Why was Willie Meehan a thorn in Dempsey's side?

Ummmm. I think that I'm going to go ahead and um, disagree with ya

 

None of us have seen Meehan fight so it is hard to even speculate a reason why.

 

I think you're correct .. he was a sort of Toney type, tricky and hard to catch .. he also beat Langford a some other big names .. big difference in long distance bouts ..

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=wil...AUICigC&biw=800&bih=1280#imgrc=WsDa9E0bmYJVrM:

 

Johnson wasn't very aggressive by nature, Dempsey was. Dempsey was taller, longer, faster and hit harder. He should have blown Meehan out. But he didn't.

The slap and move Meehan outboxed him at times and foreshadowed Dempsey's problems with movers and defense. They fought a few times, did Dempsey even score a knockdown?

 

Thanks Punisher.

Meehan was short and fat without power. I guess Dempsey didn't use his jab or reach much and might have been the type to need his feet set to punch with power and accuracy.

 

Dempsey had Meehan on the verge of a ko in two of their fights.

 

Maybe closer to James Toney
He does kinda look like he has a strong frame though.

 

Mini Sam Peter fsho

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/n...es-circa-1918-meehan-beat-picture-id537741328

 

I like your posts a lot even when I don't agree with you.

But you're just losing credibility here. He's fat little slob who must have known every survival trick in the book. But fat and little, he most certainly was. Peter was built like a brick sh*thouse when he still cared about boxing.

 

He has some muscle and bone. Not naturally skinny body with fat on top.
A sturdy body with fat on top. Like a mini O lineman.

He wasn't fighting world class fighters, and beating them, with the physique of Augustus Gloop.

 

Nonsense. He's a skinny guy in a fat man's body. Hence, he fought at bantam or whatever it was. Peter hasn't been a bantamweight since his age was in single digits.

 

I have an old "The Ring: Boxing in the 20th Century" book by Stanley Weston and Steve Farhood. It covers boxing year by year in the century.

Regarding the third Dempsey-Meehan fight, there's a photo of Dempsey towering over the pudgy Meehan taken before the fight. They describe the fight as kind of a goof. It was a four-rounder for charity (The U.S. Army & Navy Physical Education Fund). And Meehan was the Navy boxing instructor. Doc Kearns was offered the chance for it to be considered a no-decision fight, but he didn't really see a need. Dempsey floored Meehan in the second but let him off the hook (probably because it was for charity and Meehan was an instructor for the charity they were raising money for). The article says Meehan climbed off the floor and just swung wildly for the next two rounds. After four, the referee Eddie Graney (and lone judge) raised Meehan's hand. The article says the 10,000 in attendance "howled." Then Meehan was quoted in the paper as saying "Now let me get a crack at the Kaiser" (The U.S was involved in World War I at the time).

I think people read too much into these little four rounders with Meehan ... especially the last one where they were just raising money and Meehan was directly involved with the charity.

In some ways, it's like saying Ali lost to the Mayor of Atlanta.
http://68.media.tumblr.com/b153e7efb866a3bd44ea189f20ff7e35/tumblr_nu5zqa2k931rlny4zo1_1280.png

Dempsey fought a ton of exhibitions during his title reign against boxers like Jack Renault, Max Schmeling, George Godfrey and Jack Thompson. They just got smarter and made sure to classify them as exhibitions once he became champ.

Put Meehan in a serious fight with Dempsey scheduled for 10 or 15 rounds and tell Dempsey he had to win it or he loses the title (or never gets a shot) ... and he probably obliterates the guy in due time.

 

Okay okay, mini-big-James Toney?
http://www.boxnews.com.ua/photos/417/James-Toney19.jpg

http://static.boxrec.com/thumb/b/b3/DempseyMeehan.jpg/250px-DempseyMeehan.jpg

Flyweight to heavyweight.
Yes, Willie Meehan went on the James Toney adventure.

 

Meehan, to me, was more like those guys who build up a 44-2 record in Middleofthecountry USA ... and then get up the nerve to step out a couple times to fight names, lose to them, then go back to where they came from. If he could, he preferred to limit fights against names to his home court, where he only had to win two rounds or so to snatch a verdict.

He fought 90 percent of his fights in California in four rounders against mainly nobodies. He seemed to be well liked.

But he was no world beater. Probably closer to Don Steele than James Toney.

I doubt if any film showed up with him we'd see some boxing virtuoso. By most accounts, and photos, he fought with his gloves open and just tried to smother people. You can get away with that for a couple rounds, which is probably why he primarily fought in a state where they only allowed fights to go a couple rounds.

Just my opinion.