Lennox Lewis vs the best of Jess Willard

Dont think I’ve ever seen Willard sloppier than Lewis and Vitali when they fought.

Willard had a fantastic chin.
He hit like hell.
He had really good punching technique later in his career.
Really good stamina for his prime.

 

Which other 6’6 250lb SHW could go 26 rounds with JJ?

These guys today are having cardiac arrests before round 5.

 

A fat and disinterested and old Johnson? Plenty.

It's funny you think so much of Willard when no one around in his own day thought much of him outside of his size.

Again, who was Willard's 2nd and 3rd best victims?

Can you imagine a Lewis or Klit or Bowe or even Fury or Joshua being outboxed and beaten by a .500 light heavy?

 

A fat and disinterested Johnson?
That’s your summary of a ATG legend who fought 26 hard rounds and landed multiple impressive volleys against a prime huge SHW? FoH.

No one around him thought much of him?
That’s some terrible research on your part. He was highly thought of by many while he was green, while he was champion, and even up until the time he fought Dempsey.

But of course Willard’s existence threatens your idolship of Lewis and Klitschko.

Here’s some medicine for this delusion:


———

Eddie Santry, former featherweight champion, and the referee of the fight in Fort Wayne, had a different view.

He's about the best there is right now, through still green. I was in the ring and right close to the men all the time and will say that Willard hits harder than any heavyweight in the game today. Fitzsimmons, when his hands were good, could not hit with more pile-driving force than this fellow. Jess was under wraps all the way with Bauer for fear of injuring him, but at that he shot over a couple of right-hand uppercuts that would have stopped less gamer ring men than the St. Charley heavy.
I never saw a boxer improve as fast as Willard. He's got a nasty left hook developed, the short kind, you know, that does not have to travel far to hurt. And his right uppercuts and crosses are stunners. He does not waste punches either, and when he starts one, it's a good bet it will land. There is none of the old-woman milling style with him. He did not pull a punch from his hips in the fight. All of them were the snappy kind that you see champions use.
I do not hesitate to say that I think Willard can trim Jack Johnson in the latter's present condition.
I saw McCarty fight a couple times, and if Willard can't beat him, then I never had a boxing glove on. Willard is bigger and tougher and a harder hitter than McCarty, and I actually believe he can out-box him too.

Looks like someone who actually knew boxing was passionately impressed. The beautiful part is that despite this account being 100 years old, it stands up incredibly well as a measured analyses.

 

Okay so the formula is that if you are biased against a fighter you don’t like, you collect all the negative adjectives describing them, and you discard the positive?

That’s so dumb though.
And inaccurate.
And unjust.

Alright then.
I guess Wladimir Klitschko was:
“T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E.”
And that Primo could “Beat him from the grave.”

You’re better than this.
You should read the new book on Willard.

 

Why do modernists only refer to HWs being fat if they fought before the 80’s?

Post-80’s, I guess fat fighters were:
Powerful fast twitch super hypodextriois technically advanced spigots of immortality!!! Can you feel the power!?!!??

 

To add more food for thought:

Writers were celebrating and lauding Willard’s return to the ring when he fought Dempsey. They were crowning him with prestigious descriptions as the king of the sport.

Jack Dempsey was terrified of Willard. He was seriously afraid that he was going to die. He did not look at Willard during the faceoff. His early finishing performance was motivated out of fear. All while you modernists pretend to know better than Dempsey, and that a little flab in Willard makes him shot, while lauding Tyson Fury.

If you want to read about a legit SHW champion from 100 years ago from guys who don’t get their rocks off on Lewis and Klitschko, I highly recommend the new Willard book. It provides the depth unjustly stripped of him through the decades of Sugar-esque boxiana.