Wills Fights Willard In 1919

Kearns himself said it would have done 3million easy and he was probably right when you look at the hype around it, the anticipation, and what lesser fights of Dempsey's were doing.

 

Nope. All the gate, like I said END OF.

 

Not if he fought like a wrestler it wouldn’t have.

 

Ok say Dempsey doesn’t exist. I’m not going to wrap my head too tight on timelines here- I’ll just keep them the same as Dempsey.

Wills would beat Willard in 1919. I’ll say wide decision. Possibly late ko.
Now who does Wills face? Does he draw the Color line himself? Like Johnson? Perhaps his management does because it may not sell?

Does he face Greb? I doubt it - the size difference would be comical.
Firpo is probably never manufactured through Rickard. So he’s out.
Wills gets dominated as he did by Sharkey maybe a year earlier than he actually did. So 1919-1926 would he his reign.
Who can give him a challenge or defeats him.
My guesses are - Larry Gains, Johnny Risko, and Uzcudon. All mid 1920s heavies that could perhaps beat Wills. Uzcudon made short work of a past it Wills in 1927

 

Well thought out.

 

Greb has a right to the title shot. The activity level alone should warrant the shot. Even if Gunboat was washed up and Madden was a 3rd tier guy. (Wills also blasted out Gunboat and beat Madden)
I doubt Gibbons get the shot if the fight is on East coast. And Tunney didn’t arrive yet

How does the Wills Greb fight play out. Well to be honest I find Wills over rated but my knowledge of the man is not to the level of someone like Pollack. I base my judgement on the film of him and to be fair he is well past his date, both physically and probably with all the jerking around he received maybe mentally as well. And I’m not a fan as I have posted on the fact that nearly half his resume consists of the same 5 fighters.
Having said that if he was as good as some posters claim I would think after an ugly start his clinch style of grabbing and belting away would probably wear out Greb for a late stoppage. I can’t see Greb hurting him and how long can he out speed Wills over 15-20 rounds. Ceding to the experts knowledge I would pick Wills by a late stoppage to beat Greb in 20 or 22. It’s hard to pick Greb without footage of the man when both guys were beating the same opponents in dominant fashion but one guy is gonna have a 5inch 50lb advantage.

 

I would give the nod to Wills with a decision win over Willard. I suspect he defends his title successfully against aging former opponents like Langford, Jeannette, Tate and McVey. Tate began to figure him out and fight him much more competitively in their last couple of fights. Not sure if he beats Brennan, he probably loses his title to Gibbons.

 

I believe Wills would have had to fight the white challengers both for decent $ and get the title away from him.

It's hard to say how he might deal with the ugliness that would surely come. I don't see two black fighters fighting for the title being with much $ or bring tolerated.

 

Wills outboxes Willard and makes him look bad. He defends the title against Fred Fulton and knocks him senseless inside four rounds. He gives Sam Langford a shot, boxing in Paris or London and takes an easy decision. He gives Bombardier Wells and Georges Carpentier shots and easily whips both. Returning to America he beats Harry Greb like he was a little boy, knocks him out cold in three rounds. He then loses the title to either Jack Renault or Larry Gains.