"Jess Willard's Last Stand" -vs- Floyd Johnson & Luis Firpo 1923

Willard -vs- Floyd Johnson and Luis Ángel Firpo 1923
16mm Transfer & Restoration
10 Minutes, Silent & Sound

Jess Willard was one of those rare champions who manifested greatness in the single most important fight of his career. (Buster Douglas is another example that comes to mind.) Willard’s otherwise modest record crested on April 5, 1915, when he faced the seemingly unbeatable Jack Johnson for the heavyweight championship in Havana, Cuba.  After taking everything Johnson could throw for 12 rounds, the towering 6’6” Willard never lost his cool, and wore the champion down, knocking Johnson out in the 26th round.

During the four years that followed, Willard was, unfortunately, a complacent champion. He defended once in 1916 against contender Frank Moran, but otherwise chose to be inactive during the First World War and did not to fight again until July 4, 1919. In that historic match, challenger Jack Dempsey gave Willard the beating of the century; most of it in the first three minutes. It became the second fight Willard is remembered for. 

Comeback 

Willard’s career didn’t end there, however. The former champion had two more important prizefights, both of them four years later during his long forgotten comeback. On May 12, 1923, promoter Tex Rickard hosted the opening of Yankee Stadium with a huge boxing card that included heavyweight contenders Luis Ángel Firpo, Floyd Johnson and others, including Jess Willard. Jess had been lured out of retirement by Rickard with the prospect of a return match with Dempsey. “What people forget about Willard,” Rickard said before the bout, “is that he can punch.”

The event was a title eliminator and Floyd Johnson was matched with Willard. Burning with comeback fever, Willard shed 20 pounds, trained seriously, and appeared leaner than he had since his championship days. Still, the media was not impressed, and Johnson was favored to win easily. Not to be upstaged, Dempsey’s manager Doc Kearns even announced ahead of time that Floyd Johnson would likely be Dempsey’s next opponent.

The fight did not go as planned. From the opening bell Willard fought aggressively and dominated the action. By the middle rounds, the 41-year-old Willard appeared to tire, but he rallied back and dropped Johnson briefly in the ninth. Late in the 11th round, Willard scored again, decking Johnson with a smashing uppercut. Johnson got up and returned to his corner, but he was bloody and hurt and unable to continue.

Jess Willard, the Comeback Kid, had won on a TKO. It was sweet redemption, spoiling the party for Jack Dempsey’s next opponent.

"Youth,” wrote Damon Runyon in the New York American, “take off your hat and bow low and respectfully to Age." 

The Last Stand 

Willard was then matched with Firpo, who had knocked out Jack McAuliffe in three rounds on the same card. Two months later on July 12, 1923, at Boyle's Thirty Acres in Jersey City, New Jersey, Willard faced “The Wild Bull of the Pampas” with the winner to meet Dempsey for the heavyweight championship. Firpo, however, was a wrecking machine. Since arriving in the U.S. in 1922, the 6’2” powerhouse from Argentina had blown through the ranks, leaving a trail of knockout victims. For seven rounds Jess held his own (allegedly with a broken hand), but Firpo clubbed Willard to the canvas in the eighth and Jess failed to beat the count. 

The Films 

The Jess Willard-Floyd Johnson fight was filmed, but the knockout footage was either lost or never captured. The existing footage is raw and unedited, perhaps shot by a newsreel crew. I suggest this because the fight sequences are brief, as the photographer stops and start the camera to catch key moments of action. Fortunately the footage itself, taken late in the afternoon under clear skies, is well preserved and remarkably good quality. It shows Willard in good form, looking trim and fighting well against the young contender. I have included photographs of the knockout.

The Willard-Firpo fight, also seen here, took place at night under the stadium lighting. As far as I know, only a highlight of this fight survives.  It was widely distributed in 8mm and 16mm in the Monarchs of The Ring (Official Films) boxing anthology series beginning in the 1940s. The footage includes Firpo training, the referee’s the referee’s instructions, and the 8th round knockout. 

Ezzard Charles vs Rex Layne I 1951

Ezzard Charles vs Rex Layne I 1951
Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
October 10, 1951
16mm Transfer, 12 minutes

One would be hard pressed to find a more underrated boxing champion than Ezzard Charles.  One of the slickest boxers ever, his reign as Heavyweight Champion 1949-51 was one of the most active, exciting and yet remains in the purgatory of boxing history between the championship years of Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano.  There’s no shortage of footage of Charles online, but much of it is poor quality, or film of his loosing efforts against Marciano and Walcott.  Neither of those fights represents Charles at his best. 

vs Rex Layne I 

Charles had three fights with heavy hitting contender Rex Layne between 1951 and 1953.  Charles lost a decision to Layne in their second fight, and came back to outpoint Layne in their third match, but here in their rarely seen first fight, we get a look at Charles in his relative prime.  Both Charles and Layne had lost their previous fights, Charles to Walcott for the title, and Layne to up and coming Marciano, so their careers were on the line.  Charles fights here with poise and brilliant technique against the strong and relentless Layne.  Charles nearly finishes Layne in the 10^th, and the 11th round knockout is classic Charles.  Cool and unhurried, the finish is the work of a deadly craftsman.

The Film 

The fight, which took place at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, was photographed well on film.  Films like this one were customarily made by the venue, news media or the promoter.  In many cases, they are the only surviving footage we have of the non-title fights of the period. The print of this night time fight is clear and the angle provides a good view of the action.

Gene Tunney & James J Corbett Sparring Film, New York 1925

Gene Tunney and Jim Corbett Sparring
Putnam Building Rooftop
Times Square, New York City, December 1925
Grantlin Rice Sportlight Movie Series (Edit)
9mm Film Transfer  (Low Res)

The Boxers

References have been made over the years to a legendary sparring session between Heavyweight Champion to be Gene Tunney and former champ James J. Corbett, prior to Tunney’s first fight with Jack Dempsey.  A film was made of the meeting, but has not been seen for decades.  Several years ago and a film archivist discovered an abridged version of this movie on 9mm film, a small but format high quality format in the 1920s.  The Tunney-Corbett film was transferred to video for preservation.

The Meeting

According to published accounts, Jim Corbett was in Chicago for the Tunney-Risko fight of November 1925 and surprised Tunney in his dressing room after the fight.  Grantlin Rice arranged for the two to meet again in New York a month later to be part of his Sportlight movie series.  On the roof of the Putnam Building in New York’s Times Square, Tunney and Corbett sparred for the cameras, and the two staged Corbett’s demonstration classic boxing technique in slow motion.  Two very brief shots of Jack Dempsey sparring at what appears to be an informal outdoor gathering are also shown.

The Film

Historically, this is perhaps the best documented meeting between pioneers of both vintage and modern boxing styles.  Corbett is 59 years old and appears very fit, but I was most impressed with the fact that Corbett was taller than Tunney, and would have been even bigger in his prime.  Eight months after this film was made, Tunney went on to win the Heavyweight Championship from Jack Dempsey in Philadelphia.

I obtained what turned out to be a low resolution copy of this film.  Still, I made some adjustments to the exposure and image stabilization to make it as clear as possible.  I’ll be sure to post an update if a better copy becomes available.  Enjoy this rare gem of vintage boxing.

Max Baer -vs- Tony “Two Ton” Galento | All Rounds w/Interview

Max Baer -vs- Tony “Two Ton” Galento

(All Rounds w/post-fight Interview)

Roosevelt Stadium, New Jersey

July 2, 1940

16mm Sound Transfer 

This is an update to a previous post.

The Fight

The Max Baer vs Tony Galento fight film is a classic document of pre-war Sports Americana.  In 1940, Max Baer and Tony Galento, the two most colorful boxers of their day, met for a title elimination showdown in Jersey City.  It was a titanic slugfest.  The fight began even before the opening bell as Galento threatened Baer during the referee’s instructions. The two went right to work in the first round, with Galento on the attack. By round 3 however, Baer was taking control, fighting in flurries, in between clowning and taunting the relentless Galento.  After 7 rounds of bruising action, Galento collapses in his corner and cannot answer the bell for the 8^th.  It was Baer’s last victory.

The Movie

The film is noteworthy for several reasons.  The fight was among the best filmed bouts of the day.  It was also among the first fight films produced as the interstate traffic of boxing films was lifted.  For the first time since 1910, boxing films could be distributed across state lines and shown across the country.  As a result, fight films became feature productions in theatres, rather than simply newsreels.  In the decade prior to the television boom, movie audiences were treated to complete fight pictures only days after the event.

The Film

This footage in this video is taken from three sources and shows all rounds of the fight.  The opening potion is from a VHS copy that suffers from generation loss.  Despite the lack of quality, I thought it was important to show the ring intros and referee’s instructions, as it includes Galento’s trash talk and threat to get “twice as rough” as Baer, as if Tony ever needed an excuse.  The remaining (and superior) source footage begins after the opening bell, and is taken from an extended 16mm print, with Round 3 taken from the Castle Films highlight.  The final minute includes the famous “after-battle” interview with Max Baer, Lou Costello and Joe Louis.

Jack Dempsey Sparring with Big Bill Tate

Jack Dempsey Sparring with Big Bill Tate, June 1919

From Dempsey-Willard Fight Pictures

16mm Film Transfer

The Source

I saw this short film of Jack Dempsey sparring with fellow contender Big Bill Tate when it was posted on Youtube several years ago.  I’d never seen it before.  The quality was poor from multiple VHS copies, so I began a search for the source footage.  I discovered that the clip was actually part of the official Dempsey-Willard Fight Pictures, which not only included the Dempsey-Willard fight, but prefight footage of both Dempsey and Willard in training.   I recently acquired a short 16mm documentary on Jack Dempsey.   As I was scanning the footage to video, I discovered it included the same sparring session footage, and in excellent quality.

The Film

It’s less than two minutes long, but what a story it tells.   This is among the earliest surviving footage of Dempsey in action, and among the best single film of him in training.  Though Dempsey is 6’1” at 190 pounds, he looks like a middleweight compared to the 6”6” Tate, who was also a ranking contender.  Even after I adjusted the film speed to real time, Dempsey appears amazingly fast.  The boxers are clearly not going full out, but it’s a genuine workout, and not staged playing for the cameras.   Dempsey’s bob and weave style is on full display, as well as his brilliant footwork propelling him under and inside Tate’s persistent jab.  This is the first glimpse of modern boxing.

Tate was very agile for a boxer his size, though not particularly fast.  You can see the Jack Johnson-era influence in Tate’s style, and yet how effective Dempsey is in overwhelming him.  Tate and Dempsey were good friends and Bill was employed in the Dempsey’s camp through the championship years.  Tate retired along with Dempsey in 1927.

Tate was not only a crucial sparing partner in helping Jack to fight bigger men like Willard and Firpo, but he was also important in comparing Dempsey to Harry Wills, who was unjustly denied a title fight by promoters.   Wills and Tate fought six times between 1916 and 1922.  They were the same age, but Wills had more experience and won the early fights, two by KO and two by decision.  But as time went on Tate either improved or Wills declined.  For in their final contest in 1922, Big Bill, the man we know as Dempsey’s sparring partner, fought Wills to a 10 round draw.