Posts from ethanedwards in thread „Jess Willard“

  • Jess Willard

    JESS WILARD


    Information from IMDb


    Date of Birth
    29 December 1881,
    St. Clere, Kansas, USA


    Date of Death
    15 December 1968,
    Los Angeles, California, USA (cerebral hemorrhage)


    Nickname
    The Pottawatomie Giant
    The Great White Hope


    Height
    6' 6½" (1.99 m)


    Spouse
    Hattie Evans (13 March 1908 - 15 December 1968) (his death) 5 children


    Trivia
    Was elected to the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame in 1977.


    World heavyweight boxing champion from 1915 to 1919. Is the tallest heavyweight boxing champion in history.


    Inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame, 1989.


    Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, 2003.


    In the months leading up to his legendary fight with Jack Johnson,
    Johnson ran his mouth about how he was going to destroy Willard,
    someone he considered to be a joke of a fighter.
    However, Willard got the last laugh when he literally knocked
    Johnson out cold in the 26th round (The longest ever prizefight under Queensberry rules).
    When later asked why he didn't respond with insults back at Johnson,
    he said "I let my fists do the talking.".


    Became a professional boxer at 29.


    Knocked out Bull Young and Young died of a broken neck.


    Scored a stunning upset by knocking out champion Jack Johnson
    to win the heavyweight title in 1915, ending Johnson's 7-year reign.


    Suffered a broken jaw, knocked out teeth, broken cheek bones,
    a broken nose, broken eye-socket, and broken ribs in his title loss to Jack Dempsey.


    Made a comeback at 42 and knocked out number 2 contender Floyd Johnson in an upset.


    Lost his last fight at age 42 to Luis Firpo by knockout.


    Fought Victor McLaglen circa 1911. Eventually, McLaglen abandoned the ring for acting. Interestingly, in 1909, McLaglen had boxed in an exhibition match against heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, the man Willard beat for the title in 1915.


    Mini Biography
    Boxer Jess Willard went down in history for three things:
    being the tallest world's heavyweight champion in history until Primo Carnera
    wrested that title from him; losing his championship belt to Jack Dempsey
    in a controversial title bout that saw him knocked down seven times in the first round,
    leading to rumors that Dempsey had "loaded" his gloves;
    and being The Great White Hope (1970)" that brought the the
    heavyweight crown back to the "white race" after being in the possession
    for seven years of grinning gold-toothed, black-skinned Jack Johnson,
    an African American who committed the sin of being proud to be a man of color in racist America.
    (See Ken Burns's documentary Unforgivable Blackness:
    The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2004) for the story of this remarkable man.)


    Standing nearly 6'7" tall, Jess was a professional horse wrangler
    from rural Pottawatomie County, Kansas who did not take up boxing until he was 28 years old.
    The "Pottawatomie Giant" came up through the ranks quickly and in 1915,
    faced Jack Johnson for the title at the Oriental Park Racetrack in Havana, Cuba.
    Johnson was in exile from his home country, which had persecuted him under the Mann Act
    (which prohibited the transportation of prostitutes across stat lines)
    for his other unpardonable sin at the time, his love of white women.
    (All three of Johnson's wives were Caucasian.)


    In the brutal heat and humidity of Havana, Willard knocked out Johnson in the 26th round
    and became heavyweight champion of the world, a title he lost four years later to Dempsey.
    He will remain a footnote in American history for being "The Great White Hope"
    for as long as racism mars American society.
    IMDb Mini Biography By: Jon C. Hopwood


    Filmography


    Actor
    1919 The Challenge of Chance...Joe Bates
    1915 Heart Punch (short)


    Self
    1933 The Prizefighter and the Lady..Himself - Ex-Heavyweight Champion (uncredited)
    1919 Willard-Dempsey Boxing Contest (documentary)...Himself
    1916 Willard-Johnson Boxing Match (documentary)
    1916 Willard-Moran Fight (documentary short)...Himself
    1915 Willard-Johnson, World's Championship Fight (documentary)...Himself


    Archive Footage
    2004 Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (documentary)...Himself
    2000 Kings of the Ring: Four Legends of Heavyweight Boxing (TV documentary)..Himself
    1999 The Sweet Science (TV series documentary)
    1977 Knockout (documentary)
    1976 ABC's Wide World of Sports (TV series)
    1970 Jack Johnson (documentary)..Himself
    1968 Legendary Champions (documentary)...Himself
    1941 The Great American Broadcast..Himself - Prizefighter (uncredited)