Luther McCarty had an EXCELLENT chance.

[steamboat brand, palooka]

This thread is concerning an otherwise excellent website I saw on the internet, which examined Heavyweights through the years who were denied a chance for the heavyweight championship. Peter Jackson, Sam Langford, Sam McVey, Joe Jeanette, Harry Wills, Thad Spencer(!), Theofilo Stevenson, etc., and theorizes what their chances would have been. (What the heck was Thad Spencer included for? He wasn't a bad boxer, but he got creamed by Quarry!) I agreed with almost all of this guys assessments, but not on Luther McCarty's chances, which he rated as poor.
He said Jack Johnson would probably have boxed rings around him, and outclassed him. This is probably true, IN JACK JOHNSON'S PRIME, but Jack Johnson would have done the same to Jess, in 1910, I bet. In 1915, a surviving 23 year old Luther McCarty would have knocked Johnson out much sooner than Willard did. During Jess Willard's reign(1915-1919), I bet the more experienced McCarty would have taken Willard apart, piece by piece. Gunboat Smith did it, though he couldn't seem to hurt big Jess.
Luther McCarty was only 21 when he died, and he was already probably the top "White Hope". It's true Luther lost a (close) decision to Jess Willard in 1912, but he had been fighting just a year by then, and was only twenty years old, at the time. He lost a decision to Jeff Clarke at the beginning of 1912, but he was only 19, and Clarke was a fine black heavyweight(as opposed to a "White Hope"). Depending on which you read, McCarty either lost or fought a draw with Jim Stewart, around the time of his 20th birthday, but Stewart was one of the toughest of all "White Hopes", and was not ranked higher historically due only to a relative lack of power. A couple months after his first fight, e koed Carl Morris in 6(Carl was probably thinking, "Where'd THIS guy come from?" McCarty was holding his own with the top fighters, at only 20, the 1st year into his career!
McCarty was only getting more polished, and completely annihilated the crude but tough Al Palzer for the "White Heavyweight Championship"(sheeesh!), on New Year's Day, 1913, and then he died on May 24th*.
I DON'T think Luther McCarty would have become the greatest of all heavyweights, but I DO think he would have become a VERY good one. If a future champion beat him, it would not have been an easy fight, I'd bet. He was not a one punch, early knockout specialist; he wore you down, beat you up, then knocked you out. He stood there and boxed you, and you'd better be real tough, if you were going to beat him. He had one of the best builds of any champion. I remember a description of him, either just before or just after the Palzer fight, and they lauded over him, though they said his straight right wasn't much(which sent out red flags in my mind). Apparently, he was all left jabs and left hooks, mixed with vicious uppercuts, and this agrees with his "The General" Title Bout" card. If I would compare with a more modern heavyweight, I might put him in a similar class as Gerrie Coetzee(Coetzee better right, Luther better stamina and boxing ability), with a hint of Ivan Drago. Mike Tyson was knocking everyone out at 20, as well, but Mike had more fighting experience at a similar age, and plus could knock out anything alive, so he didn't have to learn how to really box until too late. Of course, he could have been Gerry Cooney, but I think Luther showed more, against tough heavyweights, at a younger age. Oh well, Luther's in no shape to be fighting ANYONE right now, let alone someone ninety years younger. Steamboat

[Cap]

Steamboat, go to the Cyberboxingzone and check out the issue of WAIL that has a pretty good analytical piece on McCarty.

Cap

[steamboat brand, palooka]

Thanks, Cap. I just read the article, and there were some great pictures on the side. I had some of these in an old "Ring" article, and Nat Fleischer's book on boxing, but there a few others that were great, that I had never seen. Man, that McCarty was one rugged dude, and he was in shape! I know a build doesn't win a fight, but it doesn't hurt, either. That right hand headed toward Al Kaufman looks like something you'd really want to get out of the way from. There's a lot of arm in that arm.
I have many of the New York Times clippings that the quotes came from. I got these at Conn College library's microfilm. One thing I wonder about is the possibility that Arthur Pelky's knockout may have been legitimate. The comment here suggested he nailed McCarty with a left hook that snapped his head back, just before the right to the chest. This type of hit was the same type poor young Brittany Cecil died from, as a spectator at the Columbus Blue Jackets hockey game, in 2002. In most accounts, they say nothing much had happened in the McCarty-Pelky bout, then McCarty went down from a light tap. In one account, however, it's got McCarty reeling from Pelkey's punches. In reality, it may have been something in between. Pelky, at that point, was likely not as bad as his final record looks. He wasn't the top "White Hope", but he was tough. If you a bum, he'd knock you out. He knocked out the more pedestrian "White Hopes", and I could see him surprising McCarty with a shot to the head. Of course, in any rematch, McCarty would have eaten him up, and when I play "Title Bout", his revenge on Pelky is the first order of business. It's usually overwhelming; 1st round ko, the last time. Steamboat.

[steamboat brand, palooka]

Cap, the more I think about that Cyber Boxing article, the more I am amazed by the parallel views we both took, on Luther McCarty. Of course, some of the information comes from the same New York Times articles. Are you the "Cap Roberts" of this article? The only dissapointment was that I wanted to hear the actual dream of the entire McCarty-Willard fight.
You know, I was a big fan of dinosaurs(the basic ones..Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus, Brontosaurus the fraud, Triceratops, Dimetrodon, etc.) when I was a kid, and I honestly belive the "White Hope Era" heavyweights are the dinosaurs of my adulthood. I love your tagline, "There were giants in those days.", because shows exactly what I'm saying.

[steamboat brand, palooka]

You know, the funny thing about Luther McCarty's "The General" Title Bout game card was his cut rating was 5/6. But I don't see any evidence of him being a "tomato can", in any of his fight accounts. Because of this, I changed this number to 5/4.

[steamboat brand, palooka]

Something I've wondered- Is Darren McCarty, right wing for the Detroit Red Wings, a descendent of Luther McCarty? I wouldn't be surprised; he has the same broad face, and outward ears, and there is a facial resemblance, overall(Check out his cancer society photo with his father). He is 6'1" and 210. He is considered one of the top fighters in the NHL, though his skills place him above the "goon" category. One person on the internet made a comment about McCarty, concerning the NHL lock-out, "He hasn't had anyone to beat up for a year!" Darren McCarty is from British Columbia, which is in Canada, but is still way out west. Luther's last fight was in Calgary, Alberta. I guess Luther had no children, but he may well have had large relatives. Tom McCarty, 185 pounds, and not a bad fighter himself, around the same time, first claimed to be his brother, then his cousin. After the first claim is disproven, I would guess that raises serious doubts about any future claims.