Cowboy Wallace. After the scare he gave Arnold Cream (aka Jersey Joe Walcott), nobody wanted anything to do with the Cowboy. Arnold thought Wallace was dead on the ring floor. He demonstrated great relief when they finally revived him. Most boxers don't want a ring demise on their consciences, so they simply avoided the Cowboy. On the other hand, ALL professional Heavyweight boxers avoided me. None of them EVER fought me. That's 100% avoidance!
A word of mouth deceleration that may not have happened is all you have? The bottom line is Wills wasn’t ducked because Jack feared him he had a real chance against Firpo and made a fight between he and Dempsey unsellable. Maybe instead of sitting on his arse for near seven years feasting on no hopers he’d have had a better shot if he”d fought a live body like maybe Godfrey or Tunney?
Fake news. I’ve read the article. “Angry giant mugs Tunney in the streets!” You couldn’t stand the long count it filled you with a primal rage and so you took it upon yourself....
Go back and look at the many threads on whether Dempsey ducked Wills. This matter has been done to death, and the sources have been produced. I often defend Dempsey by the way. I am certain that the Fulton fight, the Norfolk fight, and the Firpo fight were all billed as title eliminators.
He spent seven of those years proving himself against nobody he beat no hopers and washed up worn out coloured fighters while ducking guys himself boxing isn’t a sport it’s a business and he made the fight unsellable.
Billed by who Janitor? Please go find the sources, I’ll wait don’t turn tail. I’ve got to ask why would Dempsey duck Wills for any other reason then being bad business?
Fulton was a live body. Tate was a live body. Norfolk was a live body. Firpo was a live body. Weinert was a live body. Just how many live bodies does he have to fight?
It’d be nice if they were actually a live body. Given the context of when he met them the best of the lot is fat Firpo! I’ll ask again why would Jack not fight the man? He drew the color-line to a bad business opportunity that’s it he wasn’t threatened by Harry.
Wills was obviously by far the most dangerous challenger available. A fight with Wills was not bad business, because he was being offered huge purses to fight him. Now the politics of the era are complex, and there are other reasons why the fight did not happen. However I must insist that Wills was shabbily treated, and that he was more than entitled to his title shot.
He certainly made bad business of it by ruining his chances against a fighter with literally no trainer. He spent seven years doing nothing he hardly deserves his shot he ducked Gene and Godfrey and let Greb fight the guys he avoided. He may have been the biggest threat. I can run with the narrative for a bit but here is the thing he was black for a start and put on all time great snooze fests when he had a chance at the big times so Jack just said no to a bad possibly risky payday.
He fought the fighters that he was told to fight in eliminators, and they were selected because they were seen as posing a threat to him. Clearly not because it was bad business sense. A fight with Wills would have probably been a career best pay day. That only leaves so many possibilities. Either Dempsey was wary of risking his title against Wills, or he was put under pressure by his management not to take the fight.
He spent seven years doing nothing? Just look at the number of fights that he was taking every year. The guy was literally fighting everybody who was willing. If he didn't deserve his title shot, then nobody in that era deserved a title shot! But he often wasn't putting on snooze fests. He had an explosive knockout win over Fred Fulton, in a title eliminator, and Fulton had been the betting favorite. Also several newspapers held polls among their readers, on who Dempsey should defend against next, and Wills usually topped those polls.