Jess Willard Discussion

Think people are underated the 12 or ten rounds in regards to Willard.

For a ten round no bout, the Willard Moran fight, on Willards part was pretty impressive, keeping Moran away with his jab and out boxing him EASY imo.

That Willard would be hard to over come in a ten or 12 round fight imo. He had a higher out put in this fight than compare to the LONG drag out Johnson fight a few years early.

 

I don't think he was as bad as he is made out to be.

I'm probably the most impressed with him landing a couple of solid uppercuts on Dempsey after taking a brutal beating in the first round.

Throwing a powerful right hand to knock out Jack Johnson in the 26th round was fairly impressive as well.

Willard was one-dimensional and somewhat crude for sure but that's to be expected from a man who started at such a late age. He had a decent jab, a powerful uppercut and a right hand as well as some defensive skills, not just a granite chin.

His stance reminds me of Vitali Klitschko's, not that Willard was as well-schooled a boxer.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5730040963201343072
Video of the Willard-Johnson fight at 1:06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpZdSNB93Mo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFHAFNTjcSE

 

How many 45 rd fights did Jeffries have ,that went over 25 rds ?

 

Prior to being demolished by Dempsey, Willard had a solid chin. He'd never been knocked off his feet.

He had power. So much so, he killed a fighter John "Bull" Young by landign an uppercut that broke his neck.

He had the common style of the day - a stand up fighter who didn't move much.

Head to head, I'd say he loses to the best heavyweights, and I'd say Johnson were in his prime, he'd stop Willard.

 

I don't think he was ever likely to look especially good against a peaking Dempsey or highly experienced Johnson. But I felt he looked better against Moran than Johnson did.

Posters are talking about his size, strength, power and endurance, but what impressed me was how much faster and quicker he was than Moran. Defensively, he slipped, blocked and ducked Moran's haymakers well, and consistently beat Moran to the punch. Moran would start throwing a shot, then Jess would dart in and out with his own counter before Frank could get his up and away. A frame by frame review of the film strip made this readily apparent. His footwork was fine. He was no clumsy oaf.

All he needed to do to retain the title against Moran was last the distance, but he did well enough to earn a clear cut points verdict had it been a scored bout.

Had he started earlier, and held any passion for the sport, I wonder how well he might have done. His hand-eye coordination and reflexes were good, and he had tremendous natural health. (He didn't suffer from diabetes and acromegaly like Carnera did, or arthritis like Braddock.) Even against Dempsey, he didn't appear separated from his senses, but picked up Ollie Pecord's count right after that first massive hook decked him.

Nonetheless, he was a primitive hand wheeler at a time when the evolution of the sport was rendering that style obsolete. But his inherent physical gifts were as desirable and enviable as those of any heavyweight champion who's ever been.

Making him a Hall of Famer is excessive praise though. He was not the fighting champion Carnera was, and he produced just one win over a great opponent, only because that was a marathon bout in extreme heat against an aging and out of shape champion. To me, Carnera's wins over Sharkey and Loughran trump Willard's title win (and any belittling Paul Gallico subjected him to in print.)

Summing up, for potential I take Willard, for achievement, Carnera.

 

A 45 round fight is effectivley a fight to the finish.

If you can get past 20 you are usualy giving the other guy problems.

 

I think he would take Johnson at any era of Johnson's campaign. I think he would also take Jeffries in this regard. I guess that's how much I think of those two fighters.

And please, can we have a moratorium on posting any Ken Burn's footage. That was the worst hack job ever presented to the modern television audience. Pure idolotry more concerned with mythbuilding than critical analysis. Ughh.

 

I sure agree with you there...I could smell the stench of Ken Burns/PBS fawning and drooling a mile away.

 

Frank Moran was a noted puncher too.

 

I think his style would've always been a problem for Johnson, because his height and range would've forced Johnson to be more aggressive and get inside much more than he's comfortable with. Johnson generally preferred to fight shorter guys who came to him.

 

Johnson was decisively beating him through 20 rounds at the age of 37 ... it's a tough argument to make ...

 

Especially if you are up to 40 lbs the heavier man .I would say the chances are you will wear him down wouldnt you?
Add to that, being around 10 years younger might help.

 

How could you possibly miss a HW who was 6'6" and 240 pounds in that day and age? It would be like Valuev today, all 7' and 325 pounds of him. We may not like to watch his fights, but wherever the big man goes, he's followed and documented.

If Willard did indeed have unrecorded fights, it had to have been early on in his career, or while he was in the circus fighting exhibitions.