Jess Willard
"The Pottawatomie Giant"
- Born
- 1881
- Died
- 1968
- Nationality
- USA
- Career
- 1911–1923
The giant who dethroned Jack Johnson in Havana and lost the title to Jack Dempsey in Toledo.
Titles & Honours
- World Heavyweight Champion (1915–1919)
Career Timeline
1911–1923- Milestone
First recorded professional bout
vs Lewis Fink · L DQ
- Title history
Title reign begins
World Heavyweight Champion (1915–1919). Year from profile title history; exact title-winning bout not identified.
- Signature fight
vs Jack Johnson
W KO · Oriental Park , Havana , Cuba. Archive selection: one of the first three wins over distinct fighters profiled here, not an expert-selected signature fight.
- Milestone
Latest recorded bout
vs Luis Angel Firpo · L KO. Not necessarily the retirement date.
Derived from the current archive and profile honours. Title-reign years are not exact bout dates; title claims are not independently verified. Signature fights use existing profile selections, or clearly labelled wins over other archived fighters when no selections exist. Year-only dates retain their original precision.
Photo Archive
1 archival photographs under their original licences.
Fight-by-Fight Record
| Date | Result | Opponent | Method | Round | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1911-02-15 | L | Lewis Fink | DQ | 10 | Sapulpa Air Dome, Sapulpa, Oklahoma , U.S. |
| 1911-03-07 | W | Ed Burke | KO | 3 | Jackson's Pavilion, El Reno , Oklahoma, U.S. |
| 1911-03-24 | W | Lewis Fink | KO | 3 | Benevolent A.A., Oklahoma City , Oklahoma, U.S. |
| 1911-04-14 | W | Al Mandino | PTS | 4 | Benevolent A.A., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| 1911-05-15 | W | William Schiller | KO | 4 | Maize Theatre, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| 1911-07-04 | W | Frank Lyons | PTS | 10 | Elk City , Oklahoma, U.S. |
| 1911-08-10 | W | Mike McKimminsky | PTS | 10 | Hammon , Oklahoma, U.S. |
| 1911-10-09 | L | Joe Cox | TKO | 5 | Landers Theatre , Springfield, Missouri , U.S. |
| 1912-05-22 | W | Bull Young | KO | 6 | Princess Rink, Fort Wayne, Indiana , U.S. |
| 1912-05-29 | W | Frank Bauer | TKO | 3 | Irwin Hall, St. Charles, Missouri , U.S. |
| 1912-07-02 | W | Bull Young | KO | 5 | South Chicago, Chicago , U.S. |
| 1912-07-29 | W | Arthur Pelkey | NWS | 10 | Madison Square Garden , New York City, New York , U.S. |
| 1912-08-19 | D | Luther McCarty | NWS | 10 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1912-12-02 | W | Sailor White | KO | 1 | Miller's Hall, Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
| 1912-12-27 | W | Soldier Kearns | KO | 8 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1913-01-22 | W | Frank Bauer | TKO | 5 | Princess Rink, Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S. |
| 1913-03-05 | W | Jack Leon | KO | 4 | Princess Rink, Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S. |
| 1913-05-20 | L | Gunboat Smith | PTS | 20 | Eighth Street Arena, San Francisco, California , U.S. |
| 1913-06-27 | D | Charley Miller | PTS | 4 | Dreamland Rink, San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| 1913-07-04 | W | Al Williams | TKO | 8 | Moana Springs Arena, Reno, Nevada , U.S. |
| 1913-08-22 | W | Bull Young | KO | 11 | Pacific A.C., Vernon , California, U.S. |
| 1913-11-17 | L | George Rodel | NWS | 10 | Elite Rink, Milwaukee, Wisconsin , U.S. |
| 1913-11-24 | W | Jack Reed | TKO | 2 | Princess Rink, Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S. |
| 1913-12-03 | W | Carl Morris | NWS | 10 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1913-12-12 | W | George Davis | KO | 2 | Broadway Auditorium , Buffalo , New York, U.S. |
| 1913-12-29 | W | George Rodel | KO | 9 | Casino, New Haven, Connecticut , U.S. |
| 1914-03-27 | L | Tom McMahon | NWS | 12 | Grand Opera House, Youngstown, Ohio , U.S. |
| 1914-04-13 | W | Dan Dailey | KO | 9 | Broadway Auditorium, Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
| 1914-04-28 | W | George Rodel | KO | 6 | Orpheum Theater, Atlanta, Georgia , U.S. |
| 1915-04-05 | W | Jack Johnson | KO | 26 | Oriental Park , Havana , Cuba |
| 1916-03-25 | W | Frank Moran | NWS | 10 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1919-07-04 | L | Jack Dempsey | RTD | 3 | Bay View Park Arena, Toledo, Ohio , U.S. |
| 1923-05-12 | W | Floyd Johnson | TKO | 11 | Yankee Stadium , Bronx , New York, U.S. |
| 1923-07-12 | L | Luis Angel Firpo | KO | 8 | Boyle's Thirty Acres , Jersey City, New Jersey , U.S. |
Showing 34 of 34 recorded fights · last updated 2026-10-15. Imported record tables are not independently verified and may be incomplete. Early-era logs include newspaper decisions (NWS), which are not counted in the official totals above.
Record notes
Fight record last retrieved: 2026-10-11. Title histories remain subject to archival review.
Historical-era totals differ between record-keeping conventions (newspaper decisions, exhibitions).
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