Wills stood 6'2" and had a 76" reach. He was in shape around 215 and even 220 Lbs. He was only stopped 5 times in 103 pro fights but the KO losses were spread thruout his career. He turned pro in 1911 and his first KO loss came vs. George Kid Cotton who was not a top fighter. He stopped Cotton 4 times after this loss but that doesn't erase the loss. He fought Joe Jeanette 3 times. He went 1-0-2 vs. Jeanette but most reports have him beating Jeanette twice. He fought Sam Langford 15 times and got the best of him 13 times. He stopped Langford twice but was also stopped by Langford twice early in their rivalry. As time went by Wills did better vs. Langford and Sam McVea. He fought Sam McVea 4 times. He lost decisions to McVea in their first two fights. He beat McVea twice, stopped him once, and they fought to one NC (actually neither man was really trying and the fight was stopped). In 1917 he was stopped by Battling Jim Johnson. He also decisioned Johnson a couple of times. From early 1917 (following the loss to Johnson) to early 1926 he only lost once. The loss was a DQ to Bill Tate (Wills dropped him with a punch on the break). They fought to a draw 4 days later. Wills did beat Tate 4 times, 2x by KO. During this stretch he beat Battling Jim Johnson, Sam Langford, Sam McVea, Joe Jeanette, Fred Fulton, Gunboat Smith, Bill Tate, Kid Norfolk, Firpo, and others... many of them multiple times. Wills should have had a shot at Dempsey for sure. So, how does he do vs. James Toney. He's taller, has a longer reach, and is naturally bigger. He has good power but Toney is very durable. Wills was able to beat crafty fighters like Langford and McVea several times so I'm not sure what Toney could show him that would shock him.
We would be justified in favouring Wills, based on his incredible resume. He pretty much beat three of everything at heavyweight.
Wills fought some of the best heavyweights ever. What a resume. Shame he never got his shot against Dempsey, but Tex Rickard would not allow it.
Ray Arcel called Wills a 'very good journeyman.' It is very possible that a 'very good journeyman' of that era would be good enough to beat an elite fighter of this one.
I don't think it could even theoreticaly be argued that Toney had a better resume than Wills at heavyweight, or that you could class Wills as a journeyman without bouncing Toney even further down the terminological totem pole.
I was comparing their eras (the quality thereof) and not their respective lists of opponents. We are saying the same thing.
