Awesome artwork of the brutality on the cover, i'll read this later & comment. This content is protected
This entertaining allegation of glove loading is the Rasputin of boxing yarns. Nearly half a century after Doc Kearns was conclusively debunked by Cleveland Williams, it somehow refuses to die. Maybe the following article can be improved upon in a revision, but Cox scrutinized and addressed those allegations pretty thoroughly in his 2004 write up on the matter: http://coxscorner.tripod.com/dempsey_gloves.html It seems stupid that Kearns would attempt to hatch an allegation like this against all the photographic evidence and eyewitness testimony to the contrary, yet threads like this approaching a century later prove he succeeded in creating pause for thought.
The loaded gloves story is total bull****. I have several photos of Dempsey in the ring right before the fight started and without gloves. you can see his hands are clearly bandaged normally and didnt even have the heavy black bicycle tape that fighters sometimes wore back in those days. In the film of the fight Willard enters the ring, waves to the crowd, and then immediately walks over and shakes hands with Dempsey both without gloves on. Finally I also have an account of one of Willards cornermen who also rode back with willard to the house after the fight who stated that extent of willards injuries was greatly exagerated by the press. This exaggeration, which has become accepted, led some to wonder how Dempsey could do so much damage in so little time (basically the first round, because the fight slowed so much in the second and third). Easy, he didnt.
Anyone who worked with plaster of paris will know it would shatter at the first punch and become a mess inside the glove. That anyone took that assertion seriously always amuses me. Now a railroad spike or similar weight is a different story, but no evidence seems to suggest that occurred. And certainly had Kearns know it to be the case, he would have taken that approach to vent his sourness at Dempsey.
Willard produced a bolt he claimed Dempsey had clutched in his fist during the fight and showed it to Harry Carpenter.
OK, now that I'm thinking about it, I have a couple more questions... Here's a list of alleged injuries suffered by Willard: To what extent is Jess Willard's injuries? Here's the breakdown; - Nose completely smashed - Busted lips - Cheekbones shattered in twelve places - Jaw broken in seven places - Cracked two ribs - Smashed eye socket - four teeth flew somewhere in the ring - Partial loss of hearing Question 1: I have heard this is a pretty gruesome exaggeration of his ailments. Is this the case? How long did he stay in the hospital? A jaw broken in 7 places? Did he ever eat again? Question 2: Did all these injuries occur on the same side of the face? Or did Dempsey possess two bolts, one in each hand?
According to a NYT article, Willard was disturbed by rumors that he had died. He was said to have "entirely recovered" from the beating by July 6, with the exception of the eye, drove back to Kansas the following day. According to another article, he wasn't even taken to a hospital but his wife helped him recover in the house he rented in Toledo.
Now first off, im not wanting to argue with anybody over this and maybe im a little niave in my thinking, but how does holding a bolt or whatever improve (?) the power (or whatever you want to call it) of a punch? If you hold it inside your hand it wont make a difference and if its taped or whatever to the outside, around the outside of the knuckle, then surely it would break your knuckles. Im basing this on inside the glove of course. Its like those old 'Laurel and Hardy' movies where somebody has a horseshoe in their glove, i just cant figure out how it works. Im sure someone will explain how so be gentle with me:huh
Willard says Dempsey was clutching a big bolt and landing the head on him. He did this in round one only. This content is protected Obviously not one that big but you get the gist.