Harry Wills, where does he belong?

Around the top 10 certainly. I've seen him ranked around #6 or 7 at times, though he would probably feature slightly lower on my list.

 

He belongs among the top ten. It's a crying shame he and Dempsey never fought. I feel Wills would have beaten him, as did Dempsey's management and others, and while Dempsey wanted to fight him, his manager and Tex Rickard persuaded him not to fight him and fight Firpo instead. Another story had Dempsey ducking him, not so much because of his race, but because he felt Wills would beat him. Crying shame, because Wills is truely an all-time great and was the best heavyweight in the world at that time.

 

Wills, as fantastic a fighter as he was, is prone to get the sympathy vote.

There's nothing wrong with that; Wills was another classic black fighter who failed to get his deserved opportunity, but this has a disproportionately negative affect on Dempsey's legacy.

Dempsey's management was inclined to let the champ sit on his crown as he commanded the financial plane of boxing, and naturally, nobody likes this period, but the likes of Tommy Gibbons was certainly no slouch and Luis Firpo, take him how you like, was a solid fighter; a real trouble maker in his era.

Simply put, Dempsey impressed far more as a fighter when at the peak of his powers. The folks who saw and wrote about him in 1918/19 were not trying to protect his legacy for the proverbial 'web chat' some 90 years later. He was '**** hot' and turning respectable fighters into putty.

By contrast, Wills was a very talented and tough, if a little rough; less versatile and explosive. There was always a solid argument to claim a decent amount of adversity in Wills as an opponent, but not a victory to those 'in the know'.

Wills resume is deeper than Dempsey's but not more impressive when you directly compare performance vs. opponent. Wills started to put the hurt on Langford after Fulton had injured his eye, which greatly diminished him as a world class fighter.

 

Kearns Said He Was Going To Make Dempsey A Couple Warm Up Fights And Match Jack Against Wills Which Kearns Said Jack(would Have Put Wills Away) So Although Kearns Was Recently Fired If That Was The Managment Spoken About Above The Remark Is False.although It Wouldnt Have Been Easy I Think Even A Past Prime Dempsey Ko,s Him And A Prime Dempsey Does It Early,wills Was To Slow And Tried To Wrestle. Kearns Stated This Would Be Wills Problem Nobody Let Dempsey Inside And Stayed Standing Very Long

 

I have Dempsey in my Tier 3 at hw alongside Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Sonny Liston which means he would rank somewhere between 8 and 11.

 

Weren't we talking about Harry Wills?

 

Yeah, I meant Wills and wrote Dempsey. Don´t know why. Dempsey I have lower, Tier 4 equalling a ranking between 12 and 15 alongside with Holyfield, Tyson and Schmeling.

 

I like Dempsey against Wills ,Harry was a world class fighter for years ,but Dempsey did well with the bigger slower moving fellas,a late stoppage say 11th rd in favour of Jack .

 

Wills belongs in the top ten list of "What should have been"..... through no fault of his own.

 

The myth is that Wills was slow , like a Willard or a Firpo when that was not the case ... Wills was fast and large. Read C. Moyles book on Langford and see what Langford thought about Wills.

Harry Wills was huge, fast, tough, seasoned and hard punching ... he fought and defeated much better opposition than Dempsey did. It is a crime that Dempsey never fought him and a major stigma on his legacy. Think about it, he never fought the far and away number one contender for his whole title reign ...

Who would have won, who knows. Will was six or seven years older. Keep in mind Willard ducked him as well. I honestly do not know who would have won but to lump Wills in with the far less talented big men Dempsey beat is a little too convient for my liking ...

 

Personally, I see Dempsey winning a head to head fight. Even if Wills speed was underrated, Dempsey was faster and he ate up bigger, slower fighters like Wills because he could get inside and utilize an underrated tool- that he's one of the best short area punchers in the sport. I don't think Wills overwhelming him physically would work like it did on many of his opponents.

That said, Wills is getting due respect on here in terms on rankings. I think anything top 20 is a fair spot for him.