"I would have fought Wills," Dempsey told the New York Post's boxing writer, in 1953, "but nobody would promote it. * When Wills challenged, Rickard would have nothing to do with the fight. * He said he had instructions from Washington not to promote a mixed bout for the heavyweight" Jack Johnson held the title from 1910 to 1915 and the big man's easy victories over a string of white contenders in that period had been unpopular--among whites, that is. * Moreover, come the Twenties, the hooded gentry was riding high, bed sheets flapping in the wind, and lynching fever was strong in the South. * The bigger brains in Washington quite likely did fear that a mixed heavyweight fight would fan the flames. The New York Boxing Commission, well this side of the Mason-Dixon line and with the eloquent James A. Parley to carry the gloves, plumped hard for the fight. * Dempsey always believed this stemmed more from a large respect for the black vote in New York than anything else. * "The thing became a political issue," Dempsey told Buck. *"the public was being told by the commission I had to fight Wills and those same people would tell me in private they knew the fight would never be allowed to happen." Dempsey continued "I then tried finding other promoters but everything always fell through. Even though I wanted the fight to happen I could not find a way to make it happen."
Boxing sages better informed than you or I long ago acknowledged that Wills was poorly treated by white America, and long ago took all available evidence and exonerated Jack Dempsey from blame. Even Wills bio at the International Boxing Hall Of Fame points the accusing finger at the New York Governor while acknowledging Dempsey's willingness to meet Wills. TIMELINE Nov 1918 - Kearns refuses to allow Dempsey to fight Jeannette, citing the colour line. July 1919 - Dempsey wins title and is attributed with having drawn the colour line. July 1920 - Dempsey, still to defend his title for the first time, erases the colour line and says that Kearns had advised him that inter racial matches were bad for boxing. He announces himself ready to fight any man. July 1921 - Jack Johnson, released from prison, stirs up a hornet's nest by challenging Dempsey. Dempsey responds by emphatically refusing to fight Johnson, but says "There is nothing to this talk about me fighting Jack Johnson. I am confident the public don't want this fight, and while I will govern myself to a large extent according the the public wishes, I can't see my way clear to fight Johnson or any other colored man." Dempsey takes this opportunity to pay Wills a glowing and public testimonial. Feb 1922 - Dempsey publicly declares that there is no drawing of the colour line as far as Wills is concerned and that he wishes to fight him. Feb 1922 onward - Newspapers continue to buzz with Dempsey v Wills and Dempsey never again draws the colour line. Meanwhile, State Athletic Commission Presidents, State Governors, owners of the New York Polo Grounds, etc., etc., do everything within their powers to frustrate attempts to make the fight happen. These are the facts of the situation, and have been for the best part of ninety years.
