Aside from Wills and Langford, who are the best men of his day Dempsey never fought?

Not a bad call actually.

He beat Wills and drew with him.

 

No chance whatsoever.

 

Why?

 

Apart from a win over a hog fat Langford a dec over a washed up GunBoat, and a dsq over Wills who did he beat?
Tate was ko'd 9 times, not a good omen when facing Dempsey.

 

I thought you were going to mention the color bar. Never mind.

 

People like Godfrey who beat Tate twice ,got $1,500 dollars a week to spar with Jack and they earned every penny!

 

I dont base his chances on one loss. If we were disqualifying Dempsey opponents based on who and how they lost fights he wouldnt have anyone left to fight except Firpo who was so protected even he admitted he wasnt ready. Put it this way, is Norfolk a worse match than Carpentier, Miske, or Brennan? I dont think so. I think hes a much better match. He beat Miske twice, beat the hell out of Siki who beat Carpentier, and handled Brennan in sparring for the 1920 Dempsey match. You can make a case that Gibbons was a better match based on the fact that Gibbons beat Norfolk in 1924 but It was no secret that Gibbons wanted no part of Norfolk since at least 1917 when Norfolk was a much more formidible fighter than he was in ‘24 so I there is a case that Norfolk matches up well with anyone Dempsey actually fought. He also beat Bill Tate who was suggested above as an opponent for Dempsey. Norfolk was certainly in the mix.

 

Those are facts that people who say Dempsey ducked Wills should remind themselves of from time to time. Besides the fact that Dempsey signed a contract but the other side didn't or couldn't come up with the money.

 

There is no way Godfrey got $1500 a week to spar Dempsey. That would be like getting $22000 a week in todays currency.

 

I could suggest King Tut as an opponent for Dempsey ,that wouldn't make him a credible one would it?
I'm suggesting that the way Wills obliterated Norfolk inside 2 rounds points to him being overwhelmed by Dempsey who was a fast starter and hit at least as hard as Wills and more oftener.

 

Incorrect. The contract was a sham designed to further Dempseys avoidance of Wills and kick the can down the road. It was meant to dupe suckers who would say “duh, but he signed a contract to fight Wills so he couldnt have ducked him.” If you take it at face value it sounds great. If you study both “contracts” the idea that Dempsey was sincere falls apart.

 

If Wills was a much of a standout contender as people claim, then beating him and drawing with him have to do something for your standing as a contender!

 

What was it about the contracts that made the whole process a sham? Specifically ... glove size, location, choice of ref, ?

 

And the way Norfolk dominated Miske twice makes Miske a less than credible opponent? The way Greb dominated Gobbons makes Gibbons a less than credible opponent? The way Greb dominated Brennan makes Brennan a less than credible opponent? The way Klaus and Papke beat the hell out of Carpentier makes him a less than credible opponent? Again, moving the goal posts does what here? If Dempsey cared about the credibility of his reign it would look entirely different.

 

Ill check it, I thought it was in Randy Roberts book.
"As always Dempsey trained hard and Kearns employed excellent sparring partners.George Godfrey a leading black heavyweight was paid $1,500 week to spar with the champion"Jack Dempsey The Manassa Mauler," Randy Roberts page 177 chapter11 [The Firpo fight]Dempey and Kearns got 37.5% of the gate which was over $500,000.