Harry Wills
American boxer (1889–1958)
ハリー・ウィルズ
- Born
- 15 May 1889, New Orleans
- Died
- 21 December 1958, New York City
- Citizenship
- United States
- Sport
- boxing
- Discipline
- heavyweight
- Occupation
- boxer
- Height
- 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
- Recorded fight record
- 65 wins, 8 losses, 2 draws
Harry Wills (May 15, 1889 – December 21, 1958) 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 (1911–1932), 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.
Awards and honours
- International Boxing Hall of Fame 1992
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q711879 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.