Willard weighed 259.5lbs for Moran a year later, 20lbs more than he weighed for Johnson,and on film still looks pretty good.
Don't you think Willard would have upped the ante much sooner if it was a 20 round match. They had 45 rounds to go. No one runs a longer race at a faster pace than a shorter one. The fight came down to this. Johnson could not hurt or discourage Willard, but Willard when he opened up could hurt Johnson. Johnson often used clinching on smaller men to preserve his stamina and wear them out, while mixing in punches at the same time. Remember, many at ringside felt he was tiring vs an in shape Fireman Flynn of all people prior to the DQ! He was also tired and almost out of it after ten round vs. a heavier Jim Battling Johnson, and that one went 10 rounds. The arm injury which some say happened in the last round had something to do with it. But Johnson could not clinch and manhandle the much bigger Willard. For once, he wasn't in there with a super middleweight type, 5'9" white hope, or a tired old man who had not fought in 6 years. He had to fight! My suggestion to all is to ignore the press and actually watch the many rounds I posted. Who was the better in rounds 10-21, judge for yourself! After round 20 it was mostly Willard, and by the 25th round, Willard badly hurt Johnson with a body shot, foreshowing the end on a guy who mocked many in the ring and had it coming to him.
Many at ringside did not feel Johnson was tiring against Flynn and it's a strange opinion to have since Johnson did not lose a round against him.It was the stated opinion of the referee that Johnson would have stopped Flynn and that Flynn knew it and deliberately fouled out to save himself from an imminent ko.All verified in primary sourced quotes in Pollack 2nd volume on Johnson.The Reign.NB Flynn weighed 193lbs,[ hardly a supermiddleweight!"] which would have made him heavier than all but 2 of Jeffries challengers.lol Reports in Pollack's book of the Battling Johnson fight ,state," the Champion finished much the stronger of the two" "During the first three rounds he was obviously playing with his opponent. After that it was observed that he was only using his right hand. When the fight was over he complained that his arm had been injured. Doctors who made an examination certified to a slight fracture of the radius of the left arm. The general opinion is that his arm was injured in a wrestling match early in the week, and that a blow to-night caused the fracture of the bone." Less than a year later Jim Johnson drew with both Joe Jeannette and Sam Langford ,both of whom were nearer their primes than Jack Johnson and both of whom had been a lot more active than the champion. neither of them were fighting with a broken arm either!lol Johnson manhandled everyone he fought, including big challengers like Al Kaufman , Sandy Ferguson ,Sam McVey,Frank Moran,Jim Johnson .All young big challengers who stack up very well in size compared to the procession of aging lightheavyweights Jim Jeffries feasted on. I believe Jack Johnson fought a very brave fight against Willard .After 20 rds he knew he couldn't win and asked for his wife to leave the arena,he came up to scratch as every bell rang continued for another 6 rds and was finally worn down and ko' by a younger, stronger, fresher, bigger man,which has been the story of boxing throughout history My suggestion is posters read all they can about these fights especially the contemporary sourced reports by dedicated researchers such as Adam Pollack and Clay Moyle, watch the films that are available, and make up their own minds.
Why did Seyna list many sources at ringside who felt Johnson was tiring and doing a lot more clinching? Did Pollack even bother to list this in his book? If he didn't, it's dishonest journalism. I'll take the word over several who were there at ringside who said Johnson was trying ( This was an outdoor fight in the desert ) vs. a person who researched the fight 100+ years later. Also if you saw a longer version of the film, Flynn wasn't doing badly. Who was in the lead after 8 rounds mean NOTHING in a 45 round fight! Boxing history is full of fighters who took an early lead only to gas out later...even in the 15 round era. Again, this was 45 rounds. Johnson had not hurt Flynn, who was in shape. If Pollack says Jack Johnson finished the stronger of the two vs. Jim Battling Johnson, once again this is selective reporting because other reports say the exact opposite. Those at ringside felt the arm was hurt in the last round when the two hit the floor. More interesting is not one of the three judges gave it to Jack Johnson. One Judge felt Battling Jim was the better, the other two called it a draw. I have a hunch Jack's status might have influenced the judges a tad. I get it, whatever Pollack writes is candy to you. I didn't read the book, but if he leaves out the other side of the story, there's really no reason to buy it if you value accuracy and history.
Still waiting on that footage showing Willard landing all these punches through the first 20 rounds as you claimed Mendoza
You'll wait a very long time! I'm still waiting for all the $50,000 offers Johnson refused to defend his title against Jeannette,Langford and McVey . I've been waiting 2 years now!
Post them!Flynn did not win a single round.Flynn was bleeding heavily from the nose and mouth, Johnson was unmarked.The referee said Flynn fouled out intentionally to save himself from a ko! http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1912-07-05/ed-1/seq-12/ https://news.google.com/newspapers?...AIBAJ&sjid=bQMGAAAAIBAJ&pg=4148,1733364&hl=en boxing writer T.S. Andrews reported on July 5, 1912: The fight was scheduled to go forty-five rounds, but in the ninth Capt. Fornoff of the state force, personal representative at the ringside of Governor McDonald, declared that it was no longer a boxing contest; that it was a brutal exhibition, and that Flynn's foul tactics made its continuance impossible. He jumped into the ring with his deputies and drove the fighters and officials who followed him to the corners. Referee Ed W. Smith then announced that Johnson had won and the fight was over. Flynn displayed no ability throughout the fight. He was cut about the face until blood ran down his breast in a stream. He was utterly helpless from the first round on and by the sixth was deliberately trying to butt the champion's chin with his head. Time after time, as Johnson held him powerless in the clinches, Flynn jerked his head upward. Smith warned him repeatedly, but it did no good. In the seventh he began leaping upward every time he could work his head under Johnson's chin. Flynn's feet were both off the floor time and again with the energy he put into his bounds. Sometimes he seemed to leap two feet into the air in frantic plunges at the elusive jaw above him. Referee Smith forced Flynn back toward his corner half a dozen times. "Stop that butting," he would say, shaking his finger in Flynn's face. "Stop it or I will disqualify you." "The — Negro's holding me," Flynn roared back. "He's holding me all the time. He's holding me like this," and he offered to illustrate on the referee. Smith evaded the blood smeared arms held toward him and waved the men together again. In the next clinch—it was in the eighth round—Flynn flung himself upward again. Smith jumped between them and warned him once more. "Next time you do it I'll disqualify you," he shouted at Flynn, but changed his mind, for it happened again and again in that round and repeatedly in the ninth before the police took a hand. Through it all the champion was grinning. He evaded Flynn's attack with the utmost ease, whether the Pueblo man led with his hands or with his head. Only once in the rounds did he show any wish to end the fight, and yet ringside opinion was unanimous that he could have put Flynn out at any time he happened to fancy, whether in the first or the ninth round." Three impartial contemporary reports of the fight above.All say Johnson was toying with Flynn. This content is protected The police chief who stopped the contest did so because he said "it had ceased to become a contest"! Waiting for your response showing articles to the contrary!lol
The Johnson Flynn bout was a massacre. Flynn did not win a second of that bout. Aside from occasional body blows which Johnson keenly muffled Flynn rarely landed a blow. And Johnson did not clinch. His opponents were always free to punch. Johnson controlled his opponents in close by clever defensive tactics.... sensing a blow and touching the elbow as it is thrown negating its power, as well as superb blocking. Denying the greatness of Johnson is an amateur opinion. Johnson was already crowned the greatest or one of the greatest hwt boxers ever to live by many experts in his time. This expert opinion of his incredible abilities cannot be taken away.
That will not stop Mendoza trying to do so at every opportunity! The referee's opinion of the Johnson v Willard fight.It appears rather different to Mendoza's ,there's a surprise! After the fight, referee Jack Welch said: "If I had been compelled to give a decision at the end of the twenty-fifth round, it would have been Johnson's by a wide margin. Up to the twentieth round, Willard had one won only one round by a real margin and two or three others by the slightest shade. In the thirteenth and fourteenth, I was almost sure Johnson would knock Willard out, but Willard showed that his jaw and body were too tough. Johnson put up a wonderful fight to the twentieth round, but age stepped in then and defeated him." It's amazing how bigoted hate can warp a persons views.
