Jack Dempsey vs Bob Foster

At a similar stage in his career Dempsey was KO'd by Flynn.

 

But he was a Fireman.

 

How could you posibly think that there was a similar stage to Fosters career to the point of Dempsey's when he was KOd by Flynn?

That is always asuming that Dempsey was KOd by Flynn. There is less evidence for Sonny Liston taking a dive in the second Ali fight, but it is virtualy treated as a given here.

Foster had an extensive amateur background and a career that was carefully managed from his profesional debut. Dempsey for contrast went straight into the profesional ranks as a malnourished teenager fighting for a hat full of change. There is simply no comparison.

Lets be generous and make somne alowance for Foster against Jones.

What went wrong against Zora Folley then?

He should have been ready to be taken at that point.

 

Old Fogey presented articles that showed that Dempsey had a manger and was in good condition going into that fight.

But ok, take his second loss to Meehan instead if you prefer. That was about a year before he won the title.

 

So losses against him, doesn't count?

Anyhow, Dempsey rarely steamrolled the best he met at Foster's weight. Against Miske, Gibbons, Carpentier and Tunney he's 4-2-1 with 2 KO's. His best result here is a 3 rd KO of a Miske who's said to be sick at the time.

 

Based on what? Based on what I've seen of Carpentier I think Bob would have KO'd him.

In all fairness, I did leave out Battling Levinsky, whom Jack KO'd in 3.

 

Wrong B,When Dempsey kod the tough Billy Miske Sept.,1920, Miske's
illness was in remission..After Dempsey kod him, Miske went undefeated
in his next 19 bouts,including a 1 rd ko of fred Fulton, ! rd ko of Willie Meehan, ko Jack Renault, win over Bill Brennan etc.He was in great fighting form at that time, but his Brights Disease illness reoccured and
killed the really brave Billy Miske...Dempsey blossomed into his prime about
that time,,,

 

A few thinks about weights need to be clarified.

The idea that Dempsey was a light heavyweight when he fought Willard

He is cited at 187 lbs for this fight which is in line with his previous and subsequent bouts. He somtimes weighed as much as 200lbs for 3 round bouts around this time. If we exclude bouts of 4 rounds or less, then for his three fights before meeting Willard and his three fights after, he was:

185
185
190
187-Willard
188
188
188

Unless he was consistently using weights in his pockets to exagerate his wight there is every reason to think that 187lbs is an acurate weight.

The size of his light heavyweight opponents

The only guys he fought who were 175 lbs or less were:

Levinsky KO3
Carpintier KO4

Gene Tunney weighted 189lbs for both their fights, and Billy Miske weighed 182, 187 and 187 respectivley. These guys would have been heavyweights in Fosters era.

It is true that Tommy Gibbons is listed at slightly over 175lbs when he took Dempsey the diostance, but he had an all time chin for his weight and in any event lost every round.

Conclusions
There is nothing in any of this to suggest thet Foster would not encounter the same problems against the heavyweights of this era as he did in his own.

 

Two of my favourite fighters. Both greats of their weight classes.

I think Bob is just the wrong kind of LHW to trouble Dempsey and he doesn't have the durability.

BTW, good match up.