Harry Wills

Harry "The Black Panther" Wills (b. May 15, 1889, d. December 21, 1958) was perhaps the most well known victim of the "color line" drawn by white heavyweight champions after the title reign of Jack Johnson. Wills fought for over twenty years (1911-1932), was ranked as the number one challenger for the throne, but was never given the opportunity to fight for the title.

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 No Decision. Wills faced future heavyweight champion Jack Sharkey in 1926, and was being clearly defeated 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 career as a title threat. His final record was 75 wins (with 47 knockouts), 9 losses and 2 draws. He was named to the Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.

The top black fighters of Wills' era were forced to continuously 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, although the two losses were by knockout. Wills also defeated Sam McVey three times and fought two No Decision bouts with Joe Jeanette.

Wills spent six years (1920-1926) trying to land a title fight with Jack Dempsey. Dempsey was willing to fight Wills and contracts for the bout were signed by both fighters. The fight, however, never took place, and Dempsey forfeited the $50,000.00 guarantee he posted for the match. Instead, Dempsey met Gene Tunney, and was outpointed by the ex-marine. The Dempsey-Tunney match was held in Philadelphia, as the bout could not be held in New York, due to litigation filed by Wills over Dempsey's breach of contract.

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.