Fighters that shouldn´t have become champion but did

No it wasn't by any means but it certainly favoured Willard as Johnson would have probably won a 10 or 20 round bout.

Willard, during his reign, repeatedly refused to fight decision bouts scheduled for less than 20 rounds. He knew his strengths were in long, grueling fights. This is part of why Fulton-Willard never happened.

 

Jorge Vaca

 

Rene Jacquot
Babe Risko

 

My point is that its not like that distance was just arbitrarily set specifically for Willard. Just because Johnson had an advantage over a shorter distance (which was partly his fault for letting himself get out of shape) doesnt mean you just go ahead and schedule a short fight, like he did with Jim Johnson in France where the norm was 20 rounders not ten rounders. Hell, Tyson could still be a HW champ if he were allowed to defend over only three rounds, it doesnt work like that though.

 

Even with Johnson heavier than normal, Willard was still nearly 15 lbs heavier. Willard himself only went 20 rounds once in his career besides the Johnson fight (a fight he lost), and only went past 10 rounds 5 times in his entire career. Johnson had significantly more experience fighting long fights (he had won a 20 rounder 10 months prior to fighting Willard) and was far more proven in them.

That the long distance was somehow set up as an advantage for Willard is pure revisionist poppycock. There was absolutely no way anyone at the time that bout was set up could've viewed a scheduled 45 rounder as anything but an advantage for Johnson.

 

It should also be noted that while Willard was "chosen" as being the best white man capable of beating Johnson due largely to his size, Johnson probably wasnt exactly averse to fighting Willard who he must have viewed as far less experienced and savvy compared to some of the other who had been chasing Johnson for years. Like I said, Im not a huge fan of Willards, and I definately think he milked the war years but the guy was certainly more than a dub and he took full advantage of the opportunity when it came. At least he didnt win a robbery or something like that. You have to appreciate that he put an exclamation point on the fight by stopping Johnson.

 

Well, you had good arguments....I just questioned the title shot

 

Willard preferred 45 round bouts or fights to the finish, which speaks of his confidence when it came to his stamina.

He also refused to take on Fred Fulton in a decision bout unless scheduled for over 20 rounds.

It's not "pure revisionism", the 45 round distance was most certainly an advantage for Willard whether he had proven himself in such long bouts before or not. He himself knew it was to his advantage and proved it during the bout, knocking out Jack Johnson as the older, smaller man tired under the heat. His whole gameplan seemed to be based on surviving and doing as little as demanded of him in the early rounds, only to work Johnson's body and rough him up in the clinches after 20 or so rounds.

Willard was a decent fighter at best in 10 round bouts, but nearly impossible to beat in his time in a fight to the finish.

 

I enjoy reading your posts buddy...

 

But Johnson and co had the power to set the rules of the match. If Johnson wanted, he could have went for a ten or 15 round fight.

 

I don't know how the rules were set but during the pre-fight talk Willard seemed to bank on being able to outlast Johnson while Johnson thought the fight would end anywhere before the 25th round, ironically. He did not seem to regard Willard very highly.

 

Pretty much if you were champion, you and your party pretty much had the power to set rules, dates, how many rounds ete.

 

It's absolutely revisionism.

Johnson lost to a fighter he wasn't supposed to lose to. It happens to the best of them at one point or another. First, he said he threw it. Then, people make it seem like it was common knowledge that the 45 round distance was a setup for Willard to win. Why would Johnson agree to the 45 round distance if he himself didn't think he would still beat Willard?

I don't think I've ever seen a win devalued as much as this one.

 

Think you're going overboard with this.

Never said it was set up for Willard to win, but if you're looking for advantages then the 45 round distance was definitely in Willard's favour.

Johnson thought he would beat Willard easy, so whether it was 10 or 45 rounds wasn't really of any consequence to him, atleast so he thought. He also stood to make more film revenues if it went a longer distance. Interestingly, it was said that he made a 10,000$ bet on himself, which would pretty much disprove any theory of a fix, although this was not confirmed, only speculated.

 

Arturo Frias
Cassius Clay