Has Harry Wills been airbrushed out of history?

Yes, he was barred from attending NY venues. If i remember right, when Mickey Walker fought Harry Greb at the Polo Grounds, he had to fight without Kearns in his corner.

 

Yep, you've re-jigged my memory thats where I read it.

So why was Wills well regarded by 'Boxing people', who I assume had the same prejudices as the media? Why was Dempsey made an example or for not fighting him if Wills was thought of as these articles project?

Any info would be much appreciated:good

 

I don't know exactly who among boxing fans or the media shared prejudices. It was the media in fact, particularly in and around NY, that was very instrumental in pressuring the NY commission to mandate a fight between Dempsey and Wills. The commission had previously mandated a fight between them a few years earlier, but after the fight was signed and scheduled, the commission basically chickened out and scrapped it, and Dempsey went on to fight Firpo instead. Eventually, the commission caved to public and media pressure to re-mandate the fight, and that's what led to the controversy of 1924-26.

Also, not all contemporary sources shared a high regard for Wills' quality. Some did trumpet him as being genuinely great, but others criticized him for milking his ranking and avoiding other top contenders, and a number of his performances in the early and mid '20s were criticized as dull, ugly maul-fests. However, nearly all reports, regardless of what they thought of Wills' actual quality, agreed that he was the legitimate #1 contender and had been for some time, and it was that that unified them in their push to get him his well-deserved title shot.

 

Thanks.

 

It is difficult to rate Harry Wills, In his prime he was a tall heavyweight for his times, and was the eqal of Sam McVey, Joe Jeanette,etc.Probably in the style of Earnie Terrell, of later days. His style was probably made for young Dempsey, a large and slowish target,for the prime Manassa Mauler....Sidenote,As a young man, I would go to the wonderful Stillmans Gym weekly, in the 1940's, Oh was it paradise for me, and several times I would see a large grey headed man,in the seats watching the boxers....It was the old heavyweight Harry Wills, sitting just a few seats away from me......I loved Stillmans Gym, on 8th Ave, N.Y.C......Memories, and what stories.......

 

Hey Bokaj, Is"nt a picture of the young Battling Nelson on your logo?. If it is Battling Nelson, you chose the toughest lightweight that ever lived....

 

Burt, would love to hear about the Stillman days ...

 

It is indeed a portrait of the abysmal brute as a young man.

 

he grant, thank you for your interest in the old "M ECCA" of training gyms, Stillmans gym....I must have been in Stillmans Gym,200 or more times in the 1940,s decade, and I cherish the memories of those halycon days.....So many thoughts flood my mind, so where to start?. We watched the greatest fighters,of that golden age, training in two rings, at the same times. There were about seven or eightrows of seats, for the spectators, many of them top fighters,of the day, finished with their sparring, and also former champs of the past, seated right next to you.....I was thrilled as a youngster , being in the close company of these great fighters, who the day before I would read about in the sport pages......Lou Stillman would be seated on a high stool chair with a stogie in his mouth, cursing and intoducing the boxers,entering the rings...He ran a tough ship....I would see the top trainers,like Whitey Bimstein, Freddy Brown, Ray Arcel, Chickie Ferrera,etc.....There were telephones in the back wall ringing all the time. On the upper floor fighters would hit the heavy bags, and shadow box,etc I must have seen all the greats of the time, with the notable exception of Joe Louis.... Saw Jack Dempsey once.... People stared at him in awe, as I did....Enough for now...Burt

 

What did Fleischer think of Wills?

 

Dempsey would have fought anyone, but Tex Richard swore after the trouble of the Johnson-Jeffries fight :hi:and aftermath, that he would never promote another White-Black heavy title fight again.

 

the best nickname ever "The Abysmal Brute":blurp

 

and don't forget that except for John Henry Lewis, Joe Louis wouldn't defend against the terrofic black fighters of his era either until after the war he chose what was thought to be a pasthisprime Walcott.:deal