Were Dempsey's hands loaded in the Willard fight

Yes Dempsey's gloves were LOADED... With TEN knuckles !
When will this ceaseless drivel end ? The latest crap spewed was Dempsey's glove was loaded with an anchor from a Navy Battleship....These ludicrous revisionist's are obsessed with their HATRED of Jack Dempsey...They know no bounds and they know no shame....

 

I think the issue with dempsey is as a casual fan you know his name and his greatness is beyond question.

As you gain a greater appreciation of boxing history, you realise dempsey's resume and achievements don't really compare to a great number of lesser known names.

He looks good on film but no better than, say, sonny liston.

He just kinda represents a false promise doesn't he. You come into the sport thinking he's great and after learning about him you feel a bit disappointed.

One of my very first threads on the classic, as I began my journey from casual fan to budding historian, was about the polarisation of dempsey and I was on the side of his fans back then but facts are facts and the fact is his greatness is very overstated imo.

 

if done right it works, every time they try to recreate it, they do it with the plaster or paris used for ornaments, if you use the right formula you get the stuff arm and leg casts are made from.

 

Very different styles to make this comparison....but, honestly, I wouldn´t say Liston looks better than Dempsey on film....they both look good in their own ways....

 

Liston looks a lot better than Dempsey on film. And no, Dempsey's gloves were not loaded. Willard was just custom-made for Jack, a doughy, old, inactive dirigible. Big deal, a lot of champs would have stopped him even more quickly given that day's rule set.

 

That's the point. Dempsey's whole image is based on being this beast in the ring, but on film he looks no better than a plethora of hw's hwo did look better against better opposition.

Jack as a contender for goat HW is just bizarre imo.

 

The reason people perceive his reputation and the estimation of his abilities as "taking a beating" is that he was such a hype job to begin with. His rise to the top, or at least the top barring a certain fighter of color and another precocious middleweight, concurred with the explosion of media during the Aspirin Age, the period in US history after the First World War. Modern celebrity was really born in that era with the incredible rise in the power of the press, film and radio. Anyways, the media event that was Dempsey cast a glare over much of the 20th century. It is long overdue for his actual fistic career to be viewed in a more rational light. A worthy and exceptional career, no doubt, but somewhat reminiscent of another media creation in Elvis Presley, great potential upfront followed by much laying about and ham-fisted, cheese.

 

The fight is kind evidence for Dempsey Power being overrated... not underrated. If it took THAT many shots to drop Jess.. a helpless Jess in some cases.. Either Jack's power is overrated.. or Jess has one of the toughest chins to ever grace the ring

 

that's my view completely. could you imagine if that was tyson hovering over willard's helpless body?

I swear Tyson would kill a man given that opening.

 

If Tyson were allowed to hit defenseless guys on the ground he'd be Wilfredo Gomez.

 

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

 

I think you hit the nail right on the head, and what is sad is to casuals and those who don't know much about boxing he is really the only well known boxer for the late 10's early 20's. And people try to give Tunney a bad wrap for the long count. But, they fail to realize, the neutral corner was a new rule, and Dempsey was the reason the ref didn't start counting, and I believe Tunney could have got up regardless, he just stayed down to gather himself. As I got into boxing more and more I found myself rating him higher than Dempsey. But, I still think Jack is great, but I agree his greatness is often overstated.

 

Just to pull Burt's chain I was going to post that "no, the gloves weren't loaded. Dempsey couldn't hold that iron bolt he used to smash Willard if he had concrete in his glove" but I like Burt too much as a poster and so will pass.

This is another case of trying to explain what doesn't need explanation. Willard was old and out of shape and going against a prime and hungry young fighter. Nothing surprising that he took a bad beating, especially with the rules, or lack of them, about standing over and behind a fallen opponent in those days.

 

It is the latter.Gunboat Smith a big puncher ,said he nailed Willard with the best Sunday punch he had and all it did was make his hair wiggle a bit, he did it again to the same effect, then decided to box him after that.