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Yea I think we are on the same page for once. Lol
Be interesting to find out how they (Newark promoters) got their claws into Wills so that he had to accept an 'armory' fight when Wills-Tunney could have filled a stadium.
I always say you got to look at Tammany - the Gibson NYT article suggests that Wills was legally bond to Newark, Gibson was calling that false. But I could see where Tammany/Farley expected their/his piece of the pie, and had Wills legally bound up. At that moment the NYSAC and Rickard weren't playing nice.
The NYSAC wanted the Dempsey-Wills fight bad enough that they tried to block any attempt for Rickard to stage the Dempsey-Tunney in the Polo Grounds.
It's conjecture on my part but I am willing to bet they were squeezing out Tunney as well, so as to punish Rickard and try to force Rickard's hand regarding Dempsey-Wills. Maybe!
So in short: Wills was never in a position to accept Gibson's challenge because he was bound to the Newark armory, a venue too small for a Tunney fight, with Tunney then in return refusing the Wills fight (in Newark).
You can paint both guys as ducking if one wants to - but I think that only scratches the surface of what Farley-Mullins-Gibson-Rickard were really playing at.
It is amazing but the old adage is so true, nothing really changes but the date. Imagine 100 years from now trying to unravel the Fury-Hearn-Josuha saga just from what is available in the media? So many things are said behind closed doors that never surface - every line spoken to the media is tactical and seldom totally honest.
Be interesting to find out how they (Newark promoters) got their claws into Wills so that he had to accept an 'armory' fight when Wills-Tunney could have filled a stadium.
I always say you got to look at Tammany - the Gibson NYT article suggests that Wills was legally bond to Newark, Gibson was calling that false. But I could see where Tammany/Farley expected their/his piece of the pie, and had Wills legally bound up. At that moment the NYSAC and Rickard weren't playing nice.
The NYSAC wanted the Dempsey-Wills fight bad enough that they tried to block any attempt for Rickard to stage the Dempsey-Tunney in the Polo Grounds.
It's conjecture on my part but I am willing to bet they were squeezing out Tunney as well, so as to punish Rickard and try to force Rickard's hand regarding Dempsey-Wills. Maybe!
So in short: Wills was never in a position to accept Gibson's challenge because he was bound to the Newark armory, a venue too small for a Tunney fight, with Tunney then in return refusing the Wills fight (in Newark).
You can paint both guys as ducking if one wants to - but I think that only scratches the surface of what Farley-Mullins-Gibson-Rickard were really playing at.
It is amazing but the old adage is so true, nothing really changes but the date. Imagine 100 years from now trying to unravel the Fury-Hearn-Josuha saga just from what is available in the media? So many things are said behind closed doors that never surface - every line spoken to the media is tactical and seldom totally honest.
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