Harry Wills

Harry Wills was an American heavyweight boxer who held the World Colored Heavyweight Championship three times. Many boxing historians consider Wills the most egregious victim of the "color line" drawn by white heavyweight champions. Wills fought for over 20 years, and was ranked as the number-one challenger for the world heavyweight championship, but was denied the opportunity to fight for the title. Of all the black contenders between the heavyweight championship reigns of Jack Johnson and Joe Louis, Wills came closest to securing a title shot. BoxRec ranks him among 10 best heavyweights in the world from 1913 to 1924, and as No.1 heavyweight from 1915 to 1917 and many regard him as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.
His managers included Jim Buckley and Paddy Mullins.

Boxing career

Wills fought many of the top heavyweights of his era. He defeated Willie Meehan, who had decisioned Jack Dempsey, Gunboat Smith and Charley Weinart. He also fought Luis Firpo in a match that ended in a no decision. Wills faced future heavyweight champion Jack Sharkey in 1926, and was being decisively beaten when he was disqualified. The next year, Wills was knocked out by heavyweight contender Paolino Uzcudun in a bout that signalled the end of his reign as a serious title contender. His final record was 75 wins, 9 losses and 2 draws. In 2003, he was named to the Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.
The top black fighters of Wills's era were forced to repeatedly fight each other, as many white fighters also drew the "color line". As a result, Wills fought the redoubtable Sam Langford 22 times. His record against Langford was 6 wins, 2 losses and 14 no decisions. The two losses were by knockout. He beat Langford three times for the colored heavyweight title, with Langford winning it back twice. Wills also defeated colored heavyweight champ Sam McVey three times and fought two no-decision bouts with Joe Jeanette.
In May 1922, the New York Daily News polled its readers, asking them to choose Dempsey's next title opponent. Over 45,000 readers responded, and Wills finished first with 12,177 votes. Dempsey initially said he was willing to fight Wills, but the bout was never scheduled.

Aborted 1926 Dempsey–Wills heavyweight title match

Midwestern boxing promoter Floyd Fitzsimmons rendered a check to Wills for his fee, but failed to produce even a downpayment for Dempsey's much larger fee for a bout between the two fighters, who had, in July 1925, signed an agreement for a 1926 title match, which never materialized as a result. Disagreement has existed among boxing historians as to whether Dempsey had avoided Wills—though Dempsey swore he was willing to fight him—as having said he would no longer fight Black boxers after winning the title. Wills twice attempted to sue Dempsey for breach of contract over the canceled bout, which had also been barred in New York State on orders from Governor Alfred E. Smith by Athletic Commissioner James Farley, an early champion of African-American equal rights due to his public threats to resign from the Athletic Commission if Wills was not given the fight against the champion Dempsey, as Farley deemed Wills the number one contender. A deadly race riot in the wake of Jack Johnson vs. James J. Jeffries also created reluctance to promote the match. The stand taken by Commissioner Farley would help enable Farley to add the African American vote to the New Deal coalition as Franklin D. Roosevelt 's campaign manager and subsequently Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from the Republican Party, which had traditionally up until the 1930s controlled the African American voting block as the party of Lincoln.

Retirement

Wills retired from boxing in 1932, and ran a successful real estate business in Harlem, New York. He was known for his yearly fast, in which, once a year, he would subsist on water for a month. Wills admitted that his biggest regret in life was never getting the opportunity to fight Dempsey for the title. Wills was confident that he would have won such a match.
Wills died at Jewish Memorial Hospital in New York City of complications from diabetes on December 21, 1958.

Legacy and honors

In 2020 award-winning author Mark Allen Baker published the first comprehensive account of The World Colored Heavyweight Championship, 1876–1937, with McFarland & Company, a leading independent publisher of academic & nonfiction books. This history traces the advent and demise of the Championship, the stories of the talented professional athletes who won it, and the demarcation of the color line both in and out of the ring.
For decades the World Colored Heavyweight Championship was a useful tool to combat racial oppression.
Harry Wills was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.

Professional boxing record

All information in this section is derived from BoxRec, unless otherwise stated.

Official record

All newspaper decisions are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column.

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
111	Win		Big John Glover	KO	1, 1:05	Oct 19, 1932	Municipal Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
110	Win	69–9–3	Vinko Jakasa	KO	1, 1:20	Aug 4, 1932	Fort Hamilton Arena, New York City, New York, U.S.
109	Win	68–9–3	Jack Rose	KO	6	Feb 11, 1931	Coliseum Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
108	Win	67–9–3	Andres Castano	KO	3, 1:06	Dec 11, 1929	New York Coliseum, New York City, New York, U.S.
107	Loss	66–9–3	Andres Castano	DQ	1	Sep 14, 1929	El Toreo de Cuatro Caminos, Mexico City, Mexico	For Mexico heavyweight title; Wills DQ'd for hitting Castano after the bell
106	Loss	66–8–3	Paulino Uzcudun	KO	4,	Jul 13, 1927	Ebbets Field, New York City, New York, U.S.
105	Loss	66–7–3	Jack Sharkey	DQ	13,	Oct 12, 1926	Ebbets Field, New York City, New York, U.S.	Wills DQ'd for illegal backhand
104	Win	66–6–3	Floyd Johnson	TKO	1,	Oct 26, 1925	1st Regiment Armory, Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
103	Win	65–6–3	Charley Weinert	KO	2	Jul 2, 1925	Polo Grounds, New York City, New York, U.S.
102	Win	64–6–3	Luis Ángel Firpo	NWS	12	Sep 11, 1924	Boyle's Thirty Acres, Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.
101	Win	64–6–3	Bartley Madden	PTS	15	Jun 9, 1924	Queensboro Stadium, New York City, New York, U.S.
100	Win	63–6–3	Jack Thompson	TKO	4, 2:06	Nov 5, 1923	1st Regiment Armory, Newark, New Jersey, U.S.	Retained world colored heavyweight title
99	Win	62–6–3	Homer Smith	KO	2, 2:06	Oct 11, 1923	Queensboro Stadium, New York City, New York, U.S.
98	Win	61–6–3	Clem Johnson	TKO	12, 1:55	Sep 29, 1922	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.	Retained world colored heavyweight title
97	Win	60–6–3	Tut Jackson	KO	3, 2:05	Aug 29, 1922	Ebbets Field, New York City, New York, U.S.	Retained world colored heavyweight title
96	Win	59–6–3	Buddy Jackson	KO	2, 2:14	Aug 21, 1922	Broad A.C., Newark, New Jersey, U.S.	Retained world colored heavyweight title
95	Win	58–6–3	Jeff Clark	KO	3	Jul 17, 1922	Amphitheatre Rink, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada	Retained world colored heavyweight title
94	Win	57–6–3	Jeff Clark	TKO	2	Jun 30, 1922	Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.	Retained world colored heavyweight title
93	Win	56–6–3	Kid Norfolk	KO	2	Mar 2, 1922	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.
92	Win	55–6–3	Sam Langford	PTS	10	Jan 17, 1922	Arena, Milwaukie, Oregon, U.S.	Retained world colored heavyweight title
91	Draw	54–6–3	Bill Tate	PTS	10	Jan 6, 1922	Arena, Milwaukie, Oregon, U.S.	Both fighter claimed the black heavyweight title
90	Loss	54–6–2	Bill Tate	DQ	1, 2:50	Jan 2, 1922	Arena, Milwaukie, Oregon, U.S.	Tate claimed the black heavyweight title; Wills DQ'd for knocking down Tate on the referee's break
89	Win	54–5–2	Bill Tate	PTS	12	Dec 8, 1921	Stockyards Stadium, Denver, Colorado, U.S.	Retained world colored heavyweight title
88	NC	53–5–2	Jack Thompson	NC	5	Nov 30, 1921	Stockyards Stadium, Denver, Colorado, U.S.	World colored heavyweight title at stake; Referee stopped the fight, but gave no decision after Thompson fell and claimed a foul
87	Win	53–5–2	Denver Ed Martin	KO	1, 2:05	Nov 18, 1921	Arena, Milwaukie, Oregon, U.S.	Retained world colored heavyweight title
86	Win	52–5–2	Clem Johnson	TKO	6	Nov 10, 1921	Riverside Arena, Covington, Kentucky, U.S.
85	Win	51–5–2	Edward "Gunboat" Smith	KO	1, 1:07	Oct 10, 1921	Stadium, Havana, Cuba
84	Win	50–5–2	Bill Tate	TKO	6	Jul 2, 1921	Queensboro Stadium, New York City, New York, U.S.	Retained world colored heavyweight title
83	Win	49–5–2	Ray Bennett	KO	1, 2:12	Jun 4, 1921	Queensboro Stadium, New York City, New York, U.S.
82	Win	48–5–2	Battling Jim McCreary	KO	7	Jun 3, 1921	Arena, Syracuse, New York, U.S.
81	Win	47–5–2	Andy Johnson	KO	1	May 27, 1921	Broadway Arena, New York City, New York, U.S.	Retained world colored heavyweight title
80	Win	46–5–2	Jack Thompson	NWS	8	Apr 8, 1921	Odeon Theater, Saint Louis, Missouri, U.S.
79	Win	46–5–2	Jeff Clark	TKO	2	Feb 11, 1921	Bob Wright's Coliseum, Highlandtown, Maryland, U.S.	Retained world colored heavyweight title
78	Win	45–5–2	Bill Tate	KO	2, 1:18	Jan 17, 1921	Broadway Auditorium, Buffalo, New York, U.S.	Retained world colored heavyweight title
77	Win	44–5–2	Jeff Clark	TKO	4	Sep 15, 1920	Municipal Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
76	NC	43–5–2	Sam McVea	NC	6	Sep 8, 1920	Ice Palace, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.	World colored heavyweight title at stake; Fight stopped for "stalling"
75	Win	43–5–2	Fred Fulton	KO	3, 2:35	Jul 26, 1920	1st Regiment Armory, Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
74	Win	42–5–2	Ray Bennett	TKO	1	Jun 1, 1920	Armory A.A. Hall, Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S.
73	Win	41–5–2	Sam Langford	PTS	15	Apr 23, 1920	Stockyards Stadium, Denver, Colorado, U.S.	Retained world colored heavyweight title
72	Win	40–5–2	Andy Johnson	KO	1	Mar 17, 1920	Auditorium, Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.	Retained world colored heavyweight title
71	Win	39–5–2	Jack Thompson	PTS	15	Jan 12, 1920	Convention Hall, Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.	Retained world colored heavyweight title
70		38–5–2	Jack Thompson	NC	3	Jan 1, 1920	Coliseum, San Francisco, California, U.S.	World colored heavyweight title at stake
69	Win	38–5–2	Ole Anderson	TKO	3	Dec 4, 1919	Coliseum, San Francisco, California, U.S.
68	Win	37–5–2	Edward K.O. Kruvosky	TKO	1	Nov 20, 1919	Coliseum, San Francisco, California, U.S.
67	Win	36–5–2	Sam Langford	PTS	15	Nov 5, 1919	Convention Hall, Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.	Retained world colored heavyweight title
66	Win	35–5–2	Joe Jennette	NWS	8	Oct 20, 1919	4th Regiment Armory, Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.	World colored heavyweight title at stake;
65	Win	35–5–2	Sam Langford	NWS	10	Sep 30, 1919	Arena, Syracuse, New York, U.S.	World colored heavyweight title at stake;
64	Win	35–5–2	Jeff Clark	TKO	4	Aug 18, 1919	Arena, Syracuse, New York, U.S.	Retained world colored heavyweight title
63	Win	34–5–2	Sam Langford	NWS	8	Jul 4, 1919	Sportsman's Park, Saint Louis, Missouri, U.S.	World colored heavyweight title at stake;
62	Win	34–5–2	John Lester Johnson	NWS	8	Jun 10, 1919	Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.	World colored heavyweight title at stake;
61	Draw	34–5–2	Jack Thompson	NWS	8	Nov 15, 1918	Atlantic City S.C., Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
60	Win	34–5–2	Jack Thompson	NWS	6	Sep 14, 1918	National A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
59	Win	34–5–2	Jeff Clark	TKO	5	Aug 19, 1918	Atlantic City S.C., Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	Retained world colored heavyweight title
58	Win	33–5–2	Sam McVea	PTS	20	Jun 16, 1918	Plaza de Toros Vista Alegre, Panama City, Panama	Retained world colored heavyweight title
57	Win	32–5–2	Sam Langford	TKO	8	May 19, 1918	Plaza de Toros Vista Alegre, Panama City, Panama	Retained world colored heavyweight title
56	Win	31–5–2	Sam Langford	KO	6	Apr 14, 1918	Plaza de Toros Vista Alegre, Panama City, Panama	Won world colored heavyweight title
55	Win	30–5–2	Sam McVea	KO	5	Feb 17, 1918	Plaza de Toros Vista Alegre, Panama City, Panama
54	Win	29–5–2	Jeff Clark	TKO	5	Dec 16, 1917	Plaza de Toros Vista Alegre, Panama City, Panama
53	Draw	28–5–2	Sam Langford	NWS	12	Nov 12, 1917	Coliseum, Toledo, Ohio, U.S.	World colored heavyweight title at stake;
52	Win	28–5–2	Sam Langford	NWS	10	Sep 20, 1917	Clermont Avenue Rink, New York City, New York, U.S.	World colored heavyweight title at stake;
51	Win	28–5–2	Battling Jim Johnson	NWS	10	Jun 1, 1917	Harlem S.C., New York City, New York, U.S.
50	Win	28–5–2	Sam Langford	NWS	6	May 11, 1917	Cambria A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
49	Win	28–5–2	Jack Thompson	NWS	10	Apr 30, 1917	Vanderbilt A.C., New York City, New York, U.S.
48	Loss	28–5–2	Battling Jim Johnson	TKO	2	Feb 7, 1917	Future City A.C., Saint Louis, Missouri, U.S.
47	Win	28–4–2	Jack Thompson	NWS	10	Nov 28, 1916	Clermont Avenue Rink, New York City, New York, U.S.
46	Win	28–4–2	Jack Thompson	KO	8	Nov 18, 1916	Fairmont A.C., New York City, New York, U.S.
45	Win	27–4–2	Bill Tate	NWS	10	Nov 11, 1916	Clermont Avenue Rink, New York City, New York, U.S.
44	Win	27–4–2	George Kid Cotton	TKO	4	Oct 13, 1916	Harlem S.C., New York City, New York, U.S.
43	Win	26–4–2	George Kid Cotton	TKO	4	Jun 3, 1916	Clermont Avenue Rink, New York City, New York, U.S.
42	Win	25–4–2	Jeff Clark	PTS	20	May 19, 1916	Louisiana Auditorium, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
41	Win	24–4–2	Sam Langford	NWS	8	Apr 25, 1916	Coliseum, Saint Louis, Missouri, U.S.
40	Win	24–4–2	John Lester Johnson	NWS	10	Apr 7, 1916	Harlem S.C., New York City, New York, U.S.
39	Win	24–4–2	Sam Langford	NWS	10	Mar 7, 1916	Broadway Arena, New York City, New York, U.S.	World colored heavyweight title claim at stake;
38	Loss	24–4–2	Sam Langford	KO	19	Feb 11, 1916	Tommy Burns Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.	Lost world colored heavyweight title claim
37	Win	24–3–2	Sam Langford	PTS	20	Jan 3, 1916	Tulane A.C., New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.	Retained world colored heavyweight title claim
36	Win	23–3–2	Sam Langford	NWS	10	Dec 3, 1915	Harlem S.C., New York City, New York, U.S.	World colored heavyweight title claim at stake;
35	Win	23–3–2	Sam McVea	PTS	12	Sep 7, 1915	Atlas A.A., Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.	Won world colored heavyweight title claim
34	Win	22–3–2	Battling Jim Johnson	NWS	10	Jul 5, 1915	Sacandaga Park, Gloversville, New York, U.S.
33	Loss	22–3–2	Sam McVea	NWS	10	May 19, 1915	St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, New York, U.S.
32	Win	22–3–2	John Lester Johnson	PTS	20	Mar 12, 1915	Tommy Burns Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
31	Loss	21–3–2	Sam McVea	PTS	20	Dec 20, 1914	McDonoghville Park, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
30	Loss	21–2–2	Sam Langford	KO	14	Nov 26, 1914	Arena, Vernon, California, U.S.	For world colored heavyweight title
29	Win	21–1–2	Jim Cameron	PTS	4	Oct 30, 1914	Dreamland Rink, San Francisco, California, U.S.
28	Win	20–1–2	Charles Horn	KO	1	Oct 16, 1914	Dreamland Rink, San Francisco, California, U.S.
27	Win	19–1–2	Charles "Sailor" Grande	PTS	4	Oct 9, 1914	Dreamland Rink, San Francisco, California, U.S.
26	Win	18–1–2	Charlie Miller	KO	1	Sep 18, 1914	Dreamland Rink, San Francisco, California, U.S.
25	Win	17–1–2	Willie Meehan	PTS	4	Sep 4, 1914	Dreamland Rink, San Francisco, California, U.S.
24	Win	16–1–2	Battling Brandt	TKO	4	Aug 21, 1914	Pavilion Rink, San Francisco, California, U.S.
23	Win	15–1–2	Mexican Pete Everett	KO	2	Aug 2, 1914	Sonora, Sonora, Mexico
22	Win	14–1–2	Soldier Elder	KO	1	Jul 4, 1914	El Paso, Texas, U.S.
21	Draw	13–1–2	Joe Jennette	NWS	10	Jun 9, 1914	National Baseball Park, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
20	Draw	13–1–2	Sam Langford	NWS	10	May 1, 1914	National Baseball Park, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.	World colored heavyweight title at stake;
19	Win	13–1–2	Rough House Ware	KO	10	Feb 7, 1914	New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.	Exact date unknown
18	Win	12–1–2	George Kid Cotton	KO	4	Jan 8, 1914	Northside A.C., New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
17	Win	11–1–2	Jimmy Sullivan	KO	1	Dec 9, 1913	Northside A.C., New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
16	Win	10–1–2	George Kid Cotton	KO	3	Oct 3, 1913	Pelican Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
15	Draw	9–1–2	Joe Jennette	PTS	10	Jul 1, 1913	Northside A.C., New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
14	Draw	9–1–1	Jeff Clark	PTS	10	Jun 18, 1913	New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
13	Win	9–1	Kid Brown	KO	2	Feb 2, 1913	New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.	Exact date unknown
12	ND	8–1	Jack Graves	ND	10	Jan 1, 1913	United States of America	Date and location of this fight unknown
11	Win	8–1	Jack Tholmer	KO	5	Nov 20, 1912	Northside A.C., New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
10		7–1	Dave Mills	ND	10	Aug 13, 1912	Elks Club, El Paso, Texas, U.S.
9	Win	7–1	Kid Brown	KO	6	May 5, 1912	New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.	Exact date unknown
8	Win	6–1	Ben Peden	KO	3	Apr 4, 1912	New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.	Exact date unknown
7	Loss	5–1	George Kid Cotton	KO	2	Feb 14, 1912	Louisiana A.C., New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
6	Win	5–0	Sam Collier	KO	7	Feb 2, 1912	New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
5	Win	4–0	Harry Brown	KO	2	Jan 1, 1912	New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.	Exact date unknown
4	Win	3–0	Nat Dewey	NWS	10	Oct 25, 1911	Louisiana A.C., New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
3	Win	3–0	Kid Navarro	KO	1	Mar 1, 1911	New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.	Exact date unknown
2	Win	2–0	Battling Taylor	KO	4	Feb 2, 1911	Rock Island, Illinois, U.S.	Exact date unknown
1	Win	1–0	Casey White	KO	4	Jan 2, 1911	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.	Professional debut; Exact date unknown