Is it true that Dempsey chewed resin to strengthen his chin?

No idea, never heard of that before!

I do know however, that big Joe Joyce used to soak hist fists in petrol for an hour a day, said it made his hands like rock and he would split people's wigs and send them to hospital for stitches, in the days when he fought bare knuckle of course.

 

Just watched the Joe Joyce video on youtube, it was 20 minutes a day that he soaked his hands in petrol when he was fighting bare knuckle years ago.

 

I've read/heard that Demspey chewed pine gum to strengthen his jaw and that he also bathed in brine to toughen his skin.

 

Jack chewed on resin ever more than he chewed on Willie Meehan’s fists.

 

I've read that he did.

 

Dude certainly didn't need to do anything with his fists, they were like dynamite.

Man, to have a HW champ around today with that pure animal savagery, that ruthless, vicious mindset.

We need HWs that really relish a good barn burner, a superman to come along to shake up the division, make it exciting again at the top. The top HWs are yapping but not fighting much - many combinations of matches should've already happened.

And we gotta wait til the end of the year to see what? 4 old men that should've already been & done.

 

Sorry to rant on your thread, I'm just really disgusted with the HW division at the moment lol.

 

How do you know it wasn't for the flavor? Some do have a bitter-friendly palate.

Born a century later, he very well might've been one of those obnoxious IPA nerds.

 

According to Jess Willard, Dempsey carried a railroad spike.

 

That was about something else..

 

can i interest you in manuel charr and arreola?

 

Soaking any part of your body in petrol can only bring you health issues, but no benefits. As for Dempsey chewing resin - he probably did, but I doubt such a thing helps in boxing if any strengthening effect, the knockout and the knockdown happen for other reasons.

 

it will strengthen your jaw but not for taking shots, it'll make you bite harder.

i heard he did before, but that doesn't make it true or false.

 

Yes, he did. In Dempsey's biography he mentioned chewing tree sap and pine gum to strengthen his jaw, then his brother would throw a hook to test how tough his jaw had become. Soaking his face in beef brine was to minimize the risk of cuts as it made his skin "as tough as leather" I think is how he phrased it.

John L Sullivan and other old school boxers used similar methods to strengthen the skin and jaw.