Just a few excerpts from articles I've recovered during my newspaper archives rabbit hole. Post fight interview of Corbett after carpentier-dempsey; Corbett, at New York on Sept. 5: 'Your welcome letter reached me. Mrs. Corbett and I were glad to hear from you. Well, the champion of France was defeated, but, Bill, I was very much disappointed in both of them. I enjoyed the bout because Carpentier gave us a thrill. In the second round he hit Dempsey on the jaw four or five times, and it looked like he would win, but when he came up for the third round you could see at once he was tired out. Then Dempsey just mowed him down. 'Carpentier has a very quick right hand — that's all — and no defence whatsoever. Dempsey is too easy to hit to be considered a great man. He can't lead or counter, but just walks in wide open, and not extra quick. He would have been easy for Jackson, Fitz, or Jeffries.' https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/121166322?searchTerm=Jim Corbett sullivan dempsey Post fight interview of Corbett after Tunney/dempsey 1; "To me, Dempsey was the same sort of fighter as ever. Dempsey is a one-punch fighter who can't mix, who must set himself to punch. He has always been lost against fast men. Why, Gibbons went 15 rounds with him in Shelby, and never suffered a black eye. I saw Brennan against Dempsey, and Brennan gave Dempsey a world of trouble up to the time Dempsey knocked him out. Dempsey is purely a slugger, who never covers up or blocks a punch. He does not know how, nor does he want to. It's his business to punch, and if he hits you then of course you're through. Another point; Dempsey is strained in his boxing. He never relaxes, and consequently, he tires quickly. He has a peculiar stance, and he is set in his legs and he is set in his arms; consequently after 3 or 4 rounds he loses the power in his sock. To me, Dempsey is one of the dumbest champions we ever had. I don't think he will ever be able to box in any way better than he showed against Tunney. They claim he is old, why, he is only 31! He ought to be approaching his prime, rather than being over the hill as everybody holds. The old timer champions all were at their best past the 30-mark. I don't think we've had a real champion since Jack Johnson passed out. He (Tunney) knows his game, he does everything methodically, and he is not what you would term a 'natural fighter'. He was made by study and application and machine-like, he fails to impress. Against Dempsey, he fought a smart, head-y fight-just the kind of bout to defeat Dempsey. He fed the champion plenty of left hands from all angles, and while those lefts didn't seem to carry a world of power, nevertheless they were damaging, as Dempsey's face at the close of the bout evidenced." https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/184845150?searchTerm=Jim Corbett Dempsey slugger [COLOR=oklab(0.952614 0.000793397 -0.00253761)][/COLOR]
'On the subject of champions of the past, compared to Dempsey, He says, "I can't say Dempsey is a greater fighter than Sullivan or Fitzsimmons, who are also classed as heavy punchers. I have often been taken to task by sportswriters and critics for my stand regarding Dempsey, but I knew Sullivan and I knew Fitzsimmons. I saw these men as they were in their primes, and I can't for the life of me see where Dempsey has anything on them. To tell the truth, I rather discount Dempsey's punch, and if there is any rating to be made I would give it to the old timers. Fitzsimmons in particular. Take Dempsey's record, he floored Willard some 8 times. Does that show that he had a real punch? At that Willard was dazed after the first blow, still he went along and finished the round and fought a couple more before he quit. The cases of Carpentier, Gibbons and Firpo further bear out my contention. Carpentier was on the floor in the first round, he was mauled down, and even when he went out Dempsey had to sock him 2 or 3 times before he stayed down. Gibbons wasn't floored at all, while Firpo like Willard went down 7 or 8 times." https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/233520714?searchTerm=Jim Corbett Dempsey slugger
Dempsey would have destroyed any of the old timers Corbett mentioned imo. He looks way better on film than any of those names that have surviving footage including Corbett himself.
You heard it here first, he wasn't quick, he was pretty dumb and not much for stamina, and you could pretty much discount his punch as a result. Jack Dempsey...sucked. He came along at the right time, when even a Jack Mormon could prevail, between the post-post-racial era of Johnson, before Louis and before the time the Eastern Europeans realized they were genetically gifted and let themselves loose. Gentleman? Well, he'll be a gentleman when you learn to box, otherwise, he'll just speak plainly and sharply.
The way of the world . Quite a few past champs don’t rate champs that succeed their gen . It was always better in their day. Jeffies didn’t think much of Johnson, Johnson same with Louis, Louis with Ali , Ali with Holmes, Holmes with Tyson an so on
I certainly agree that Corbett is another of the "we were so much better in the old days" guys, but he also makes what appear to be good points about Dempsey. Did his style cause him to tire quickly? Did he lose power after a few rounds? Did he have trouble with faster guys. Did he fail to cover well and block punches? Was he in fact a limited fighter who relied on his big punch? He is certainly right that Dempsey was not that old at the time of the Tunney fight. Certainly food for thought.
2 things, Dempsey was an extremely popular champion which could have frustrated the benighted Corbett.. He had a completely different style and personality which was hard for Jim to appreciate.
Who should we believe? the guy who knocked out Sullivan, Charlie Mitchell and McCaffrey? the guy who knocked out Fred Fulton and Billy Miske? Hmm.
He was kind of right about Carpentier tbh And also, imagine how little Corbett would have to think of you if he goes as far as to praise Jack Johnson lol. Bro’s acting like he wasn’t the chief racist in the Jeffries camp
Corbett was a dyed in the wool racist, no doubt, even for 1900 standards but he did give black fighters their due. Years ago, I posted an article on here wherein he predicted the sport would be dominated by "negro fighters". Despite his personal feelings he was honest in his explanation, though I recall it being antiquated in its reasoning. Still, he gave them their due and predicted things largely correct.