Dave Shade interview

Yes, Dempsey was quite the popular culture hero.

Its a shame his exploits in the ring never matched his fame.

 

But his "fame" was the RESULT of WHAT he did when he was in his prime,
and even though he didn't fight Wills or Harry Greb, his great explosive
offense impressed the boxing public as no other before him ,and the boxing fraternity would have made him a great favorite over Harry Wills or my
favorite boxing figure, the much smaller Harry Greb...When I think of Dempsey i think of him H2H as a fighter...And I truly believe at his best with Jack Kearns, he would be a handful for any heavyweight whoever lived, mano to mano...

 

As Andy Warhol once noted, some people are famous for being famous.

To a certain and significant degree that is the case with Dempsey. The sober, objective eye can not possibly rate him over Langford, Leonard or Greb.

 

True S, my "sober" eye does not rate Dempsey over Greb, Leonard, Robinson etc, for the simple fact is a heavyweight CANNOT do the gymnastics,and movements of a smaller man . Gravity excludes that...Ali for example was a great heavyweight, but if a Ray Robinson, or a Ray Leonard , or LH Ezzard Charles, could carry their skills as a heavyweight, they would be much better as an all around heavyweight than Ali, who didn't hit as hard, had no infighting skills etc. But a prime Dempsey at 190 pounds was
an anomaly as a heavyweight, because of his speed, strength, and hitting abilities.
Dempsey, along with the amazing Fitz and tough Sam Langford belong in a special category, because of what they accomplished as "small" heavyweights, alongst Rocky Marciano....

 

Brilliant stuff.

 

Or just remembering being struck by Dempsey.

It's hard to write off a fighter with 249 + pro fights talking about the unique quality of Dempsey's hitting power in sparring as rose-tinted dreamy-eyed man-love or myth-making.

 

Excellent stuff, Surf-Bat :good

 

Although Jake LaMotta may have used some elements of Dave Shade's boxing style, I got the impression that Shade was a "safety-first" fighter with fine defensive skills while Jake was far more aggressive and easier to hit. But I have to admit that LaMotta had much more in the way of skills than he has been given credit for.

- Chuck Johnston

 

There is footage of Dave Shade sparring with Jack Dempsey (which is absolutely horrible in terms of quality) and Jack Renault. While coming back to the U.S. after his bouts in Australia, Shade had some fight footage of him in action which was confiscated by U.S. Customs at a time it was illegal to transport fight films over state lines. I don't think that any fight footage of Shade's bouts has turned up to this day.

- Chuck Johnston

 

Although Dave Shade started out during the Four-Round Era in California, it is obvious that bouts scheduled for ten rounds or more suited him far better. While fighting in four-round bouts with the best California four-round fighters, Shade really didn't stand out.

But at the same time, Shade was starting to fight in featured bouts while holding his own with the likes of Oakland Jimmy Duffy and Frankie Farren, if not winning on a regular basis, at the big boxing venues in San Francisco and Oakland during 1920 before the four-round boxing clubs in most of California were shut down later in the year because sensational events involving the Howard Street Gang of San Francisco. Two well-known four-round fighters, K.O. Kruvosky and Spud Murphy, were reputed Howard Street members and were convicted of the gang assault of two women.

It may be the big shutdown of many California four-round clubs was a blessing in disguise for Dave Shade. During 1921, Shade began fighting in ten-round bouts in the Northwest and was on his way to proving in a short time that he was one of the best welterweights in the world. A number of four-round stars didn't do well when fighting in longer bouts at the time, notably Oakland Jimmy Duffy and Bert Colima. Yet Duffy and Colima were much more successful in four-round bouts than Shade, who still has to be considered the best fighter from California during the early 1920s.

- Chuck Johnston

 

Dave Shade was a great middleweight in an era of great middleweights. He fought almost weekly at times, and pulled off one of the great upsets in boxing history when he kod the 10 pound heavier sensational LH Jimmy Slattery...Too bad Dave Shade never had the opportunity to become a champion...Bad timing by his parents....

 

Dave Shade was recognized by New York and Massachusetts as the world welterweight champion after it was determined that Mickey Walker, the "real" champion in the division at the time, was avoiding Shade. Not too long after being recognized, Shade lost his so-called title to Jimmy Jones. Yet the 1986-87 Ring Record Book had Jones' record among the records of world welterweight champions, but not Shade's. I don't believe that Shade took the recognition by New York and Massachusetts seriously.

- Chuck Johnston