He beat Sam Langford beat, and drew with Dempsey, beat Jack Dillon. Drew with Miske, lost decisions to Harry Wills, Harry Greb. He fought under the name of Fat Willie Meehan. This guy had to have some skills, power was not one of them but look who he fought and did well against. What are you thought on him and how would he do today
willie meehan was a rugged roly poly boxer who was on the inside of his opponent all the time, smothering the other guy's punches,and difficult to hurt. He fought in the style of a later day Johnny Risko ,"the rubber man.He is most known for his four close four round fights with a young pre prime Dempsey, who would have caught up with Meehan in a12 to 15 round fight,and certainly would have KO'd Willie Meehan. Today Meehan would been a good tough trial horse, and tough to ko...
Fat Willie was I'm guessing in the same bracket as people like Joe Grim/Two Ton Tony Galento etc - simply refused to back down to anyone - won 4-rounders against Dempsey, (an out of shape) Langord in 1919 and Jeff Clark (The Joplin Ghost) in 1919, a 6-rounder (got newspaper decision) against Jack Dillon - incredible really Meehan vs Dempsey 4 round draw in 1917 "Belated rushes and wild swings by Willie Meehan availed to secure for that stout young man a draw against Jack Dempsey at Dreamland Rink last night. It was a good decision and a slow match. Dempsey worked a good uppercut in the first two rounds to take a shade, but Meehan rallied at the close to even the bout." San Francisco Chronicle 1917 6-round dec loss to Greb: Greb won the newspaper decision (Decatur Review) and according to the Philadelphia Public Ledger and Pittsburgh Post. According to the Post, Greb won every round by a wide margin. He peppered Meehan's fat belly and played a tattoo on his face. Greb stayed on top of Meehan constantly, damaging both of his eyes. Meehan landed punches (mainly with the open glove) and fought back all the way, but he couldn't hurt Greb, who rocked him time and again. Langford: San Francisco Chronicle reported that Langford appeared to be out of shape and that Meehan won easily. 10-round loss to Greb in 1919: "Greb won nine rounds." (Sandusky Register) The Pittsburgh Post said that Greb entered the ring with a black eye and two boils, yet won 9 of 10 rounds. Meehan won only the 9th, when Greb appeared to coast. Greb's best rounds were the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 8th, and 10th, all of which he won very decisively. The other rounds were close. Meehan proved to be quite mobile despite his fat mid-section. He threw a lot of leather and "hit Greb aplenty," but never hit hard enough to back Harry up. Greb almost disregarded Meehan's punches and threw his usual blizzard of leather. At time he had Meehan all at sea and won by plenty but Willie was never in danger of being stopped. 1919 10-round dec loss to Miske: Newspaper win for Miske according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Meehan was knocked down in the 9th and was barely on his feet at the final bell Fat Willie also lost a 4-rounder to Gunboat Smith In 1921 the great Tom Gibbons stopped Fat Willie inside a round - ref stopped fight after Meehan had hit the deck 3 times (not sure whether a 3 knockdown rule was in effect or whether the ref had just seen enough anyway?
Interesting comment on thetough and rugged heavyweight Willie Meehan. He fought the toughest heavies at the time,and gave them all they could handle.But one fighter he was soundly trashed by was a middleweight, and the most astounding and truly the greatest P4P fighter of them all,Harry Greb...To lick great bigger men like Tunney, Gibbons,Billy Miske, Jack Dillon.Loughran,Levinsky, Bill Brennan, etc.time and again, outweighed by 15 to 50 lbs. boggles the imagination, and oh yes with the sight of only one eye. Picture the great Ray Robinson, who I saw in his very prime, licking Ezzard Charles, Archie Moore,Harold Johnson, Lloyd Marshall,etc. Impssible to concieve...Harry Greb, one for the ages.....
Yeah Harry Greb was one of the true true greats - my dear girlfriend bought me Bill Paxton's book THE FEARLESS HARRY GREB Biography Of A Tragic Hero Of Boxing and it really is mindblowing - difficult for people these days to comprehend just how great a fighter he was - incomparable.
Willie Meehan was not actualy that fat if you look at pictures of him. Today he would hardly draw comment at heavyweight. Meehan. seems to have been a spoiler swarmer who swarmed on the retreat. Jack Dempsey rated him as one of the better talents of his era. This content is protected This content is protected
True for todays standards, he is not fatter than James Toney but back in the day fighters like Dempsey were ripped
The top picture was actually taken when Meehan was a middleweight. So factor that in with the fact that he looks "soft" and then add another 30 plus pounds of fat within a couple of years. He was definately fat. Keep in mind that the guy started fighting at about 98 pounds and I have the photos to prove it.
there is no film of willie so we can only imagine. I see him as a fast handed clever mauling armpuncher type. dempsey could realy fight inside so willie must have really had to go some to win exchanges against jack. willie must have been more than the joke act some people dismiss him as. he would be smart enough to close the distance without getting hit then use his bulk to knock the other guys balence whilst flurrying away. old booth fighters were expert at using the first punch just to get inside then claim and maul away. there are tactics out there that can nuetralise beter talents who are going for the knockout. if you can frustrate the other guy by limiting what he can do and look only to score rather than KO him a crafty salt can beat a beter talent over a shorter distance. im sure this is the guy willie was.
