28 Facts About Jess Willard

Jess Myron Willard was an American world heavyweight boxing champion billed as the Pottawatomie Giant.

Jess Willard claimed the heavyweight title in 1915 by knocking out Jack Johnson.

The matter has never been resolved, with contemporaneous ringside sports journalist reporting in the New York Times that Jess Willard spat out at least one tooth and was "a fountain of blood" increasingly discounted in favor of a view that he had only a cut lip and a little bruising.

Jess Myron Willard was born on 29 December 1881 in Saint Clere, Kansas.

Jess Willard was of mostly English ancestry, which had been in North America since the colonial era.

The first member of the Jess Willard family arrived in Virginia in the 1630s.

Jess Willard said he started boxing because he did not have much of an education, but thought his size and strength could earn him a good living.

Jess Willard was a gentle and friendly person and did not enjoy boxing or hurting people, so often waited until his opponent attacked him before punching back, which made him feel at ease as if he were defending himself.

Jess Willard was often maligned as an uncoordinated oaf rather than a skilled boxer, but his counter-punching style, coupled with his enormous strength and stamina, proved successful against top fighters.

Jess Willard was charged with second-degree murder, but was successfully defended by lawyer Earl Rogers.

Johnson later claimed to have intentionally lost the fight, despite the fact there is evidence of Jess Willard winning fairly, which can be seen clearly in the recorded footage, as well as the comments Johnson made to his cornermen between rounds and immediately after the fight, and that he bet $2500 on himself to win.

Johnson found that he could not knock out the giant Jess Willard, who fought as a counterpuncher, making Johnson do all the leading.

Jess Willard fought several times over the next four years, but made only one official title defense prior to 1919, defeating Frank Moran on March 25,1916, at Madison Square Garden.

At age 37, Jess Willard lost his title to Dempsey on July 4,1919, in Toledo.

At one point Dempsey left the ring mistakenly thinking the fight was over, and under the rules could have been disqualified, but Jess Willard had economised by not employing professional cornermen and they failed to insist on application of the regulations.

Dempsey won the title when Jess Willard was unable to continue after the third round.

However, the extent of Jess Willard's injuries have been highly disputed and are now unclear since multiple independent reports only a few days after the fight said that there were no traces of any damage other than a couple of bruises:.

On May 12,1923, promoter Tex Rickard arranged for Jess Willard to make a comeback, fighting Floyd Johnson as part of the first line-up of boxing matches at the newly opened Yankee Stadium in New York City.

However, after Jess Willard took a beating for several rounds, he came back to knock down Johnson in the 9th and 11th rounds, and Jess Willard earned a TKO victory.

Jess Willard followed up this victory by facing contender Luis Angel Firpo on July 12,1923.

Jess Willard was knocked out in the eighth round, and then permanently retired from boxing.

Jess Willard parlayed his boxing fame into an acting career of a sort.

Jess Willard acted in a vaudeville show, had a role in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, and starred in a 1919 feature film The Challenge of Chance.

Jess Willard died on 15 December 1968, in Los Angeles, California, from congestive heart failure.

Jess Willard had been admitted to a hospital a week earlier for a heart condition, but left against a doctor's advice.

Jess Willard returned again after suffering a stroke and died 12 hours later.

Jess Willard's body was buried at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Jess Willard was a 6th great-grandson of the Massachusetts colonist Simon Willard.