The heavyweight champions of the 30s and the colour line

The heavyweight champions between Tunney and Louis are often criticised as a weak crop. One thing that should be observed in their favour is that none of them seemed to have any issues about taking on the top black contenders. Leaving out the second teir black contenders they fought:

Schmeling-fought Larry Gains and Joe Louis

Sharkey-fought Harry Wills, George Godfrey and Joe Louis

Carnera-fought George Godfrey, Larry Gains, Joe Louis and Leroy Haynes

Baer-fought Joe Louis

Braddock-fought John Henry Lewis and Joe Louis (Braddock also signed to fight Tiger Jack fox but the bout fell through)

 

Better men than Jack Demsey

 

Dempsey would probably have gone through them all, yet these guys fought and beat the men he failed to fight to his detriment.

 

Surely by beating Sharkey, Dempsey has technically bettered Harry Wills and George Godfrey. Even though technically it was an old Harry Wills that was "bested".

 

Dempsey didn't beat Sharkey, he cheated his way to victory by punching Sharkey in the balls like Andrew Golota. If that ref had any sense, he would have DQ'd Dempsey and awarded the fight to Sharkey. Sharkey hurt Dempsey badly in the 1st, and then won nearly every round by outboxing him. Dempsey took the cheap way out. That ref should have never allowed that left hook to land.

Sharkey W DQ 7 Dempsey is the result

 

Nearly every round except the last one!

 

Golota hit Bowe in the balls, does that mean Golota should get credit for knocking out Bowe?


Sharkey W DQ 7 Jack Dempsey

 

To be fair, Sharkey also fouled Dempsey repeatedly.

You could make a strong case that Dempsey was just responding in kind/leveling the playing field.

 

Politically it's interesting, was it because the civil rights movement gaining acceptance with the powers that be?

Why has Suzie got 2 logins?

He couldn't even get past Willie Meehan and I don't remember him going through Tunney either for some reason :huh Oh yea its because he got his ass handed to him

 

Dempsey at least did fight John Lester Johnson and George Christian on the way up, as Jeffries did Peter Jackson and Bob Armstrong, both were photographed sparring with black fighters (Jeff with Armstrong, who was in Jeff's corner for Johnson, as can be seen on the Reno footage, and Jack with Bill Tate and Godfrey), and Jack was also photographed signing to meet Wills. Tunney and Loughran don't seem to get criticized as much for their more complete segregation with respect to the color line. Corbett gets slammed mercilessly, but he took an incredible risk with a near prime Jackson.

 

A lot of people could not beat Willie Meehan, in a four rounder, in his home town. In some of these fights you got a red block on boxrec if Meehan finished the four rounds on his feet.

Which of the 30s heavyweight champions do you see beating Dempsey?

 

Fighters seem to have become principled about drawing the colour bar once they held the title.

 

Sharkey dq'd jack as much as jack ko'd gene.

 

none, only louis

 

How many times was the championship on the line?