Harry Wills vs. Fred Fulton
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Harry Wills 204 lbs beat Fred Fulton 210 lbs by KO at 2:35 in round 3 of 12
- Date: 1920-07-26
- Location: 1st Regiment Armory, Newark, New Jersey, USA
- Referee: Harry Ertle
- Fulton Purse: $25,000
- Wills Purse: $10,000
- Fulton was a 7 to 5 favourite going in. Advance ticket sales amounted to well over $60,000. Some 10,000 fans were turned away.
- Wills said he expected to weigh 214 lbs.
- The day before the fight Jack Johnson, who had been arrested upon crossing the border from Mexico, was taken from a train in Chicago and hustled off to Joliet prison.
- Jack Dempsey sat at ringside alongside singer Al Jolson and was impressed by the size of the crowd. Interviewed immediately after the fight he expressed surprise at Fulton's poor showing, observed that Wills was very slow on his feet, and suggested that Frank Moran, who had also fought on the card, could easily lick the "black panther".
- According to Robert Maxwell of the Philadelphia Ledger in the third round Wills reached out with his left and encircled Fulton's waist and then let fly with 3 short hard rights to the body that took all the air out of Fulton.
Prior to the match, World Heavyweight Champion Jack Dempsey said he would like to meet the winner, even if it were Wills. The very next day, it was announced that Dempsey would fight Billy Miske.
Report in the NY Evening World: [1]