Jack Johnson verses Jess Willard

[johnsebastianmiran]

Johnson sold that story to a french newspaper in his later years. I don't think any real boxing historian finds it credible.

If you read Unforgivable Blackness, they paint a picture of a poor conditioned Johnson that went into that fight.

He had not had a real fight in a long time, he was overweight, and he was drinking and partying every night. And the fight was a condition of his re-entry into the US. Before the fight, the promotors knew that Johnson would be beaten by any legitimate fighter.

Whether he was poorly conditioned, there was a proverbial knife in his back and he wanted to go home considering that he was out of place in Europe and forced to act like someone he could never be. It was in some eyes too little too late. The curtain came down. As for the fix, 26 rounds is a long time to find out if the funds have been deposited. He should have done it before entering the ring. As for the reason he either got screwed or said he was screwed, the United States has come a long way with it's attitude toward racism and for all practical purposes, it's working it's way into the closet like some other prejudices used to be.

[Sand Man]

Johnson, on that day, could not touch Willard and he got hit by a big right hand from a 245 pound man after 26 rounds in the Caribbean sun. Game over for Johnson. Doubtful that Johnson would have gotten hit by that punch in his prime. Not so different than James Jeffries running out of gas and essentially collapsing from exhaustion on the "Great White Hope" fight some 5 years earlier. Jeffries took much worse beatings in his prime from the likes of Fitz and Sharkey and bulled his way to victories due to his massive strength and conditioning. For the Johnson fight, JJJ was a shell of his former self with no warm up fights. Big surprise that the fight ended like it did. Johnson was like Jeffries at the end - past their prime, out of fighting trim, and lost to age, essentially.

[beenKOed]

Johnson, on that day, could not touch Willard and he got hit by a big right hand from a 245 pound man after 26 rounds in the Caribbean sun. Game over for Johnson. Doubtful that Johnson would have gotten hit by that punch in his prime. Not so different than James Jeffries running out of gas and essentially collapsing from exhaustion on the "Great White Hope" fight some 5 years earlier. Jeffries took much worse beatings in his prime from the likes of Fitz and Sharkey and bulled his way to victories due to his massive strength and conditioning. For the Johnson fight, JJJ was a shell of his former self with no warm up fights. Big surprise that the fight ended like it did. Johnson was like Jeffries at the end - past their prime, out of fighting trim, and lost to age, essentially.

We all do, eventually. The supreme equalizer and the ultimate slap in the face, old age.

[Beanflicker]

I don't buy that "shielding his eyes" shit for one second. Even with the old footage, you could see Willard land that huge right FLUSH on the chin, and I've seen a TON of guys go down over the years who instinctively held their arms over their head due to being completely disoriented and going on pure instinct, even on the ground. He got knocked out, plain and simple.

And I don't get why he would brag about that, anyhow. I guess it was different and taking a dive was more accepted back then? But if a world champ got knocked out now and said "well I wasn't really knocked out I just threw the fight"... that would just make that fighter look 10x worse.