1922, the year Harry Wills almost got a shot at the HW Title

[APerno]

check out this article from 2014.

http://www.boxing.com/the_trouble_with_harry.html

Ok article, great video! - Re: Firpo KD: Wills hits on the break; Wills is a dirty fighter - would have made a great Dempsey-Wills fight. Wills looks to be a giant, a head taller than Firpo; it looks like he would have towered over Dempsey. - His didn't look to be as much of a 'boxing master' as CW has always claimed, albeit it was just one short clip; so it is unfair to judge him on this one clip. But I have also read people describing him as a large man who preferred to fight on the inside; who liked to brawl; this clip seems to confirm that. Brawling with Dempsey would have been a mistake.

The CW used to always be (at least for me) was that Wills' boxing skills would have given Dempsey fits (like Tunney) - but what I have read lately, and now this clip, have me thinking differently about Wills technique.

[BroughtonRulesRefuge]

- I'm flummoxed Perno by your perception of size.

Firpo is not only thicker, but looks to be 6-2 to Wills listed 6-3 in height and often the taller man in their stances. Beats the hell out of Wills too who would seem to either lack basic defense after repeatedly whacked by the right hand or lulled into brawling with Firpo who actually makes Wills look like an amateur when he steps back in anticipation of a wide swing that misses and pulls Wills off balance.

I like many aspects of Wills, primarily his expansive, creative intellect in an era of gross black illiteracy. He was something of a health nut who was always in shape and did quite well financially for himself as did Joe Jeanette before him. Whereas bigger earners like Benny Leonard, Dempsey, JJohnson and Sam Langford struggled during the depression relative to their previous wealth. However, I've long concluded Wills has been overrated though he obviously was good enough to compile a fine record.

[Caractacus]

Did you notice the look on Dempsey's face when they were signing the contract in the film footage ?(like he was about to bust out laughing)
Like he knew that the $ 50,000 check was going to bounce beforehand when Wills tried to cash it( and probably the very same day)
also in my opinion Wills looks really concerned about something as he enters the ring to fight Uzcadun.

[Caractacus]

does anyone know about any newspaper interviews with Harry Wills about his career ?
I was reading the book UNFORGIVABLE BLACKNESS by Geoffrey Ward the other day,
and in one of the footnotes on the bottom of a page 280 ,
it quotes Harry Wills
as remembering back
when he was a sparring partner to Jack Johnson.
However for some reason the notation for it doesnt appear to have been cited in the bibliography.

I wonder if maybe there is an unpublished manuscript of his autobiography by Harry Wills somewhere out there ?
I had heard that Barry Gordy (the founder of MoTown Records)
purchased manuscripts of some Boxers for his collection.

[Caractacus]

watching this fight,it looks like Harry Wills got knocked out pretty much by his own favorite punch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBOUmkoI44w

BTW Is it my imagination or wasn't there footage of Harry Wills and Jack Sharkey bout on youtube not too long ago ?

[Caractacus]

BTW There had been a photograph of Harry Wills apartment building (as it looks today) which he had owned in Harlem NYC
( no. 245 at West 139th street)"Striver's row"
but I think the photo has been removed on-line

[Caractacus]

looks like Harry Wills did actually do a serialized news paper autobiography in some newspaper somewhere at some point.
but it is difficult to tell which one and when because the content is now being blocked.
hey Al Perno, any idea which newspapers this 10 part serial appeared in and when ?

http://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/ha ... es.459011/

[APerno]

looks like Harry Wills did actually do a serialized news paper autobiography in some newspaper somewhere at some point.
but it is difficult to tell which one and when because the content is now being blocked.
hey Al Perno, any idea which newspapers this 10 part serial appeared in and when ?

http://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/ha ... es.459011/

This is a footnote from Beyond the Ring, by Sammons: If Dempsey's Afraid, Let Him Say So, Collier's March 10th, 1926, Kennedy - the text suggests that this was more than just an interview regarding the possible Dempsey fight; he speaks of his fights with Jeannette and Lngford.

[Caractacus]

yeah,but if it was in 13 chapters most likely it was serialized in a newspaper.
( the poster had to search around for various chapters from what ever source it was that he found and apparently only found chapters 1,3,4,5,8,9,10,12,13
( are chapters 2,6,7,11 lost ?)
I think (possibly they were originally published in a newspaper geared toward the African-American community that was published in installments in 1926 and Colliers magazine may have just re-published condensed it into one article in Collier's magazine?
(maybe the editor did it because he thought Dempsey was a "slacker".
Kind of strange the source wasn't cited in Geoffrey Wards book and also we can not tell from what source
the person on the boxingforum24 forum even found it.Its been blocked out even from a scan of it ?

[Caractacus]

check out this round-by-round account newspaper article from September 1924 concerning the Wills vrs Firpo fight.

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid= ... 3215&hl=en

[Caractacus]

check this out A-TALE-OF-THE-TAPE of Harry Wills vrs Luis Firpo.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1924-Boxers-LU ... 1815604834

[APerno]

check this out A-TALE-OF-THE-TAPE of Harry Wills vrs Luis Firpo.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1924-Boxers-LU ... 1815604834

Great! - The guy seems to be selling photos of the original for $5 - I would love to own an original poster from the '20s - any size, any fight. - Firpo is an 1/2 inch taller?

[Caractacus]

Thought he would be a lot thicker then Wills too.

[Caractacus]

You've seen footage of Harry Wills training,now here is some footage of Jack Dempsey training.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyfdp6rF3hs

[Cap]

Re: Tex Rickard, I believe he also promoted the first "Fight of the Century" in 1906 between Joe Gans and Battling Nelson at Goldfield, Nevada. Sometime during the 1920s he was involved in a sex scandal over the alleged rape of a young woman. There was a trial. So he was distracted from his usual business.

As for Dempsey vs Wills, I'd have to side with Dempsey. Wills was a really good fighter but Dempsey was great. The poor showing Wills made with Firpo really killed interest in any fight with Dempsey. Money talks.

[APerno]

Wills did have one more shot at Dempsey (albeit not while he was champion). Rickard had stated that he hoped to match the winner of Sharkey-Wills with the loser of Dempsey-Tunney (I). Rickard had commented that he was willing to promote a Dempsey-Wills fight if it wasn't for the title, (but one can't really trust anything Rickard says). Of course in the end Sharkey smacked the aging Wills around the ring (until Wills pulled a Tyson and got himself DQed) and for the most part ended his career.

It is really difficult to find any first hand info regarding Rickard's New York situation but I believe the rape charge was statutory not violent.

[Kalan]

Wills did have one more shot at Dempsey (albeit not while he was champion). Rickard had stated that he hoped to match the winner of Sharkey-Wills with the loser of Dempsey-Tunney (I). Rickard had commented that he was willing to promote a Dempsey-Wills fight if it wasn't for the title, (but one can't really trust anything Rickard says). Of course in the end Sharkey smacked the aging Wills around the ring (until Wills pulled a Tyson and got himself DQed) and for the most part ended his career.

It is really difficult to find any first hand info regarding Rickard's New York situation but I believe the rape charge was statutory not violent.

I don't believe any rape charges that were filed against Rickard.. Rival promoters wanted Rickard removed from the scene and bribed poor young women to accuse him of sexual offenses.. They thought even if it couldn't be proven Rickard's career would be ruined by the negative publicity.

If Wills had the personality and ambition of Jack Johnson he would've nailed down a Dempsey fight.. Especially after he beat Fulton.. Johnson was a dream for the press to interview with his confidence, colorful jibes, and his challenges hurled at Burns.. Wills lacked those attributes.. With all the talk of Wills fighting Dempsey, Johnson was a dissenter.. He said Wills lacked the skills or intellect, and had no chance to win the title.

[APerno]

I don't believe any rape charges that were filed against Rickard.. Rival promoters wanted Rickard removed from the scene and bribed poor young women to accuse him of sexual offenses.. They thought even if it couldn't be proven Rickard's career would be ruined by the negative publicity.

The charges were assault and abduction. - I am not sure what to think about these girls. Bribed, maybe? - Maybe just the sociopathic outcome of a horrible orphanage system. Regarding bribery: Rickard's lawyer certainly agrees with you.

I edited out the sections regarding the girls adventure that day and how they were found; they took off during a field trip.

I love the way the newspaper just gives out people's addresses. LOL

[Kalan]

I love the way the newspaper just gives out people's addresses. LOL

Newspaper reporters can be fukking scumbags who do the bidding of the wealthy.

[Caractacus]

I love the way the newspaper just gives out people's addresses. LOL

Newspaper reporters can be fukking scumbags who do the bidding of the wealthy.

They probably just do that in case any of their readers may have further questions that they may wanna ask (i.e vigilantes)

[Caractacus]

BTW How popular was Harry Wills with the African -American community in the USA.?
Joe Louis use to live on Sugar Hill(where Wills owned a 30 apartment building) after he became champ in 1937 but I don't think I remember him ever saying he ever even met Harry Wills.
Doesn't seem to me that any type "Harry Wills Mania" really ever caught on
He seems to have about as much charisma as Don Lemon of CNN news quite frankly.