Wills Fights Willard In 1919

For me, if Harry Wills had faced Willard, in 1919, then he gets a decision win.
Or maybe stops Jess late.
I don't see Willard getting a win at all.

 

Willard was getting sloppy, ready to be taken, and beatable at his best.

Wills would be hungry, and he would not be leaving anything to chance.

I think Wills probably prevails.

 

I'd say Wills only chance at victory would be by KO , he'd never get a decision. Could he do it? I'd bet that way

 

I could imagine the race riots if Wills won

 

If we could avoid laws of physics, we could travel faster than light, and explore the universe.

 

Very interesting and different thread topic:

One--Willard had drawn the color line and would not have defended against Wills. He would have defended against Fulton. Who would have won that fight in 1919? I think Fulton. What would Fulton have done? Fulton was from one of the most, if not the most, liberal states on racial relations in the country--Minnesota, which later produced Hubert Humphrey. He was a fighter who did not draw the color line and fought the best black men of his era, Langford, Wills, and Godfrey, as well as several others, including a KO of John Lester Johnson. So I think it very possible Fulton would have given Wills a shot, in which case the 1920 bout between Fulton and Wills is a title bout and Wills becomes champion at that point.

Two--accepting your premise that Willard gives Wills a title shot in 1919, I think Wills wins by KO, but it probably takes more rounds than it did Dempsey.

Who does Wills defend against? Fulton would probably get the first shot, and again their 1920 bout would become a title fight. I think it likely Wills would have given Langford a shot, just because he had been avoided for so long. The Norfolk fight would have been a title bout. Carpentier I think would still be in the title mix, and Battling Siki after KO'ing Carpentier might have gotten a shot. Those fights would have been in Paris rather than the US. I think Wills would probably have been an "international" champion. I think Joe Beckett would have been given a shot if the British wanted the fight, probably in London. Later Erminio Spalla might have been given a shot. Miske would have been in the mix, but his shot might have come later, after he KO'd ex-champion Fulton. Brennan? I don't know, as his record is spotty. He would have been in a mix with such as Bob Martin and Floyd Johnson. Willard might have been given a rematch.

Down the road, Firpo certainly, and Gibbons probably, would have gotten a shot. As would have Renault and eventually the winner of a Tunney-Godfrey elimination, as the aging Wills becomes more choosey. His fight with Weinert would have been a title bout.

Three--how long does Wills reign? Quite a while, I think. Upsets are always possible, but I think he would have kept the title until 1925 or 1926 when Tunney, Sharkey, or possibly Godfrey would have become too much for the aging fighter.

Four--how does Wills becoming champion effect boxing's popularity? Nat Fleischer believed Wills would have been Louis before Louis and the American public would have accepted him as champion. I can't see him becoming the idol among the white population Dempsey was, and he was simply not as exciting a fighter with as colorful a back story. But I think he would have been a more fighting champion. The explosion in gate receipts in the 1920's owes much to Dempsey, but it also happened in other sports. Massive new stadiums popped up all across the country. Most were built for baseball (Yankee Stadium) or college football. An Army-Navy game and a Notre Dame-USC game at Soldier's Field actually drew larger crowds than the second Dempsey-Tunney fight. A 1928 double header between the Yankees and A's at Yankee Stadium drew over 85,000, more than Dempsey-Sharkey and much more than Tunney-Heeney. So my guess is boxing would have had an explosion of popularity even without Dempsey, but Dempsey certainly gave it a charismatic boost.

Five--long term and historical impact. The color line would have come down earlier. The relative lack of top black fighters in the early 1930's might have been replaced by the Lewis-Armstrong-Robinson style competition of the Louis era. Top black talent would not have been cut off at the roots.

Six--a fighting champion by nature fights a number of lesser challengers, but I think Wills, despite second-tier challengers such as Spalla or Beckett, would also have given shots to men such as Renault, who was more deserving than Brennan, or Norfolk, who was at least as deserving as Carpentier.

 

Wills not getting a shot did not prevent the Tulsa riot of 1921, far worse than anything which happened after the Johnson-Jeffries fight.

*an aside. I would like to see the comparison between how many racial killings there were around July 4, 1910, versus how many there were for any other July 4. Racial murders were always common, unfortunately.

 

I have a feeling he reigns a few years, is slightly more active than Jack, but around 1925, his age catches up with him and a hungry challenger gets him. I could see maybe Sharkey of course.

 

I think Wills would have drawn the white line and held the championship until Louis came along in 1935.

 

It was those annual month-long periods of fasting which would have extended his career!