Read more
Jess Willard, the "Pottawatomie Giant," won the heavyweight title in 1915 with his defeat of Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion. At 6 feet, 6 inches and 240 pounds, Willard was considered unbeatable in his day. He nonetheless lost to Jack Dempsey in 1919 in one of the most brutally one-sided contests in fistic history. Willard later made an initially successful comeback but was defeated by Luis Firpo in 1923 and retired from the ring. He died in 1968, largely forgotten by the boxing public. Featuring photographs from the Willard family archives, this first full-length biography provides a detailed portrait of one of America's boxing greats.
List of contents
Table of ContentsForeword by Tracy Callis
Preface
¿1.¿The Defeat of Jack Johnson and the Triumph
the Great White Hope
¿2.¿Growing Up in Kansas and Boxing in Oklahoma
¿3.¿The White Hope Era (1911-1912)
¿4.¿1913: A Year of Consequences
¿5.¿1914: The Rise of Willard and the Destruction
Championship Boxing in California
¿6.¿Show Business
¿7.¿Back to the Ring: 1915-1916
¿8.¿The World War and Fred Fulton
¿9.¿1919 and the Battle with Jack Dempsey
10.¿Jess Willard Returns
11.¿Final Thoughts
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Arly Allen was president of Allen Press, Inc., a scholarly printer and publisher for many years until his retirement in 1993. He then began research on the early history of boxing and has published a number of articles on boxing. He lives in Lawrence, Kansas.
