The sun., 1919-07-05

| by virtue of his knockout over Jack
johnson, the Galveston black. in the
| sun baked arena in Havana four years
ago, Ia shorn of his laurels, and Jack
Dempsey stands king Of the roost in the
heavyweight division.
From a popular viewpoint there VII
| be few to regret the passing of the
champion. Wizards sole bid for popu-
larity was his wrestling back the heavy
weight crown for the white race. Neither
during the bout with johnson nor before
nor since did he show anything worthy
of chasing him among the greatest
heavyweights OF the game. willard
bulked big ; that was ALL
Though not a great champion. Willard
was a most unusual one in that he was q
giant among men. In stature and avoir-
dupois he was the biggest modern ring
man ever to hold the title.
In addition to his great stature. which
early gained him the appellation OF The
Tall Pine of the Pottawatomie." Jess
Willard was a remarkable champion in
more ways than one. The Big Fellow
entered the ring long after the age most
athletes take up fsticuffs. His record Is
unique in the fact that he never took
part in a preliminary bout Rising on
the puSilistic horizon at the height OF
the White Hope craze, Willard had a
sure call for his services, and he never
| had to accept an offer for a bout that
| was not the headliner on the-card.
Willard's correct age is purported to
be 81 years. but there are many rea-
sons to Indicate he already has reached
| the forty year mark. Jack Curley, one
of Wizards former managers, says Jess
was 90 years old before he ever drew
on a boxing glove. That was in 1910.
Hence. according to Curley. Willard was
| 80 years OF age when he made his first
| public appearance.
That bout was on February 15, 1911,
with one Lewis Fink. in Sapulpa, Okla.
Willard knew nothing about boxing and
the promoter put him on merely because
he thought the giants great size would
| be an attraction. In fact Willard was
| so green that in aimlessly swinging his
| long arms he struck below the belt and
Fink was awarded the fight on a foul.
Jess Turns Tables.
Two months later Willard had Inn
| proved 80 much in his boxing that he
knocked Fink out in three rounds. He
also stopped Ed Burk In three, AL Ma
| demo in four, Joe Cavanaugh in eleven
| and Bill Shiller IN four. All these men
were totally unknown to fame and were
| merely novices like Willard himself
ring by winning the popular decision
over Frank Lyon and Mike Comiskey
In 1912 Willard began by stopping
John Young and Frank Bower in quick
time and then he came 10 New York
| in search of bouts with the best men
In the White Hope class.
No one in New York had heard of
what Willard had accomplished in the
West and when he asked for a chance to
lek ~
laughed at the big fellow. for Willard,
having a good opinion of himself. de-
clined to take part in a preliminary and
| demanded a star bout.
First Appearance Here.
Wizards chance to show in the big
city came when Billy Gibson. then man.
ager OF the Garden A. c.. put him on
with Arthur Pelky in one OF three star
bouts that made UP the show. Wizards
= tremendous proportions attracted q
great deal of attention, but he did not
display any remarkable amount of abil-
ity in that AFFAIR. But he managed 10
outpoint the slow moving Pelky in a
| slovenly fought contest, In which neither
man sustained much damage.
At that time Luther McCarty was
looked upon as the leading white hope.
ger. but the former demanded more for
his end than Gibson thought the ma tch
was worth. While waiting for the deal
to 60 through McCarty jumped at the
chance to pick up a little loose change
| by boxing Willard, whom he looked
| upon as an easy mark.
But the big fellow proved to be any
thing but n setup. For seven rounds
McCarty rushed and swung. while VIII
los lAa Wa.a1 h. -, H.
at his opponents earnest efforts to bring
him down with left and right swings to
the Jaw. BY the time the eighth round
opened McCarty had worn himself out
with his fruitless efforts to connect SOL
idly on the grinning giant.
( Then Willard suddenly stopped block
ing and began to do some hitting on his
own account. He brought into view a
remarkably accurate straight left and a
lifting uppercut that rocked McCarty
every time it landed During the eighth,
ninth and tenth rounds McCarty, the
white hope champion. was outclassed by
the big novice and he was lucky TO be
on his feet when the Anal bell rang.
Jess Tackles the Gunner.
( That victory established willard.
None of the other heavies in New York
at the time could be induced To meet
him. 70 Willard drifted out West again.
where he stopped Frank Bower and Jack
Leon. better known az Ivan Linow, the
wrestler. In four and five rounds re-
spectively. The promoters on the far
coast had heard OF WIZARDS prowess by
this time. and sent for him to meet Gun
boat Smith.
willard and Smith were signed for a
twenty round 60 Smith weighed about
! $50 pounds but he was reputed to be
the heaviest hitter in the ring, and the
big fellow held him In such respect that
| he allowed the Gunner to steal the deci-
sion. To the ringsiders II was apparent
that Willard was easily the better man,
but the giant lacked confidence in him
self and remained on the defensive 40
! long that at the end there was nothing
for the referee TO do but award the de-
cision to Smith because OF the latter's
aggressiveness.
Willard lost considerable prestige as
Il result Of the affair with Smith. and he
fell still lower in the estimation of Cali
fornians when he allowed big Charley
Miller to get draw with him In a four
round bout. Miller was the joke OF the
ring In Frisco because of his crazy antics
but he was rough and game, He rushed
at Willard so furiously that Willard be-
came confused and actually turned his
back and stuck his head through the
ropes to escape from his opponents wild
swings.
The Young Fatality.
A, Rano UrIIIa ri ,ra, Sron, a, WI,