Did Fulton KD Willard?

Hard to figure without access to Rochester, Minnesota (not NY) local newspapers.

 

That would be news for me. Willard did had a good base and took a good punch, but with his defense, you'd figure someone could floor him. Fulton for his flaws could punch.

By the way Dempsey vs Fulton was filmed.

 

I dont believe so. They sparred together at Cookes gym in the Twin Cities in January 1913 and I believe this is the event that people discuss but Ive never read that Fulton knocked Willard down in the contemporary papers. In fact it was Willard who came away with a better rep as a result of sparring of course by that point Willard had two years of experience and Fulton was nothing more than a lanky, rawboned novice.

 

1915-10-16 Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY) (page 21)
New York, Oct. 15.--Fred Fulton, the Minnesota Giant, who says he defeated Jess Willard in an exhibition bout at Rochester, Minn., last spring, ...

 

1915-09-05 The Gazette Times (Pittsburgh, PA) (page III4)
WITH THE BOXERS
BY RICHARD GUY
Mike Collins, of Hudson, Wis., is the manager of Fred Fulton, the Richester (Mont.) giant, who is credited with knocking down Jess Willard in the second round of a three round exhibition May 14.


P.S. "Richester (Mont.)" is not my typo, but the way it was printed in the newspaper. Obviously, he meant Fulton's hometown Rochester (Minn.)

 

Id have to see more than Mike Collins word that it happened. Mike Collins being Fulton's manager and a promoter himself had an interest in building Fulton up. I havent seen any mention of it in any of the contemporary Minnesota newspapers. They may have sparred or even had a formal exhibition but if they did it certainly flew under the radar which is unusual since Willard had just won the title and was one of the most recognizable people in the country. He had just started his Wild West Show tour and he was being mobbed and written about everywhere he went.

 

Managers from that era have a history of embellishing spars etc.Joe Woodman did it to promote interest in a 2nd Johnson v Langford fight.I agree Fulton's pilot isn't exactly an objective source!

 

That's why I said we'd need access to local newspapers (there were at least two dailies in Rochester) to know if it's true.

 

I agree.

 

Collins was the one who started that story. It first appeared in June 1915 in a letter he wrote to the newspaper in Minneapolis. I dont have access to the Rochester dailys but I have one of the weekly papers from there and while they cover Willard being in town with his Wild West show they make no mention of him sparring Fulton or getting dropped. None of the other Minnesota newspapers I can search mention it either. Including three of the twin cities papers where Collins was based. Not until June when Collins writes his letter telling HIS story. I find it implausible that the newly minted HW champion who is on tour and being covered heavily would get dropped in sparring by a local guy and nobody would mention it. The Minneapolis paper didnt give it a lot of thought either because they made the comment that if it did indeed happen it would have been all over the wires.

 

It was common thing that while heavyweight champions (starting from John L., at least, and, at least, up to Dempsey that I'm aware of) were on tours of meeting all comers or theatrical tours that a lot of those bouts were only reported by local press. Theoretical assumptions don't work here, one needs to look up next-day local report(s).

 

Sullivan is a bit different though. We are talking about a more primitive time for the press. But, regardless of that fact, did either Dempsey or Sullivan get dropped in these exhibitions and nobody heard of it?

Then do it. I await your return. Until then its an unproven myth that even supporters of Fulton at the time took with a healthy dose of salt.

The only assumption here is that it actually happened. Some are ASSUMING that Fred Fulton knocked the HW champion down in an exhibition because a month later Fred Fulton's manager wrote a letter to his hometown newspaper trying to get Fulton publicity and said it happened even though nobody had heard of it. No. Im assuming nothing. Im just not willing to take the word of the only witness to date who just happened to profit financially from Fred Fulton getting publicity off of this story. And while we are talking about "common things" lets not forget it was a lot more common in this era for a manager to try to enhance his fighters reputation by making false claims about his prowess at the expense of a more established more experienced and more famous fighter. For every exhibition you can name that of Sullivans and Dempseys that wasnt reported outside the town it took place in I can name 20 instances of a manager claiming his fighter did something remarkable that he didnt do in order to sell him to them public.