, 1923-09-25
BY HENRY l..
UNITED Press Sports EDITOR

Press.)eWhen n court decided
that Hurry wills had no legal rights
force his way into q contest for
the worlds heavyweight champion.
ship with Jack Dempsey he lost
what little chance he had remaining
for the title.
wills may 20 held up as a martyr,
in that circumstances seemed to
initiate against his chances to win
tho championship and a fortune. bu.
when the facts are considered dis
passionately the big colored fighter
has no one u blame but himselfY
He had many supporters up to the
time he sought to prevent the Demp-
sey-Firpo fight at a time when all
the arrangements had been com
pleted and when Tex Richard had
spent more than 10000 in prelim-
mary arrangements. 1t placed him
in the position OF a bad sport and 1t
cost him a lot Of public sympathy.
Had wills been that aggressive in
forcing the issue . year ago he
would have had a crack ut Dempsey
before Flrpo and he would have had
n better chance to win the cham
pionship two years ago, because 1t
Is known that he has slipped con-
~siderably in the last year. It Is only
natural that he could not retain
whatever form he possessed without
fighting.
Firpo worked himself into q bout
for the title by building himself up
on a lot of fights. He wanted a crack
at the championship and he sub
mitted Il the process OF being built
up to the position of the logical con-
tender by fighting everyone he was
asked to meet.
Wills would have had the bout a
long time & II no had agreed or
been willing to the same thing.
When he started out to build himself
up. he made himself look bad. es-
pecially in the bout with Glenn John
son, and he apparently decided then
that he had only n shot in him
and that was good for a losing end
with Dempsey.
He was offered SO. 1000 to meet
George Godfrey in one of the bouts
on the MIX Fund show. where Firpo
and Jess Willard appeared. but he
turned down the offer saying that
he vas too good to appear in any,
thing that looked like a preliminary.
Firpo might have considered him
self as being better than a prelimi-
nary fighter. but he had business
enough to see the opportunity
OF making such a good showing that
the fans would consider him the
best of the lot on the card.
Wills could have gone on in a pre-
urinary and he might have made
such a fine showing that the crowd
would have given tho verdict that
Willard and Firpo we're both hams
and that Wills was the zeal contend
er for the title.
The colored fighter would have
been asked to meet Flrpo. but It is
almost sure that he would have re-
fused.
Floyd johnson, tho young Iowa
heavyweight. was willing to fight
Wills. and several promoters were
willing to offer a fancy purse. but
wills would not consider the fig hit.
While other ~contenders were fight
ing around and trying to force
themselves into a title bout, Wills
sat back and wept that he was be-
ing given a raw deal. but he made
no move to help himself and in the
boxing game there are few helping
hands extended for anyone.
There has been some talk of a
Dempsey-Wills fight in Tia Juana
this winter, but Jack Kearns does
not consiGr It a possibility.
wills is not a drawing card in
California. He has made most Of
his bad fights out there, and the Pa
cific Coast fans would be mare In
terested in Dempsey-Gi bbons return
bout, which is now being considered.
Wills is still n card in the east,
but not as good as he was a year
ago. There is no place in the east
in which tho bout can be held and
the longer It remains in the making
the less interesting It will become.
Don't be fooled by talk that Demp-
sey is afraid OF Wills. The cham.
pion has ever spent his own money
trying to get Wills into tho ring,
but he got no help from his chal-
lenger.
When Dempsey and wills ignored
the agreement to meet for a promo
ter who would submit the best
terms. Jack Kearns tried and spent
money to get promoters interested
but he couldn't get \ response from