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| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Jess Willard |
| Nickname(s) | Pottawatomie Giant |
| Rated at | Heavyweight |
| Nationality |  American |
| Birth date | December 29, 1881 |
| Birth place | Pottawatomie County, Kansas, U.S. |
| Death date | December 15, 1968 (aged 86) |
| Death place | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 35 |
| Wins | 26 |
| Wins by KO | 20 |
| Losses | 6 |
| Draws | 1 |
| No contests | 2 |
Jess Willard (December 29, 1881 – December 15, 1968) was a world heavyweight boxing champion.
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A working cowboy, Willard did not begin boxing until he was almost 30 years old. Despite his late start, Jess Willard proved successful as a boxer, defeating top-ranked opponents to earn a chance to fight for the championship. On April 5, 1915 in front of a huge crowd at the Vedado Racetrack in Havana, Cuba, in the 26th round he knocked out champion Jack Johnson to win the world heavyweight boxing championship.
Johnson, perhaps his vanity wounded, later claimed to have intentionally lost the fight, but Willard is widely regarded as winning fairly.[1] Willard said, "If he was going to throw the fight, I wish he'd done it sooner. It was hotter than hell out there."
Johnson found that he could not knock out the giant Willard, who fought as a counterpuncher, making Johnson do all the leading. Johnson began to tire after the 20th round, and was visibly hurt by heavy body punches from Willard in rounds preceding the 26th round knockout. Following the fight, Willard was heralded as "The Great White Hope".
At 6 ft 6½ in (1.994 m) and 245 pounds (111 kg), Jess Willard was the tallest and the largest heavyweight champion in boxing history, until the 270 pounds (120 kg) Primo Carnera won the title on June 29, 1933, and the 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) Vitali Klitschko won on June 23, 1999. At age 37, Willard lost his title to Jack Dempsey on July 4, 1919, in Toledo, Ohio. Dempsey knocked Willard down for the first time in his career with a left hook in the first round. Dempsey knocked Willard down seven times in the first round, winning the title when Willard was unable to continue after the third round. In the fight Willard suffered a broken jaw, cheekbone, and ribs, as well as losing several teeth. His attempt to fight to the finish, ending when he was unable to come out for the fourth round, is considered one of the most courageous performances in boxing history.
Considering that Willard was the favorite and the much larger man, the beating was to such a severe extent as to lead many to question whether Dempsey's gloves were loaded.[2] This was the subject of a 1964 Sports Illustrated article which contained an interview with Dempsey's manager. Jack Kearns, who claimed that he had placed a bet on the fight and coated Dempsey's hand wraps with plaster of paris[3]; however, Kearns made this statement after he and Dempsey had had a falling out. In 1964 heavyweight contender Cleveland Williams tested the theory by coating his bandages with plaster of paris, toasting them for 35 minutes, and punching the heavy bag five times. The plaster of paris had disintegrated.[4]
Nat Fleischer, later founder of The Ring Magazine, was there when Dempsey’s hands were wrapped: “Jack Dempsey had no loaded gloves, and no plaster of paris over his bandages. I watched the proceedings and the only person who had anything to do with the taping of Jacks’ hands was Deforest. Kearns had nothing to do with it, so his plaster of paris story is simply not true. Deforest himself said that he regarded the stories of Dempsey’s gloves being loaded as libel, calling them ‘trash’ and said he did not apply any foreign substance to them, which I can verify since I watched the taping.”[5] Historian J.J. Johnston ended all discussion when he pointed out that “the films show Willard upon entering the ring walking over to Dempsey and examining his hands. That should end any possibility of plaster of paris or any other substance on his hands.”[6]
Willard parlayed his boxing fame into an acting career of a sort. He acted in a vaudeville show, had a role in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, and starred in a 1919 feature film The Challenge of Chance. In 1933, he appeared in a bit part in a boxing movie, The Prizefighter and the Lady, with Max Baer and Myrna Loy.
On his passing in 1968, Jess Willard was interred in the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.
In 2003, he was inducted posthumously into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
| Preceded by Jack Johnson |
World Heavyweight
Champion 1915–1919 |
Succeeded by Jack Dempsey |
Jess Willard (December 29, 1881—December 15, 1968[1]) was an American boxer. He was the heavyweight best puncher in the world from 1915 to 1919. When Jack Johnson was the Black world champion, Willard was one of the many "White Hopes" who wanted to take the title. He succeeded when he beat Johnson by a 26th round out-cold punch in Cuba in 1915. He fought to keep the title and won once before losing it to Jack Dempsey in 1919.
| Preceded by Jack Johnson | Heavyweight boxing champion 1915–1919 | Succeeded by Jack Dempsey |
   | Biography of Jess Willard - THE CYBER BOXING ZONE |
| | Jess Willard's Boxing Gear at Kansas Museum of History - Cool Things, Boxing Gear, Kansas Historical Society |
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