"I have never read an account that suggests he fought his cornermen." This is from the Salt Lake City Newspaper account of the fight on Feb 14, 1917. "Dempsey was out about half a minute. When he began to regain consciousness in his corner he evidently thought he was still in a pugilistic encounter for he put up a strenuous battle with those who were trying to bring him around." Dempsey himself mentioned this incident in his 1959 autobiography and that his brother Bernie had to calm him down.
The whole willard johnson fix thing is not supported by the film at all. People who looked at it and said "look, he is shielding his eyes from the sun, he isn't knocked out!" Must have been people who either never watched boxing or were bullshitting. Guys get "knocked out" all the time and can still move some...it just means they didn't get knocked out totally cold...that's all.
Carpentier was KO'd by LHWs, which Foster never was. So he was easily as susceptible to punchers, probably more so. I see little chance that he would go the distance with Bob to be honest.
But if he had met Jones, Folley and Terrell inside his first 20 fights, and Ali and Frazier in his prime... I'm very far from certain that even Ali/Clay would have been unbeaten had he taken on Jones in his 10:th fight and then Folley and Terrell within his next ten. Very far.
Sure, but Carpintier does have some decent heavyweight names on his resume, and I say that as sombody who does not rate Carpintier particularly highly. Gibbons on the other hand was a major force in the heavyweight division for years.
Sure. But as I've said I don't think Foster's HW record is as conclusive as it may seem. Not nearly. He was matched in a very tough way, and from what I've remember of his fight against Terrell he didn't look half bad. But of course, there's not much to suggest HW was a good division for him, either. But let's just say it's a bit inconclusive, whith some good moments. As him rocking Ali with a good right and being decently competitive with the much larger, durable and pretty skilled Terrell. No argument with that.
Foster won something like 20 fights at what would have been HW in Dempsey's day, but thery were all at...a certain level. He's not that good at HW. I find the idea that he'd beat Dempsey or Jeffries or Johnson or Walcott pretty bizarre if we're talking best for best.
Did Bob ever possess the punch resistance of a peak Carp or mature veteran Levinsky though? Jones, Vick and DePaula all dropped him in the first. Jack wasn't a good opponent to start slowly with. Carp was noted for his one round victimizing of Bombardier Wells, Kid Lewis, and Beckett 2X, a capacity for fast started which served him well at Boyle' Thirty Acres. Yes, Bob made DePaula pay dearly for that flash KD, but only as a result of that wake up call. Typically, he did not charge out the gate like that, ready to roar, at least not when dealing with perceived world class competition. Bob was taken out more quickly by Frazier than anybody else who survived the opening round with Joe. If Smoke's corner had gotten on his case before the starting bell, instead of during the rest periods between rounds one and two (when Bob claims he heard Durham and Futch screaming at him), maybe Joe would have wiped him out at :49 of round one instead. (Smoke certainly demonstrated that capacity with Ziggy the previous year.) Bob's survival response during the brief interval between the initial and concluding knockdowns was abysmal. At the end of 1918, Dempsey knocked the 6'2" 178 pound veteran Gunboat Smith down with a left jolt a minute after the action started, then bounced him seven more times before putting him down for the count. Over the previous eight years and 94 bouts, Gunboat had been stopped by Geyer in nine, Langford in three (hitting the floor three times in a match where he claimed to be sick), Coffey in four (which Gunner avenged), and Fulton in seven (without going down). Smith would not get stopped again until the unholy triumvirate of Fulton, Greb and Wills ended his career at the outset of the 1920s. Jack beat the **** out of him in a way even a prime Langford hadn't managed to do. Could that left jolt of Dempsey's flatten Bob right from the outset? Reading his description of how to execute it properly, and taking into account the power he carried in that left, then looking at over more than a dozen visits to the floor Bob performed for the cameras, it wouldn't surprise me. When round two began, Gunboat actually tried going on the attack, an attack Jack sidestepped before resuming his demolition. I'm not convinced Bob could even learn to sidestep if he became a contestant on "Dancing with the Stars." (If he is ever invited to perform on that show though, it would sure be fun to watch him try. I don't know that even those dance partners could help him.)
Man Firpo is awful. Dempsey sort of just puts his head down and ducks. Sort of a bad habit at times. I have this fight as a highlight in restored quality.
Lets be frank,dempsey is a very fast starter and an offensive animal. Even tyson didnt start like dempsey. Prime dempsey is not going to let bobby establish a jab or a rhythm,and foster is no slickster like tunney. Dempseys head movement is good,hes no pure brawler,and he punches from either hand like a mule. Hes also used to fighting far bigger stronger men than foster without taking a backward step. Come on guys,this is a no-brainer. I cant see any modern era light heavies or cruisers living with this guy.
