Willard claims dempsey hit him with an Iron rod in the first round. I believe him. Jess Willard MOST UNDERRATED champion of all time.
Apparently an embittered Willard, for the rest of his life, kept a box, and in that box was a Bolt which somebody gave to him and told him it was dropped from one of Dempsey's Gloves after the Ref had stopped the fight, Jess also had a Photograph supposedly showing a Dark Shape / the Bolt laying on the Canvas after the fight was stopped, Now Unless this was actually something knocked out of Jess's own Shorts..Curtesy of the savage body beating he took.. he readily accepted that foul play had taken place and that his Broken Rib Injuries were too severe for mere 'Hand in Glove..' I think it was Tex Ricard, who when quized on the matter said that at the cessation of the fight, Many ringsiders threw their Hats into the Air...And some threw their Cigars... And the Bolt-like Object was actually a Cigar.. (I think Tex hung onto his ) Lots of ifs and buts (Cigar Butt ? ) i seem to recall a big article in a Boxing Illustrated (Circa 67 ?)
Interesting I did hear that Dempsey used to set his fists in plaster of Paris and soak his face in brime to harden his skin up the bloke was as hard as they come looked like a destroyer and was one .Tyson was a big fan based his look and attitude on jack.
Ridiculous. You think Willard mistook a rod for a cigar butt. Held same cigar butt in house for years, and until his death couldnt tell the difference between an iron rod and a cigar butt. Something is fishy with this story
Complete myth as is Demosey ducking a fight with Wills. It was proven decades ago that Dempseys gloves were not loaded. Willard severe facial damage had to do with the punching power of Dempsey and nothing more.
How was it proven? Eye witnesses who watched Dempseys hands be wrapped. Photos while Dempsey is in the ring that clearly show his wrapped hands. Tests that showed plaster of Paris would disintegrate with the very first blows offering no punching power benefit in fact it would more likely hurt the fighters hands making his punches lighter not more powerful. Watching the bout you see Dempsey holding his left glove open at times. His left hook did the bulk of the damage as Willards face on its right side was a swollen and caved in mess. Again this myth has zero merit. Forget it.
Hold my hand so I can lead you through this again, okay? Forget plaster of paris. Get the phrase out of your head. We are on a different subject now. We are talking about the IRON ROD Dempsey was HOLDING which could have been slipped into his palm at ANY time during the bought.
Hey Newbie.....look at my last comment. He could not be holding an iron rod if you can see him holding his glove open. WATCH THE FIGHT! THANK YOU.
Watch the old grainy fight film that shows nothing substantial? all you need is one good shot with a rod and Dempsey can take it from there. Nobody is saying he held the rod the whole fight. that would be ridiculous.
The first left hook that did all the initial damage occurred say 60 seconds into round one. Dempsey is seen a minute or so later holding the top rope with his left glove. Tell everyone genius where did your "iron rod" go? Dempsey just drops it to the canvas for everyone to see?
I watched it. OP may be right. There does seem to be an object seen during the fight. Could just be a cigar. The only rational thing would be that Jack had the rod in his right hand or he had it glued?