Two dangerous Black heavies ,neither of whom got a title shot ,their careers overlapped ,Wills was the older ,born in1889,Godfrey in 1897.Mendoza's recent post about Johnson got me thinking ,why didnt these to meet? Theories?
here is why.......... " Baron Dougherty, manager of "Big Gawge," challenged Wills almost daily from 1923 thru 1926. Dougherty offered Wills' management their choice of terms-including "winner take all" and even offered Wills the entire purse (even if he lost).Philly promoters Herman Taylor + Bobby Gunnis pursued the match stating that it would easily do a quarter of a million dollars in the Quaker City where Godfrey was a huge box-office attraction. Tex Rickard tried to arrange the bout for New York to decide the "leading negro title challenger." Also California promoters were interested because Godfrey had become a terrific drawing card in L.A. and San Francisco. But the Wills management still refused. The sports writers pressed the issue but no got no response. Even the dean of America's black sportswriters, Rollo Wilson, claimed that Wills was ducking Godfrey"- Chuck Hasson Boxing Historian and Phillyboxing.com founder
