The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-07-07
wills MAY Be HARD,
! But | LIKE GIANTS"
DECLARES DEMPSEY
By FRANK G. MENKp

whats Harry Wills doing?" asked /.
Jack Dempsey.
told him the big negro was training
In New York-had been at work for
nearly a month, whiting away extra
poundage and getting down to battling
shape
Look good?" was Dempsey's next
question.
There was but one reply-and
made it.
Wills looks better now than Jess
Willard ever looked in his life. He's
faster than Willard or Fulton, has a
defense infinitely better-and he can
hit with either hand from any angle |
with splendid speed and accuracy"
Dempsey looked thoughtful. Then
he said slowly:
There's the bird 1 ought to fight. |
Everybody keeps saying Wills is such
great one that I'd like to find out |
for myself | guess lot of people |
have the idea that l haven't been
matched with him because 1 think
he's rather tough
Likes Big Fellows
NOW, that's where they've got me
sized up wrong. All my life I've al |
ways found my greatest fun in mixing
it with fellows bigger and tougher
than myself Whenever the chance
came to me as a kid to fight two diff
ferent fellows I'd take on the tougher
one. There'd always be a bigger
thrill for me afterward in remember
ing that had handicapped myself and
then won out anyway
y mo one ever accused me of being
Z afraid of Willard. From the first day
. / ever saw him | thought | could take
his measure. l thought the same way
about Fulton. And it's the same way
about Wills. He may be harder to
whip than Willard, Fulton. Brennan or
the rest-but | think l can polish
him off
He's big-perhaps has it on me %
pounds, three or four inches in height
and almost as much in reach But
all that stuff doesn't help a fellow
much if he gets socked good one in
the body-or on the chin
Wills Vulnerable
Between the two men-WiIlard and
Wills imagine Willard had the bet
ter record. Willard never had been
knocked down in his whole life until.
l met him. Wills has been knocked
out twice by Sam Langford. Harry
goes well against the big fellows but
not so good, as far as the records
show, against the smaller boys.
And I'm smaller.
L like to fight the big fellows. If
Wills were my own size, or little
smaller | figure I'd have more trouble
with him. But he's one of those giants
whose bodies can be reached with
straight drive and whose jaw is a nice
target for a lifting hook with either
hand.
Il never care much about what
fighter can do on the offense or de-
fensively What I'm most interested
In is whether or not he can take
walloping. Wills. everybody tells me,
can hit like a mule kicks and can box
cleverly and do all those things But
can he take it? Can he stand a socker
on the chin, or one around the ribs
and come right along asking for more
of it?
Can He Take 1t?
That's the big question. If Wills
can't take it, any fight with him would
not last long. But if he can take it,
you can bet every dollar in the world
that when we do get together there's
going to be g fight unlike any that's
bCC1 d1OU11u lHoS6 Ou1tGu 0GdLPS
for a long time.
I'm proud of my championship. l
want to retain it as long as it's human
ly possible for me to do it. So when
the day comes when I'm tossed into
the same ring with a man as good as
myself, or better. I'm going to fight for
victory until the last ounce of strength
is pounded out of me-
I've never held my opponent cheap
ly-and never will. But | don't think
the day ever will come when Harry
Wills can take a title away from me-
great and powerful though Wills may
be. AS far as I'm personally concern.
ed, I'd rather fight him just for the
chance to prove that I'm the better
man-just like I used to fight neigh
borhood kids back in my boyhood.
But I'm not my own fighting boss
now. As far as battling is concerned
Jack Kearns is the law. | can't fight
until he gives me the o. K-and he
hasn't wigwagged any yet concerning
Wills.
But I'm hoping the day is not fan
away when Jack will come along with
Get ready for Wills. The match
is made
''That'H be a happy day, for the one
big ambition of my life now is tc
prove that l can knock Wills over
board-and in something of hurry
Copyright 1921 by King Features
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