This one s a bit of a intriguing fight for me. Willard who defeted Johnson in Havana vs the dempsey who lost to tunney in battle of the long count? Dempsey at this point still good enough to drop tunney taking on big jess who beat Johnson despite losing most of the rounds. As Jack still got it in him to replicate his destruction of jess or does willard beat this version of the mauler?
The Willard of Havana was motivated, fit, and four years younger than the version Dempsey faced in Toledo. He was in the best shape of his life and even at that was a year older than Dempsey of the long count. Toledo Jess was rusty from inactivity, poorly trained, and overconfident. Part of Dempsey's spectacular victory had to do with the element of surprise as Willard was not expecting this kind of fight from a challenger he held in such disdain. The Dempsey of 1927 was still capable of explosive power, as when he floored Tunney and KO'd Sharkey in his previous fight. However, he displayed that power in flashes rather than in a sustained attack like at Toledo. He still may be able to floor Willard, but if the 1919 Willard could keep getting up, so could the younger, fitter version. I don't see Jack scoring the likes of seven knockdowns in any one round or coming close to duplicating the carnage of Toledo. In fact, I find it difficult to picture 1927 Dempsey stopping 1915 Willard at all. Conversely, I don't see the younger Willard stopping the older Dempsey. Even the older Dempsey was still on his feet after taking a shellacking from Tunney in both fights, and even the younger Willard would not be grinding Dempsey down as Tunney did. Willard, even at his best, seemed content to hold off an opponent with his long left jab and wait for his opponent to come within range of his right uppercut. In fighting Johnson, Willard forced the champion to force the action, content to survive while wearing Johnson down until he could land the big one, which happened in round 26. After 20 rounds, Johnson was comfortably ahead. I would look to see Willard employ this same strategy here. Dempsey would certainly force the action and take the early rounds on boxing and work rate. For me, the question thus becomes, can Willard wear Dempsey down and land a KO punch late in the fight as he did with Johnson? While I believe that is a distinct possibility, I also believe much depends on the scheduled distance of the bout - a longer bout favoring Willard. Assuming fifteen rounds, the old Dempsey may hit the canvas a few times, but I believe he would have enough savvy and hustle to be able to last the distance and win a decision, much as Gunboat Smith outpointed a younger Willard over 20 rounds.
