Norwich bulletin., 1914-12-04
HOPE OF WHITE RACE.
Jess Willard Only Prominent Hope to
 Meet Jack Johnson.

The heavyweight class will indeed be in sad state if Jess Willard fails | to humble Jack Johnson when they meet in the spring. Willard is the last of the white hopes. If he is elim- mated there will be nothing to do but sit back and wait until some hitherto 1 unknown boxer appears and has had time to gain the necessary experience. 1 By that time Johnson may be forced out by. old age and so escape meeting his finish in the ring.
 However, if Willard is the last. he | also appears to be the best of the lot. Beginning with Carl Morris, the orig nal hope, none of those who followed him has looked so promising as the big kansan- In fact, Willard is the first | Of the whites to be given even an out side chance of avenging Reno.
 Taking them in order of appearance, | there was Morris, big and game, but with nothing else to recommend him. He owed his vogue to the fact that he was giant. It was thought that only a man of unusual size would have a l chance with Johnson. One glance at his unathletic build should have been | enough to convince anyone that he would never do. but 1t took some time and many beatings before his follow CTS lost faith.
 About the time that Morris held | sway Jim Stewart, the Brooklyn | heavyweight, was quite prominent | Stewart had size enough and was ra- ther clever. but he had a glass jaw. | Weak eyesight also contributed to his downfall.
 Next came Al Palzer, another giant, He had great strength and ferocity
 but no headwork. Palzer might have gone far on his aggressiveness and lack | of training put an early end to his ca reer as hope.
 Luther McCarty was the next to jump to the front, McCarty had no particular weakness and no good quality that stood out. He averaged merely commonplace performer. He | owed his position to the fact that the l others were so poor
 Arthur Pelky, who was the cause of McCarty's untimely end, never did figure. The unfortunate accident that caused 1IcCarty's death brought Pelky considerable notoriety, of which he was not slow to take advantage. but | he never gave the least sign of any ability in the fighting line. | Gunboat Smith was the lightest of all the hopes now blighted When in l his best form Smith was spectacu- lar lighter With his arching swings and vigorous attack he waded through a long array of third raters whose | lack of defense permitted Gunboat to land his crude wallops. But smith | found his level as soon as he encoun- 1 tarcS a boxer who knew a jab from an uppercc& As a prospective opponent for dohnsS0 he was never taken seri- ously.
 l Frank Moran. who proved a mark for the black champion last summer never led the procession at any stage
 He was Johnson's own selection and was forced down the sporting public's | throat.
 This leaves Willard as the only prominent white to account for. So far as his past performances go. Will lard can point to nothing that distin- guishes him from the others who pre- ceded him. But Willard is the biggest
 of the lot, and the hardest hitter. So far as is known, he has never been l hurt.
 The ability to give and take are the 1 main factors in a finish fight such as the promoters have in view. In both
 branches Willard appears to be excep- tionally well equipped. This leaves Johnson with his superior boxing skill as his only advantage It will be the I first battle in which he has not had the physical advantage on his side.
 This may mean a great deal at his tadvanced age.