"The facts clearly show that in 1926 I tried desperately to arrange a fight with Harry Wills but the deal collapsed when my guarantee was not forthcoming. Wills and I had signed to fight with a promoter named Floyd Fitzsimmons of Benton Harbor, Michigan. Wills, I understand, received fifty thousand dollars as his guarantee for signing the contract. I was to have received one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars in advance of the fight. As the date of the fight grew nearer and my money did not appear, I became anxious and asked Fitzsimmons what was the matter. He wired me to meet him in Dayton, Ohio, assuring me that he would have the money for me there. I met Fitzsimmons in Dayton who handed me a certified check for twenty-five thousand dollars and a promise to let me have the balance almost immediately. I balked at that, demanding the full amount right away. Fitzsimmons tried to placate me by calling the bank where he said he had deposited the money. The bank, unfortunately for Fitzsimmons, informed him that it did not have that much money on hand, that there wasn't enough to cover the twenty-five thousand dollar check he had given me. Furious, I returned the check to Fitzsimmons and told him the fight was off. Later, the Fitzsimmons syndicate financing the fight sued me for failure to honor a contract. I won the case." -Jack Dempsey speaking on the Harry Wills fight. (1950)
Its also the 1926 Wills who would be badly beaten up by Sharkey that year and foul out to save himself from a ko. Dempsey after 3 years of inactivity could not catch the fleet Tunney , he would have no trouble landing on the much more stationary and slower Wills. Dempsey by ko, inside 6 rounds.It's a pity this fight did not take place in26, it would have significantly enhanced Jack's legacy and diminished Wills'.imo
Dempsey, mostly because he had a lot more left at this point. In 1919 or 1920, it'd be a lot more interesting
Dempsey dug his own grave by fighting Tunney, instead of the more qualified, but ready to be taken Wills! Come to think of it, every great heavyweight champion who drew the color bar, dug their own grave!
Fifteen years ago this was a spirited debate. But then recent footage of Wills was released and his stock suffered. Dempsey comfortably.
This. The Sharkey-Wills fight took place less than a month after the first Dempsey-Tunney fight and with the losses suffered by both Dempsey and Wills this effectively ended talk of a Dempsey-Wills fight. But it is most unfortunate that fight never took place. I believe a '26 Dempsey would stop a '26 Wills and perhaps it would be remembered as his signature win.
If all was fair in the world, it would have been Wills giving Dempsey a title shor. Don't forget, Wills' best wins were around 1915, the Firpo footage was 1923, he was almost certainly well past his best, any fighter would be that deep into his career. It's no wonder he had so little left by 1926.
I agree with most of the others here. Neither fighter was prime in 1926 but Jack Dempsey had more left. I think it is highly likely that Dempsey stops Wills in 1926. It is a shame the fight never happened - for many reasons.
I was thinking just that. He had to have seen Wills fight. Imagine the respect he'd have gotten if Jack had done it for his final effort announced of course to stir the public the most beloved sportsman in America the Ruth of boxing shattering the colour line for his final farewell.
