Purchased by the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College on August 12, 2020 from Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York.

Willard Training for Dempsey Match! Jess Willard, heavyweight champion of the world, train in Chicago for his coming battle with Jack Dempsey in Toledo, July 4. Willard is rapidly rounding into shape and is confident of retaining the title.

Jess Myron Willard (1881 – 1968) was an American world heavyweight boxing champion known as the Pottawatomie Giant, who knocked out Jack Johnson in April 1915 for the heavyweight title. He was known for his great strength and size for the time. Today he is also known for his controversial title loss to Jack Dempsey in 1919, in one of the most severe beatings ever in a championship bout. Shortly after the fight, rumors of foul play in Dempsey's corner began to spread. The rumors appeared to be confirmed years later. The January 13, 1964 issue of Sport's Illustrated contained an article titled, "He didn't know the gloves were loaded". In the article, Dempsey's manager, Jack Kearns, confessed to loading Dempsey's gloves with plaster of Paris disguised as talcum powder, without Dempsey's knowledge.

Credited in plate with typeset credit and title on label affixed to verso.

Ferrotyped prints are processed in such a way that they are shiny. The print has a sensitive surface, usually thinner, because it was put through a press while still wet.

Ferrotyped prints have a sensitive surface, usually shiny and thinner, because they are put through a press while still wet. Ferrotyping makes the surface of the photograph smoother. Light does not scatter as much on a smoother surface, so this increases contrast. That makes ferrotyped images better for press photography.

This object has the following keywords:

• Boxing
• Chicago
• Jack Dempsey
• Jess Willard
• Jess Willard
• Toledo
• World War I

This object is a member of the following portfolios: