In the end, what most likely doomed Wills was white America's lasting bitterness over Jack Johnson. Before he died, Dempsey said they couldn't find a city willing to host the fight.
"(Tex) Rickard wanted to make (it), but there was no place you could put it on," Dempsey said. "I wanted to fight him .... (But) they wouldn't let you fight no place."
Wills was able to fight a number of white contenders. He knocked out Fred Fulton and Gunboat Smith and dominated Luis Angel Firpo in a no decision fight. But he mostly was relegated to fighting the other great black heavyweights of his day over and over again. He made it on this list because he dominated those matches.
He fought Langford 22 times, going 6-2 with 14 no decisions. He was 3-1 against the great Sam McVey and had a knockout win over Kid Norfolk. Wills held the World Colored Heavyweight Championship three different times.
When the Dempsey fight didn't happen, an aging Wills took on a rising Jack Sharkey, losing by disqualification in a fight he was getting beaten badly and then getting knocked out by Paolino Uzcudun. Those losses ended his championship hopes.
| Harry Wills | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Significant Fights | |||||||
| Opponent | Result | Fight Points |
Title Points |
HOF Points |
Total | x Win % | Final Total |
| Joe Jeannette | Draw | 50 | 25 | 75 | 80.00% | 60.0 | |
| Sam Langford | KO-L | -25 | -25 | -25 | |||
| Sam McVea | UD-L | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Sam McVea | UD-W | 90 | 50 | 140 | 86.67% | 121.3 | |
| Sam Langford | UD-W | 90 | 20 | 100 | 210 | 90.48% | 190.0 |
| Sam Langford | KO-L | -25 | -25 | -25 | |||
| Sam McVea | KO-W | 100 | 50 | 150 | 84.27% | 126.4 | |
| Sam Langford | KO-W | 100 | 20 | 100 | 220 | 86.75% | 190.9 |
| Sam Langford | KO-W | 100 | 20 | 100 | 220 | 86.18% | 189.6 |
| Sam McVea | UD-W | 90 | 20 | 50 | 160 | 83.33% | 133.3 |
| Jeff Clark | KO-W | 100 | 20 | 120 | 88.06% | 105.7 | |
| Jeff Clark | KO-W | 100 | 20 | 120 | 82.67% | 99.2 | |
| Sam Langford | UD-W | 90 | 20 | 100 | 210 | 84.02% | 176.4 |
| Jack Thompson | UD-W | 90 | 20 | 110 | 62.07% | 68.3 | |
| Sam Langford | UD-W | 90 | 20 | 100 | 210 | 84.18% | 176.8 |
| Bill Tate | KO-W | 100 | 20 | 120 | 47.50% | 57.0 | |
| Jeff Clark | KO-W | 100 | 20 | 120 | 78.75% | 94.5 | |
| Denver Ed Martin | KO-W | 100 | 20 | 120 | 75.76% | 90.9 | |
| Bill Tate | KO-W | 100 | 20 | 120 | 46.34% | 55.6 | |
| Bill Tate | UD-W | 90 | 20 | 110 | 46.51% | 51.2 | |
| Bill Tate | UD-L | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Bill Tate | Draw | 50 | 10 | 60 | 46.51% | 27.9 | |
| Sam Langford | UD-W | 90 | 20 | 100 | 210 | 83.57% | 175.5 |
| Kid Norfolk | KO-W | 100 | 50 | 150 | 81.82% | 122.7 | |
| Jeff Clark | KO-W | 100 | 20 | 120 | 77.11% | 92.5 | |
| Jeff Clark | KO-W | 100 | 20 | 120 | 76.65% | 92.0 | |
| Tut Jackson | KO-W | 100 | 20 | 120 | 97.22% | 116.7 | |
| Jack Sharkey | UD-L | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Totals (21-5-1, 13 KOs, 2 KO'd) | 2,564.4 | ||||||
| Record in non-significant fights | |||||||
| 49-4-2, 43 KOs, 3 KOd | 4,640 | ||||||
| % of fights toward 50 (41.8%) | 1,939.5 | 1,939.5 | 69.90% | 1,355.7 | |||
| Totals | 3,920.1 | ||||||
| Peak 5 Fights | |||||||
| Sam Langford | 190.9 | ||||||
| Sam Langford | 190.0 | ||||||
| Sam Langford | 189.6 | ||||||
| Sam Langford | 176.8 | ||||||
| Sam Langford | 176.4 | ||||||
| Peak 5 Totals | 923.7 | ||||||
| Final Totals (significant, non-significant, Peak 5) | 4,843.8 | ||||||
| Boxing's 100 Countdown | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Fighter | Significant Fights |
Non-Significant Fights |
Peak 5 | Final Total |
| 82. | Harry Wills | 2,564.4 | 1,355.7 | 923.7 | 4,843.8 |
| 83. | Mickey Walker | 1,987.8 | 1,775.7 | 1,075.4 | 4,838.8 |
| 84. | Joe Gans | 2,314.9 | 1,639.8 | 883.0 | 4,837.6 |
| 85. | Sven Ottke | 2,824.5 | 1,317.7 | 687.5 | 4,829.7 |
| 86. | Ronald "Winky" Wright | 2,243.3 | 1,658.3 | 922.5 | 4,824.1 |
| 87. | Fighting Harada | 1,259.6 | 2,409.2 | 1,105.9 | 4,774.7 |
| 88. | Humberto Gonzalez | 1,866.7 | 1,952.3 | 907.3 | 4,726.4 |
| 89. | Ricardo Lopez | 2,830.5 | 1,188.1 | 702.7 | 4,721.3 |
| 90. | Carmen Basilio | 1,723.3 | 1,804.7 | 1,184.1 | 4,712.2 |
| 91. | Orlando Canizales | 2,529.3 | 1,510.3 | 669.3 | 4,708.9 |
| 92. | Jeff Fenech | 2,103.9 | 1,728.7 | 844.8 | 4,677.4 |
| 93. | Michael Carbajal | 2,333.7 | 1,519.2 | 817.0 | 4,669.9 |
| 94. | Marcel Thil | 2,579.8 | 1,170.9 | 900.9 | 4,651.6 |
| 95. | Nicolino Locche | 1,858.0 | 1,946.8 | 820.3 | 4,625.1 |
| 96. | Ricky Hatton | 3,458.8 | 449.1 | 708.9 | 4,616.8 |
| 97. | Ismael Laguna | 1,059.5 | 2,659.4 | 889.9 | 4,608.7 |
| 98. | Ramon "Chocalatito" Gonzalez | 2,187.1 | 1,771.9 | 638.6 | 4,597.5 |
| 99. | Wilfredo Benitez | 1,439.4 | 2,223.0 | 914.4 | 4,586.8 |
| 100. | Carlos Zarate | 1,124.2 | 2,707.1 | 751.5 | 4,582.8 |
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