Just watched this a couple of times again. Good, entertaining fight. Some thoughts... Carpentier had truly exceptional hand and foot speed. Dempsey was quite good at cutting off the ring. Dempsey was vulnerable to right hands, and this fight displays that more than any other. Carpentier landed a number of perfect right hands, seemingly right on the chin. Dempsey, for the most part, walked through them, except at one point where he was backed up for about 2 seconds. At one point Carpentier walks Dempsey several paces and pins him to the ropes. Good for him. Dempsey seemed pretty content to just walk Carpentier down and wear him out with body punches. He didn't seem to really be trying to blow him out as soon as possible as he did with so many other fighters. Dempsey threw several jabs, so yeah, he did have a jab. He also used a straight right to the body several times that seemed very effective. Anyone feel like chiming in and discussing this one?
Dempsey was asked by the Promoter Tex Rickard to carry Carpentier a couple of rounds to give the public a show .Now there will be posters jumping on me for that ,but its true.In reality the fight was something of a mis match.
Mis-match Cruel Nasty Demeaning .... in hindsight, this fight encompasses each word. In the day, post WWI, the fight was a fantastic spectacle, drawing a mammoth, record breaking-gate reciept/crowd, and justifiably so. Carpentier was a freakish man. The French face of courage, a war hero??, a handsome gentleman, a patriot, a ring genious, a completely schooled fighter with little fear and a record to accompany his worthiness. Dempsey, in every aspect, a frightening prospect to reackon with.. In many ways, this bout, as nasty the end result, gave a degree of beauty to the 'raw' H/W scene. Never before had a foreign fighter arrived in the States, with such a glamorous reception, for the sake of contending the H/W champ. Tex must have been wetting his pants. The end result must have never been in question... seriously, although the expectations of both men created a 'world' of intrigue, for good reasons. With Carpentier representing the European 'Gentlemanly' honour, and Dempsey representing the inpregnetable US 'strengths', a world of fantasy must have ensured. IMO, the bout allowed for some great insights, in particular, the ability of a smaller man to tag a stronger, larger, 'less skilled' man. Georges tagged Dempsey pretty solidly... and, in return, a reciept was produced.... with little thanks from Jack. The mind boggles, at the times leading up, and post fight, as to the conversations regarding the bout. Other than Louis/Schmeling I&II... is there another H/W bout, pre-1950, with the same geographical standings??
