Jess Willard

On April 5, 1915, in front of a huge crowd at the new Oriental Park Racetrack in Havana, Cuba, he knocked out champion Jack Johnson in the 26th round to win the world heavyweight boxing championship. Johnson later said he had intentionally lost the fight, despite the fact there is evidence of Willard winning fairly, which can be seen clearly in the recorded footage, as well as the comments Johnson made to his cornermen between rounds and immediately after the fight, and that he bet $2500 on himself to win.[7][8][9] 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 later acknowledged lying about throwing the fight after footage of the fight was made widely available in the United States. Shortly after the fight, Jack Johnson had actually accepted defeat gracefully saying, "Willard was too much for me, I just didn't have it."[10]

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. Johnson's claim of a "dive" gained momentum because most fans only saw a still photo of Johnson lying on the canvas shading his eyes from the broiling Cuban sun. No films of the fight were allowed to be shown in the United States because of an inter-state ban on the trafficking of fight films that was in effect at the time. Most boxing fans only saw the film of the Johnson–Willard fight when a copy was found in 1967.

Willard fought several times over the next four years, but made only one official title defense prior to 1919, defeating Frank Moran on March 25, 1916, at Madison Square Garden.

Panorama of Willard's title fight against Jack Johnson in Havana, Cuba, 1915

Willard and Dempsey before the World Championship Bout

At age 37, Willard lost his title to Dempsey on July 4, 1919, in Toledo. 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—although it should be remembered that rules at the time permitted standing almost over a knocked-down opponent and hitting him again as soon as both gloves had left the canvas. At one point Dempsey left the ring mistakenly thinking the fight was over, and under the rules could have been disqualified, but Willard had economised by not employing professional cornermen and they failed to insist on application of the regulations. Dempsey won the title when Willard was unable to continue after the third round. In the fight, Willard was later reputed to have 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. However, the extent of Willard's injuries have been highly disputed and are now unclear since multiple independent reports only a few days after the fight said that there were no traces of any damage other than a couple of bruises:

Willard (left) taking a punch to the chin from Jack Dempsey (right).

To take only one representative account, according to a reporter for the Topeka Daily Capital, July 16, 1919, p. 8, who interviewed Jess when he got back to Lawrence, "The ex-champion didn't have any black eye, nor any signs that he was injured in any way."[11]

Jess Willard

Concealed metal object theory

When interviewed by Harry Carpenter of the BBC Sport in the 1960s at his house in California, Willard said to the reporter, "I'll show you, how I was beaten." He then drew a metal bolt from a cardbox, saying that Dempsey held the bolt in his hand, not within the glove but at the palm of it, attached to the thumb sideways, and used the bolt rather for cutting-and-slicing-like moves to inflict blood-spilling cuts and pain, relinquishing it just as the bout was stopped, and according to Willard, the bolt was found on the floor of the ring at the end of the fight and he kept it. Mike Tyson, who studied the case in-depth and very thoroughly, later joined Carpenter to discuss the subject. Tyson, a great admirer of Dempsey's, admitted that "he just did whatever Jack Kearns told him to do" and "in those days anything could have happened", for that there was no agency or other legal authority at the time that was officially empowered to oversee and protect fighters from violations of such kind. However, footage before the fight shows Dempsey putting on his gloves with no additional objects and in full view of Willard, his team and the crowd.[12]

After losing his title fight with Dempsey, Willard went into semiretirement from the ring, fighting only exhibition bouts for the next four years.[2] On May 12, 1923, promoter Tex Rickard arranged for Willard to make a comeback, fighting Floyd Johnson as part of the first line-up of boxing matches at the newly opened Yankee Stadium in New York City.[13] 63,000 spectators attended the match, which the 41-year-old Willard was widely expected to lose.[13] However, after Willard took a beating for several rounds, he came back to knock down Johnson in the 9th and 11th rounds, and Willard earned a TKO victory. Damon Runyon wrote afterward: "Youth, take off your hat and bow low and respectfully to Age. For days and days, the sole topic of conversation in the world of sport will be Willard's astonishing comeback."[13]

Willard followed up this victory by facing contender Luis Ángel Firpo on July 12, 1923.[13] The fight was held at Boyle's Thirty Acres in New Jersey, in front of more than 75,000 spectators. Willard was knocked out in the eighth round, and then permanently retired from boxing.

• Aycock, Colleen; Scott, Mark (2014). Tex Rickard: Boxing's Greatest Promoter. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-9017-2.
• Baker, William Joseph (1988). Sports in the Western World. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-06042-7.
• Fleischer, Nat (1958). 50 Years At Ringside. Pickle Partners Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78720-476-8.
• Kent, Graeme (2005). Great White Hopes: The Quest to Defeat Jack Johnson. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-9615-3.
• Mace, Jim (1980). Life Story of Heavyweight Champion Jess Willard. J. Mace.
• Pacheco, Ferdie (2004). The 12 Greatest Rounds of Boxing: The Untold Stories. Pavilion Books. ISBN 978-1-86105-805-8.