Maybe Jess Willard was tougher than we thought

I read it and thought it to be quite pedestrian. Nothing new in there at all.

 

It brought Dempsey and the 20s back to life.

 

More Happy Harry Horse****!
Happy Boxing Day!

 

Do people really question Willard's toughness? I'd maybe question his ability or whether he even wanted to fight at all, but not his toughness. The fact that he kept getting up vs. Dempsey was either extreme toughness...or possibly masochism.

 

I also found it a very enjoyable read. And believable. It's truly astonishing the obstacles that Dempsey overcame to become a worldwide famous figure.

But you are talking to a stone wall with some of these guys regarding Dempsey; their hatred is so deep it cannot be rooted out by facts.

 

You're not a Dempsey hater to question myth. No doubt Willard was pummeled .. however to what degree were his actual injuries have long been open to debate.

 

Not when there are factual proof from even the man himself and EVERY witness. And there are pictures and every report of the fight and its aftermath. APPARENTLY IT IS AS CLOMPY SURMISES AND THE ENTIRE DECADE DEMPSEY FOUGHT INVOLVED A MASSIVE WORLDWIDE CONSPIRACY TO TAKE 1 YOUNG HOBO AND MAKE HIS LIFE INTO A "THE TRUMAN SHOW" TALE, WHICH WILL THEN BE SECONDED AD NAUSEUM FOR 10 DECADES UNTIL AN INTERNET SLUETH OR SLUETHES COME UPON THE HIDDEN TRUTH.

 

I prefer Roberts' book, even Jack's various autobios,Thomas' read, some of Fleischer's stuff. I'm very excited that Pollack is doing a book on him. He takes a scholarly approach that writing on the sport very much needs.

 

The great jim Murray interviewed willard...jess Willard still bitter....willard had him feel his cheekbone area; " it was caved in. His face is still lopsided. "

 

Dude you know your bananas, right ?

 

I am actually virilently against woody allen and pedophiles. I am for Mr. Woody Hayes and The Ohio State University. Howard Cosell was in "Bananas" though. He did NOT win an academy ave award .

 

Here are some Hate Facts regarding Willard after the July 4 fight in Toledo.

Willard's own corner men said the injuries were greatly exaggerated by the press.

He wasn't even taken to a hospital after the fight but to his rented house where his wife alone tended him.

According to the New York Times, Willard was absolutely fine on July 6th, and began his drive back to Kansas the following day.

Here's a wonderful from RichHuff from back in the day...

"A statement was issued after the fight by Jim Byrne "official physician to a local athletic club in Toledo" that Willard had a dislocated jaw, a fractured cheek bone and several "mashed" ribs and that it would be "at least six weeks before Willard is back to normal condition and can move comfortably." This was reported in the Kansas City Times, July 8, 1919, p. 10 "Willard's Jaw Dislocated.”

Pacheco and other reporters based the extent of Willard’s injuries off of this widely distributed report by Byrne who was not a physician. However it soon turned out that Jim Byrne was not a doctor, but was rather a "rubber" in a bathhouse in Battle Creek, Michigan. According to the reporter in an article, "Willard's Jaw is All Right," Kansas City Star, July 8, 1919, p.11, Byrne "doesn't know a nickel's worth about the human anatomy."

Other reports also make it clear that Willard was not as severely injured as has been claimed. An interview by a reporter from Kansas City on July 5, 1919, "Jess Refuses to Alibi," Kansas City Star, July 6, 1919, p. 14, the day after the fight, showed that "aside from the swelling on the right side of his face, which is under cold applications, he was none the worse apparently for his encounter with Dempsey."

In an interview on July 7, the Kansas City Times announced that Jess and his wife were leaving Toledo and driving their car back to Lawrence, Kansas that day. His condition seemed to be fine. "The swelling over his left eye had entirely disappeared and the only mark he bore was a slight discoloration over the eye and a cut lip." ("Willard starts for Home," Kansas City Times, July 8, 1919, p.10).

Another reporter interviewed Jess in Chicago on his way home. "Hello, Jess" said the reporter, "How do you feel ?" "Hello," said Willard, "I'm feeling great. Would you like to spar a few rounds ?" (Kansas City Star, July 10, 1919, p. 10).
"

 

RichHuff are you bullshitting me. The lying idiot who said his buddy Carl Crowley was set up by Don King on June 20, 1980 and personally picked up by him at the Cincinnati airport and set up to lose to Pryor in 20 ****in seconds. When actually DK was in another town that night dealing with another superfight besides the Pryor/Crowley bout. You know MONTREAL FOR LEONARD/DURAN 1?
ARE YOU YOU REALLY COMING AT ME WITH THIS WEAKASS MAKE BELIEVE ****?

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Actually funny too !

 

[url]https://flic.kr/p/2i5U5rz[/url]

That was published July 7 or 8 1919. I'll take the word of an independent third party who was there when it all went down as opposed to some archair boxing historian wannabe internet troll talking about the events 100 years later. Chip had been brought in to Willards camp as a sparring partner late in the training cycle to help beef up Willards poor staff of sparring partners. He had no personal attachment to Willard and no reason to be biased for or against him. He was merely a hired gun. I'll take his words over any of the hyperbole written about Dempsey decades later by people trying to build him up as some unbeatable monster.

And calling Kahn's book unbiased is the funniest thing Ive read in a long time. That book is the definition of a hagiography.