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Kill The Body

and the head will die

Jack Dempsey vs Jess Willard — record, stats and common opponents compared

🇺🇸UNITED STATES

Jack Dempsey

Jack Dempsey

Jess Willard

🇺🇸HEAVYWEIGHT

Jess Willard

Jack Dempsey (68-6-10) and Jess Willard (25-7-2) are compared on record, finishing method, activity, and common opponents on Kill The Body. The two have met once. They share 5 common opponents.

Dempsey

68

Wins53 KO · 78%

6

Losses

10

Draws85 tracked bouts

Willard

25

Wins20 KO · 80%

7

Losses

2

Draws34 tracked bouts

Head to Head

Dempsey leads 1–0

Jack Dempsey and Jess Willard have met 1 time; Dempsey leads 1–0.

Jack Dempsey and Jess Willard have met 1 time; Dempsey leads 1–0.
Met1919Jul 4Series
Jack DempseyFighter AWWon1–0W–L
Jess WillardFighter BLLost0–1W–L
ResultRTDR31Meeting

The Numbers

Dempsey 7 · Willard 1 of 8 measurable rows
DempseyWillard
Record
68-6-10 (edge)25-7-2
Win %0–100%
86.9% (edge)
76.5%
Wins by knockoutmax 53
53 (edge)
20
KO rate0–100%
77.94%
80% (edge)
Stoppage rate (tracked wins)†0–100%
79% (edge)
76%
Times stopped†max 3
1 (edge)
3
Title reignsmax 2
2 (edge)
0
Bouts per year‡max 6.5
6.5 (edge)
2.7
Bouts trackedcoveragemax 85
85
34

† Counted from bouts Kill The Body has ingested, not a career total. · ‡ Across each fighter's tracked career span. · Bars are scaled per row — percentages on 0–100, counts against the larger of the two. Every figure is also printed as text.

Tale of the Tape

Height+5″
Jack Dempsey: 6′1″
Jess Willard: 6′6″ (edge)
Reachnot held
Jack Dempsey: 73″
Jess Willard: No reach on file
Agenot comparable
Jack Dempsey: Died aged 87
Jess Willard: Died aged 86
Stance
Jack Dempsey: Orthodox
Jess Willard: Orthodox

Jack Dempsey left, Jess Willard right, as everywhere on this page. Age is stated, not scored — neither age nor stance carries an edge.

How They Win

Tracked bouts only
Jack Dempsey68 wins · from 85 tracked bouts

Jack Dempsey: 68 tracked wins — 54 by KO/TKO (79%), 9 on the cards (13%) and 5 by another method or unrecorded (7%). Counted from 85 bouts Kill The Body has ingested.

54 by KO/TKO 79%9 on the cards 13%5 by another method or unrecorded 7%

Jess Willard25 wins · from 34 tracked bouts

Jess Willard: 25 tracked wins — 19 by KO/TKO (76%), 3 on the cards (12%) and 3 by another method or unrecorded (12%). Counted from 34 bouts Kill The Body has ingested.

19 by KO/TKO 76%3 on the cards 12%3 by another method or unrecorded 12%

One square per tracked win. Counted from the bouts Kill The Body has ingested for each fighter — Jack Dempsey 85, Jess Willard 34 — not from a career-complete method table.

Common Opponents

5 shared

5 shared · Dempsey better on 4 · even on 1

Dempsey

Opponent

Willard

  • Jack Dempsey

    Win, KO 2

    1923

    FirpoDempsey better

    Jess Willard

    Loss, KO 8

    1923

  • Jack Dempsey

    3–0 against

    Win, KO 2

    1918

    Win, KO 2

    1918

    Win, PTS

    1917

    SmithDempsey better

    Jess Willard

    Loss, PTS

    1913

  • Jack Dempsey

    3–0 against

    Win, KO 1

    1918

    Win, DQ 6

    1918

    Win, PTS

    1917

    MorrisDempsey better

    Jess Willard

    Win, NWS

    1913

  • Jack Dempsey

    Win, KO 1

    1918

    PelkeyEven

    Jess Willard

    Win, NWS

    1912

  • Jack Dempsey

    Win, TKO 1

    1917

    MillerDempsey better

    Jess Willard

    Draw, PTS

    1913

Both sides are set at the same size on purpose. Kill The Body does not score a second-round knockout above a split decision — the edge counts losses first and wins as the tiebreak, and the rest is yours to argue. Shared opponents are matched on fighter identity, not on name, so two different fighters with the same name never merge into one row.

Current Form

Oldest left · newest right

Jack Dempsey had won one in a row before losing a decision to Gene Tunney. Dempsey last boxed on Sep 22, 1927.WWLWL

Gibbons Jul 1923Firpo Sep 1923Tunney Sep 1926Sharkey Jul 1927Tunney Sep 19276.5 tracked bouts per year

Jess Willard had won one in a row before losing by stoppage to Luis Ángel Firpo. Willard last boxed on Jul 12, 1923.WWLWL

Johnson Apr 1915Moran Mar 1916Dempsey Jul 1919Johnson May 1923Firpo Jul 19232.7 tracked bouts per year

Common Questions

With the rows behind them
Have Jack Dempsey and Jess Willard ever fought each other?
Yes. Jack Dempsey and Jess Willard met once on July 4, 1919, and Jack Dempsey won by RTD in round 3.
The meeting

WJul 4, 1919 · Dempsey · RTD R3

Head to Head ↓
Who has the better record, Dempsey or Willard?
Jack Dempsey is 68-6-10 and Jess Willard is 25-7-2. Jack Dempsey has the higher win percentage.
Records · win %

Dempsey68–6–1086.9%

Willard25–7–276.5%

The Numbers ↓
Who has more knockouts, Dempsey or Willard?
Jack Dempsey has 53 knockout wins and Jess Willard has 20. Jack Dempsey has more.
Knockout wins · KO rate

Dempsey5377.9%

Willard2080%

The Numbers ↓
Do Dempsey and Willard have any common opponents?
Jack Dempsey and Jess Willard share 5 common opponents: Luis Ángel Firpo, Gunboat Smith and Carl Morris (and 2 others). Jack Dempsey fared better against 4 of them.
5 shared opponents

Luis Ángel FirpoWL

Gunboat SmithWL

Carl MorrisWW

Arthur PelkeyWW

and 1 more

Common Opponents ↓
Who is bigger, Dempsey or Willard?
Jess Willard is the taller fighter at 199 cm, 14 cm above the other.
Height · reach

Dempsey185 cm185 cm reach

Willard199 cm

Tale of the Tape ↓
How much fight data does Kill The Body have on Dempsey and Willard?
This comparison is drawn from 85 bouts tracked for Jack Dempsey and 34 bouts tracked for Jess Willard. Method and activity splits reflect those bouts only.
Bouts tracked · no edge

Dempsey85bouts

Willard34bouts

How They Win ↓

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