The distance might be as important as the talent . Wills has much the better record, Willard didn't really put his heart and soul into the game. For Jess to have a realistic chance he would have to be as in shape and motivated as he was in Havana, even then a prime Wills probably outboxes him imo.
I was much more fluent in my knowledge of this era when I last posted on this thread so I'm gonna stand by what I said previously.