Ring Marvel

The reign of Jack Johnson lasted from 1908 until April 5, 1915, when he was deposed by Jess Willard at the Oriente Race Track of Cuba, in the outskirts of Havana. Johnson, rated by most experts as the best all-around heavyweight since the Corbett-Sullivan bout, was born on March 31, 1878, at Galveston, and was known as the Galveston Giant. He developed the art of feinting to a high degree, had a rapier-like left and superb defense.

When he fell into disfavor with the U. S. Government, due to his escapades, he exiled himself following his bout with Jim Flynn in 1912 in Las Vegas, which was stopped by the police in the ninth round, with Jack the winner.

He went to Europe, where he lived a gay life, squandered his fortune and engaged in three title-defense bouts. He stopped Andre Sproul in two rounds, fought an unsatisfactory draw 'of ten rounds with Jim Johnson, and beat Frank Moran in twenty rounds. Then he went to Buenos Aires and disposed of Jack Murray in three rounds.

The champion, homesick, in poor physical condition at the age of thirtyseven, and in financial distress, was now ready to accept a bout with the outstanding Caucasian of the "White Hope" era. The Negro had the men who could stage the bout in Jack Curley and Harry Frazee, a theatrical producer. Big Jess Willard, the Pottowatomie Giant, was the choice of the promoters, and under a broiling sun Johnson was knocked out in the twenty-sixth round. The bout was the' longest under modern rules.

"The Battle of the Camera Shot" is what the Willard-Johnson affair might be termed, since the photo of the knockout has received more prominence in sports than any ever snapped in the roped square. It is the picture showing the Negro resting on the canvas, flat on his hack, shading his eyes from the terrific sun's rays, while Referee Jack Welsh is counting him out.

Had the arrangement been made for a twenty rounds bout instead of forty-five, the last such in boxing, Willard would not have captured the title. Johnson had a good lead at the time the affair was terminated. In the first twenty rounds, the Galveston Giant hit Big Jess with stinging blows frequently, but couldn't down him. He repeated to a great extent the tactics he had used to annoy Jeffries.

Jess was no boxer. He was an ungainly fighter who previously had lost a twenty rounds decision to Gunboat Smith and in 1914 was whipped by Bearcat McMahon in twelve. His size, more so than his fighting qualities, plus shrewd management, got him the shot at the title.

However, Jess worked hard to offset Johnson's superiority by employing a wearing -down system. He kept plodding and figured that with the extreme heat that lowered the vitality of the contestants, and with his weight and height, he would tire the champion. That's just what happened as the affair progressed.

In the ninth round Willard had a deep cut on his right cheek and was bleeding from the mouth. From the tenth round through the twentieth, Johnson made every effort to end the fight by a knockout and his performance in those rounds clearly indicated the falsity of the charge that he had faked his knockout.

In the twenty-first round it became apparent that Johnson had worn himself out. He couldn't go much further.

He had shot his bolt, tossed away his Sunday punch without being able to stop his rival.

He was slow in answering the bell for the twenty-sixth round, before which, realizing his condition, he motioned to his wife at the ringside to leave the arena as he didn't want her to see him knocked out. Jess met Jim two-thirds across the ring and let go a powerful blow to the face. Johnson's head snapped back. The Kansas Giant smashed home a right to the stomach.

That proved Jack's undoing. Another left to the same place, and as Johnson lowered his guard, a right to the jaw put him down. He was counted out by Referee Welch while Johnson was shading his eyes.

The detractors of Johnson point to the photo as proof that he "laid down" for Big Jess, and his "confession," purchased by The Ring Magazine tends to bear this out, though The Ring editor, who reported the fight and bought the "confession," is confident the affair was on the level and that Jack sold the "confession" because he was urgently in need of funds.

Johnson was far in the lead when he finally caved in from the heat, physical exhaustion, and the spurt of his rival in the fatal round. Johnson was killed in an automobile accident at Raleigh, North Carolina, on June 10, 1946.

It is quite a paradox that Willard, one of the poorest of the heavyweight champions, should have taken the crown from one of the greatest. Big Jess was a slow-moving pugilist who disliked training as much as he disliked the sport itself. He went into boxing to obtain what he could out of it financially and the lackadaisical manner in which he tuned up for his contests, his disinterest in camp life, proved costly.

He quickly left Havana for the States after winning the crown, got into entanglements with his group of managers and trainers, joined a circus group, and the following year, March 25, 1916, he fought Frank Moran in the old Madison Square Garden in a no-decision ten-rounder in which he could not lose the crown unless he was knocked out.

When he placed the title on the block again on July 4, 1919 in Toledo, he collected his largest purse, $100,000 and took a terrific battering from Jack Dempsey, losing the title by quitting at the end of the third round. Willard's heart was never really in the fighting game, but he displayed an abundance of courage and fortitude while taking his shellacking from the Manassa Mauler.

With his downfall, Dempsey, the most popular boxer since Sullivan's rise to fistic fame, was crowned king of the heavyweights.