- Born
- Died
- Nicknames
- The Pottawatomie Giant
- The Great White Hope
- Height6′ 6½″ (1.99 m)
- 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
- SpouseHattie Evans(March 13, 1908 - December 15, 1968) (his death, 5 children)
- 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.".
- 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.
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