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 (with 47 knockouts), 9 losses and 2 draws. In 2003, he was named to the
Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.
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==