The fourth and final bracket takes place over two nights at the Rhode Island Auditorium in Providence.
Built in 1926, the Auditorium – also known as the Arena, apparently to cause confusion – would later serve as the home base for Rocky Marciano’s early career, as seen in the rendering above.
Jess Willard (29) vs. Bartley Madden (36)
Jess Willard
The Pottawatomie Giant
26-6-1, 20 KO
Notable fights: KO26 Jack Johnson; KOby3 Jack Dempsey; W10 Frank Moran; W10 Carl Morris; TKO11 Floyd Johnson; KOby8 Luis Angel Firpo; W10 Arthur Pelkey; L20 Gunboat Smith.
The first of the giant heavyweights (6-foot-6, 238 when he won the title), Willard’s reputation suffers from Johnson’s claim that he took a dive in Havana, as well as from having made just one successful defense in four-plus years before getting pulverized by Dempsey.
Bartley Madden
39-25-6, 14 KO
Notable fights: W4 John Lester Johnson; L10, L10, D12, L15, W8, L10 Battling Levinsky; L10, W8, L10, D12 Bill Brennan; L10 Tommy Gibbons; L8 Billy Miske; L10 Harry Greb; LbyDQ4 Joe Jeannette; W15 Martin Burke; L10 Bob Roper; L12 Jack Renault; KOby3 Gene Tunney.
Had won three straight when he died in Washington, D.C., at age 39, “from injuries received in a 20-foot fall from a landing at the Treasury Building,” according to boxrec.com. “His wife had died only three weeks earlier.”
Phil Scott (22) vs. Tut Jackson (43)
Phil Scott
65-13-5, 30 KO
Notable fights: W20, W20 Tom Heeney; KOby6 Paulino Uzcudun; KOby11 Harry Persson; KOby1 Knute Hansen; KO10 Monte Munn; L10 Johnny Risko; W10 Victorio Campolo; WbyDQ2 Otto von Porat; TKOby3 Jack Sharkey; KOby2 Young Stribling; KOby2 Larry Gains.
Earned derisive nickname “Faintin’ Phil” by running up six victories via disqualification. Suffering quick KOs to Hansen, Sharkey (when his claim of a foul was rejected), Stribling and Gains didn’t help, either. First DQ won him the British title and he later took three within four months in 1926-27.
Tut Jackson
76-38-11, 51 KO
Notable fights: KOby3 Harry Wills; KOby1, KOby9 Sam Langford; TKOby8 Carl Morris; KOby4 Bill Tate; L12, L12, L10 Tiger Flowers; KOby4 John Lester Johnson; W10 Battling Siki; KOby5 George Godfrey; D10 Bill Hartwell; L10, D10, KOby5, KOby7, KOby7 Bearcat Wright; L10, L10 Johnny Risko.
Fought, and was beaten by, the best of the ‘20s. Was 38-1-2 before facing Wills for the first time, 38-37-9 from there on.
Bill Brennan (15) vs. Harry Persson (50)
Bill Brennan
KO Bill
76-19-7, 48 KO
Notable fights: TKOby6, KOby12 Jack Dempsey; W10, W10, L8, W10, D12 Bartley Madden; D12, W12, L12, D12 Battling Levinsky; L10, L10, L15, L10 Harry Greb; L15, D8, L10, KOby4 Billy Miske; W6 Willie Meehan; W12 Bob Martin; L15 Floyd Johnson; KOby12 Luis Angel Firpo.
The Razor Ruddock of his time, Brennan is best remembered for his two hard-fought losses to Dempsey than for any fight he actually won. Ran up most of his wins against mediocre opposition. Murdered in a bar he owned, the Club Tia Juana, in Manhattan in 1924, supposedly after running afoul of mobsters.
Harry Persson
35-5-4, 17 KO
Notable fights: KO2 Larry Gains; KO11 Phil Scott; W10 Johnny Risko; LbyDQ5, TKO4 Bud Gorman; L10 Jim Maloney; TKOby1 Otto von Porat.
Most of his impressive record compiled in his native Sweden, Persson was 4-4 in the U.S. and against world-caliber foes.
Jack Delaney (8) vs. George Cook (57)
Jack Delaney
Bright Eyes
77-12-2, 43 KO
Notable fights: KO2 Bud Gorman; L10 Jim Maloney; WbyDQ7 Paulino Uzcudun; L10 Johnny Risko; W10 Jack Renault; W15, TKO6 Paul Berlenbach; KO1 Sully Montgomery; L15 Tom Heeney; KOby1 Jack Sharkey.
Did his best work at light-heavy, including beating Berlenbach for the title, but did reach the finals of Tex Rickard’s tournament to select a challenger to Gene Tunney, losing to Heeney.
George Cook
45-54-12, 11 KO
Notable fights: W20 Tiger Jack Payne; D10, TKOby7 John Lester Johnson; NC9 Martin Burke; L10 Jim Maloney; L10, L10, L10, TKOby8 Young Stribling; W10 Bob Lawson; W10, L15 Larry Gains; W20 Tom Heeney; L15 Phil Scott; L15 Harry Persson; W10, W15 Paulino Uzcudun; KOby4 Georges Carpentier; L20 Chuck Wiggins; D10 Babe Hunt.
Fight itinerary included native Australia, Europe, North and South America. Had a number of quality wins, but miserable overall record. Win over Tiger Jack Payne, an American, for the Aussie heavyweight title in December 1926 was apparently enough to earn him the No. 15 spot in The Ring’s heavyweight rankings for 1927, a list that was trimmed to 10 the following year.