Now Available! - In the Ring With Jack Dempsey - Part II: 1919 - 1923

I think one of the really attractive aspects of young champion Dempsey, in interviews, is a mix of unforced confidence and genuine humility.

It's also true that, when the Wills question comes up, and Dempsey generally defers to Kearns (from drawn-color-line, to 'public demand', as Kearns attitude changed), I appreciate more and more Floyd Patterson actually bucking Cus D'amato on the Liston question, recognizing that, both on Liston's sporting merits on the very meaning of Floyd's being a 'champion', Liston outstandingly deserved the challenge opportunity (and this when there was some public division on Liston's 'personal' qualifications to hold a championship].
I don't think that Dempsey was in any way, on 'principle', opposed to defending against black challengers, nor scared beyond the rational fear of an able opponents abilities -- something Dempsey was never embarassed to admit.

 

There's a pic [on page 180], 'Three Champions' (Dempsey, horse Man'O'War, sculler Jack Kelly) .

Anyways, Jack Kelly would later have four children: Jack Jr., Elizabeth, Margaret and, most famously, actress and later Princess of Monaco, Grace.

 

Interesting how greatly observers of boxing can disagree, and not only in interpretation, but even regarding the facts of the action. It would, of course, be wonderful to have more film of the old fights; but had we such films, we today would still probably disagree as much in interpretation as did Jack's contemporaries (though films might clarify some facts).

 

Sometimes boxers show (various) savvied skills, with some analogy to how a good baseball infielder knows just when to change the orientation of his gloved hand (depending on how high the ball arrives), not getting caught in indecisions over close cases.
With Dempsey, he seemed to have a very decisive sense, when hit, whether he should come right back and hit his opponent back harder, or whether to be evasive and pull himself together. Amid all the comments of Dempsey being hittable, 'his offense is a his defense', there are occasional admissions that, when focused on defense, he was difficult to land on. Also, the 'if that punch had caught Dempsey's chin' comments: if you keep hearing those comments, well, maybe there was a reason he wasn't taking it on the chin? [Jeffries, also, sometimes noted as a hard guy to hit to a 'vital' spot, even when much hit].
With Jack Johnson, a great sense of distance and timing so that, unless his opponent was coming apart, he (the opponent) was kept at a blockable/counterable distance, or engaged in clinches, with little mid-distance milling.

 

Sometime Dempsey sparing partner Bull Montana now best known for portraying a lady-kidnapping ape-man in the 1925 film spectacle 'The Lost World'.

 

Jack Dempsey gets compared (in 20's-GOAT conversation) to Sullivan, Corbett, Fitzsimmons, Jeffries and Johnson, with most conceding that he was better than most of those five and nearly all conceding that Dempsey would have licked Corbett and Fitzsimmons. [Pittsburgs Jimmy Jab does put Dempsey #4 after Jeffries (#1), Sullivan (#2), Jeffries and Johnson(#3)].
There's very little talk of Dempsey vs. Peter Jackson -- rather, when Peter Jackson is cited, it's as a gentlemanly tool for 'Johnson-shaming'. However, Wills is sometimes called the best black heavy since Jackson (more Johnson-Cancelling?), which implies that Peter was viewed as being in the top-class of Dempsey's competitors.

 

A great read again.It was the little bits of information that i found very interesting..

The coverage of the fights especially after the Firpo bout was brilliant,Writers who sat just few feet away with different takes on what happened,The timekeeper counting 5 knockdowns and the footage for all to see to be played in cinemas the next day.

Kid McPartland was right in what he thought had happened in the first round with Dempsey admitting it a few days later.

Will be buying Vol III for the Cowboy Luttrell Massacre

 

Interesting that young Tunney, though successful, is getting a somewhat tepid reaction. What we'd now call 'Tunney won again, meh.'
Where as even when a young Jack Johnson lost, he still had a boxing talent that got across and made people enthusiastic for him.
Still, young Tunney is getting talked about; and 'No publicity is bad publicity.'

 

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Apollack's 2nd Dempsey book has a picture (I think p. 625] of Jack with child actor Dean 'Dinky' Reisner, who had a part in Charles Chaplin's 1919 'The Pilgrim.'
[I initially misidentified the child as Charles Reisner; Charles also was in 'The Pilgrim', but as a crook].

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I’ve watched half of this vid so far. Enjoying it very much. Thanks for the link.

 

At any moment, post-Willard to post-Firpo, people are saying that Jack Dempsey, the fighter, is (either):
1) better than ever
2) going back
3) as good as ever, but changing
4) same as ever, just showing us different capacities in different circumstances
READER: WHAT DO YOU THINK?

 

That kid wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes in my house.....my nonno (grandfather) would have had his belt off and smashing that boy ASAP.

 

This is not at all to say that Pollack shy's from pricking bubbles. I think the 'Dempsey v Jack Johnson' rumor has been pretty well settled.
As for people's (contemporary) opinion of Dempsey's fistic trajectory: Pollack records the facts of how opinions were publicly expressed.