nineteenth-century America, with contests taking place in secret. Bare-knuckle fights were grueling, lasting hours. Fighters may become renowned, and some, strangely, developed a political following. One bare-knuckle champion went on to become a member of Congress. The first state law prohibiting professional boxing was passed in Massachusetts in 1857. Other states followed suit, and by the end of the nineteenth century, all legal challenges had been defeated. The final blow was delivered when President Theodore Roosevelt issued an executive order making boxing illegal in the United States on February 10, 1905. In England, boxing was banned until 1867, when it was allowed again after many deaths due to heavy blows to the head. In America, however, where sports such as baseball and football came into their own after boxing disappeared, there were no more deaths from boxing-related injuries until the late twentieth century. The reason for boxing's demise in the early twentieth century is not clear but may have something to do with its association with criminal gangs during this time. There are reports that both Jack Johnson (a famous boxer who became very popular with African Americans) and Joe Louis (the first black man to win the title) were involved in incidents with police where violence might have been intended but wasn't. It is possible that these events helped to push boxing further away from mainstream society and may have played a role in its eventual banning.