Willard Bean, Mormonism's 'Fighting Preacher,' attracted the attention of the curious press

  

Above is an 1899 news clipping from The Boston Globe. I apologize the text is mostly unreadable. It's a feature, however, on a "preacher," Mormon no less, named Willard Bean. He was a very good prizefighter out of Utah 100 years plus a generation ago. I first blogged about Bean several years ago. Here's a  link. And below is Cal Grondahl's fantastic cartoon that accompanied the blog post.

Bean has an "official" 8-5-3 record with one no decision and one no contest on BoxRec between 1897 and 1902 but he likely had more wins unrecorded. He would be tagged a near world-class boxer, in my opinion. The reason I say that is his no decision fight of 10 tough rounds with Joe Choynski in 1899. Choynski is one of the greatest early pugilists; a Hall of Fame boxer. A small clip from a Quincy, Ill. newspaper is below that mentions the bout.

Bean also fought, and went the distance -- 20 rounds -- with the world-class heavyweight title challenger Fireman Jim Flynn, who fought Jack Johnson for the world heavyweight championship. Flynn also knocked out future heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey in one round a few years before Dempsey won the title. Dempsey avenged the loss about a year later with a first-round KO of Flynn. Below is a recap of the decision win by Flynn. 

Below are some long ago clips of recaps of a couple of bouts Bean won by knockout.

Most people know of Bean today due to his enthusiastic missionary skills and temple work later in life. A popular film on Bean and his wife's missionary efforts, "The Fighting Preacher,"' was released a couple of years ago. I reviewed it here. It's available on various streaming services, including Amazon Prime. The next clip exemplifies his missionary spirit. It is from The Salt Lake Tribune in 1899. 

One more picture of the Fighting Preacher, Willard Bean. I do not know the source.

The Fighting Preacher is T.C. Christensen's best film

This is not really a review. I watched, with great interest, T.C. Christensen's film, "The Fighting Preacher," which is the story of Willard Bean and his wife, Rebecca, and their efforts to revive the LDS Church in Palmyra, New York. Their mission lasted roughly 25 years. Christensen has consistently improved film by film and that makes "The Fighting Preacher" his best film. "The Fighting Preacher" is faith-affirming without the syrup and suspension of belief that accompanied earlier efforts. He's more subtle in this film.

A perfect example is the film's strongest scene, where Bean, talking to a formerly hostile Palmyra local with whom he has slowly developed a friendship, mentions his first, unsuccessful marriage. Talking about his wife's tragic murder at the hands of an abusive man after her divorce, Bean expresses deep regret and sadness that he wasn't a better husband to her, saying, clearly remorseful, that he could have done better.

I should note that the two actors playing Willard and Rebecca Bean, David McConnell and Cassidy Hubert, are superb in their roles.

Boxing plays a big role in the film. Until Gene Fullmer came along in the 1950s, Bean was arguably the best Mormon boxer who was active in the faith (Jack Dempsey was an inactive Mormon, who jokingly called himself a "Jack Mormon.") The film depicts Bean as a middleweight champion, and shows him winning a major title. I've done research on Bean's boxing career and am convinced he was never the middleweight champ, national or world. The world middleweight champion during that era was Tommy Ryan.

Bean's BoxRec.com boxing record lists his fighting days ending in 1902. BoxRec is likely not complete and it's very possible Bean fought for a promotion that described his fight as for the "world's or national middleweight championship," (that kind of stuff happens today) but it wasn't, if it happened, for a title that the high-level boxing world of that era would have paid attention to.

However, Bean was a very good pro fighter. He lost a decision to Fireman Jim Flynn, who fought twice for the world heavyweight title, and defeated Jack Dempsey (Flynn lost the rematch). Bean also fought to a no decision, although newspaper reports tagged him the loser, to Joe Choynski, one of the early greats of boxing, a Hall of Fame boxer. So no bones about, Bean was a splendid boxer.

Here is an Ensign article about Willard Bean that serves as a template for "The Fighting Preacher." There is a larger book version of Bean's life but I have been unable to procure a copy.

Here is a link to my blog post on Bean's boxing career, Willard Bean, Mormonism's Fighting Parson, did have an admirable pro career.. His life was a fascinating one.