Wishful Thinking: Tale of the Tape for Fight that Never happened

[APerno]

[Duran1970]

rare to see a black man and a white man of similar height have equal reach

[APerno]

rare to see a black man and a white man of similar height have equal reach

I was surprised at the closeness in their height; yet Wills still looks to be the bigger man (chest wise and bicep). I couldn't find a date for this poster but I am guessing maybe 1926.

[pound per pound]

Are the listed reaches correct?

[APerno]

Are the listed reaches correct?

Good point, here are some Wills 'tale-of-the-tape' from the New York Times:

We got 84", 74", 74", 84" with the one at the top claiming 74" LOL -- These newspaper guys probably copied from one another so as usual, we know nothing.

[HomicideHenry]

Wills was taller than 6'2"... Discussed this in detail in another thread... He was closer to 6'4" than anything else.

[APerno]

Wills was taller than 6'2"... Discussed this in detail in another thread... He was closer to 6'4" than anything else.

Isn't it amazing how much bogus information fills the fight game; considering how the newspapers like to refer to Wills as the "the giant New Orleans Negro" having him listed as only a half inch taller than Dempsey makes no sense whatsoever. But for all the references to his 'immense size' not once did I ever run across an article that actually gave his height. Have you ever run cross a tale-of-the-tape that put him above 6" 2" ?

[Ambling Alp II]

The Boxing Register Hall of Fame book lists him at 6'4. He always looked taller than 6'2. I suspect that he wasn't really getting measured at all of these tale of the tapes.

[Cojimar 1946]

Heights tend to be exaggerated. It's extremely rare for someone's height to be understated. If Wills is listed as 6'2 he was almost certainly only 6'2 or even shorter.