How come we never saw Jack Johnson vs Harry Wills, or George Godfrey?

He could have done but what would it have meant?

Once Godfrey is on his feet he is too much for old Johnson.

 

Well Sam and Jack hated each others guts so I cant see Langford doing Jack any favours by welcoming him back to the big time,unless he relished the idea and probability of beating the gold toothed one up. I suppose its as you say a no win situation for a fighter ,if they beat Jack ,well he was an old man ,and if he cons and outsmarts them ,its how could you get beat by that relic?Similar to Liston and guys like Frazier,everything to lose and little to gain.

 

In fairness to Wills, he seems to have been willing to fight Johnson in 1921--why not? It was the state boxing commisssion which banned the fight.

I think those who see Johnson as persona non grata in the twenties are probably correct. Boxing was booming. Probably neither Rickard nor the other boxing bigwigs had any desire to see Johnson back in the mix, even in the probably unlikely event that he actually had enough left to give Wills, Godfrey, or Dempsey a tough fight.

 

You are well-informed. Suspiciously well.

 

Tom said he only took his clothes off because the part called for it,and it was only for a "short" time.Good film though ,it got me going!

 

Johnson wrote a biography called "Jack Johnson is a Dandy." He was trying to get a fight with Dempsey well into the 20's. As for Wills, Johnson was still in exile after the Willard fight, so maybe that is why they didn't fight before he went to prison. Johnson did pretty well against Willard considering his age, the exile, and the Havana heat.