After watching the documentary 'Unforgiveable Blackness', it says that after he came out of prison, he wanted to fight Dempsey but Jack didnt want to fight him "or any other black fighter." Is this a true story? I'm not sure of its credibility because it claims that Johnson was the best HW of all time, which I just know is not true...
Johnson was over 40 years old and well past his prime when Dempsey became champion. Harry Wills was a black man that Dempsey avoided.
Not Really. Dempsey refused a fight with Sam Langford in 1917, Climbed out of the ring against Jeanette in 1918, and never fought his # 1 contender Harry Wills for 7 straight years 1919-1926. Apparently his broken ribs he suffered in the battle with John Lester Johnson in 1916 left a marketable impression on his reluctance to take on black fighters in the future.
Johnson did campaign for a title shot in the 1920's but his performances were unimpressive and he gave very little effort in training and in fighting. He thought he'd get a shot and the money that would come along with it based on his past achievements, which proved not to be the case. Probably his best achievement around that time was to make Dempsey challenger Luis Firpo look bad in sparring.
Johnson was finished as a top fighter when Dempsey hit his prime. When Johnson came out of Leavenworth he was about as popular as Liston after Lewiston, the match was never a realistic possibility on grounds of competitiveness, box office ,and racial sensitivity.
This. It was not ever going to be tenable for Johnson to get a title shot after his antics as champion. What Wills should have done was challenge Johnson and beat the **** of him. That would have won Harry points with the crowd preventing him from getting a shot at Dempsey.
atsch Yeah, because he was so dumb and racist that he thought all black fighters would break his ribs. No doubt with the use of some "magic negro voodoo punch" ! :-( Only an utter idiot would think that. Besides, Dempsey fought loads of black guys in sparring sessions in camp. I've heard ChrisPontius say that before. And now you.
Dempsey beat up on George Godfrey daily, another occasional sparring partner was Larry Gains,add Big Bill Tate as a regular. Dempsey ducked Wills and Godfrey, and kod Sharkey, who beat both of them.:huh
You can't deny the fact that Dempsey never fought any of the top black opponents from 1917 until the very end of his career, though.
Tex Rickard swore after the riots and deaths that went on following the Johnson-Jeffries fight that he would never again promote a black vs white match again. Is it safe to say that he was as good as his word and that is why Dempsey wasn't allowed to defend vs. Wills? Not taking a position here. Just tossing it out for feedback.
BTW, re: "Unforgiveable Blackness". I'm fairly new here. Has there been a thread discussing this documentary and any historical inaccuracies that are in it?
No Dempsey didnt avoid Johnson or any other black fighter for that matter. It was the promoters and the commissioners that prevented Dempsey from fighting Wills. Jack had a few black sparring partners who were also very good fighters in that era. So sick of hearin the same bs.