Dempsey loaded gloves

Not that I know of.

Willard once used a photograph that had a rather long, dark, cylindrical object lying on the canvas after the fight as "evidence" that Dempsey had loaded his glove with a piece of iron. However, the object could have been anything. (Probably a cigar)
Willard went to his death utterly convinced that Dempsey had doctored his gloves.

Mt personal opinion is that nothing untoward took place.

 

I don't think there is anything true in that story.

Dempsey, on his way out, said to his daughter that he had nothing but the dynamite power of his hands.

I believe him.

 

It was almost unbelievable that two fists could wreck a mans body like that, thats why the rumor started, and it became urban legend.But never proven.

 

Willard thought there was, and apperntly Kept a Bolt found at Ringside, in a box, sure that it had been secreted in Jack' Right Glove and discarded at fights end,

Some point to a Photo depicting the end of the fight, and on the canvas can be seen something indeed "Boltsize" however i think it was Tex Rickard who explained that at the end of the fight people were throwing their straw boaters and hats into the air, Tex suggested it was actually somebody's thrown cigar that was actually laying on the canvas..which sounds completly plausible

in the Sixties as i recall, Boxing illustrated revisited these rumours, and got Cleveland Big Cat Williams to reinforce his hand wraps in plaster of paris, and when dry, glove up and hit the heavybag as i recall the result was that the Paster of Paris disentergrated over the knuckles, and was extremely uncomfortable, and probably a greater danger to the hitter than the hitee !

Jack did some awfull damage to Jess during the Fight and i am not surprised that Jess found it hard to accept that it was done legitimatly, A fighters and champions pride can often not accept the awful truth, on this day he met a better fighter by far,

 

The best article I've ever seen on this myth

http://coxscorner.tripod.com/dempsey_gloves.html

 

im not sure about it if it was true i wouldnt be surprised.but he wasnt a deadwieght hitter it was a crushing blow but still left somthing he didnt have the pure knockout power but a power like julio chavez,duran which would rip heavybags...but not move them.

also willards defence is typical old school head back to not get hit, hands low to protect the body(which in long fights was crucial) dempsey let rip and had free access to the face of jess.

 

Excellent article,thanks for bringing it to our attention,whatever the damage to Willard ,Dempsey needed no extra help to punch ,he was a proven Giantkiller,and ko artist.

 

I have great suspicion.

No one ever inflicted that much damage to Willard before or after.
Dempsey also never inflicted so much punishment on an opponent prior to the bout or after it.

If Dempsey was so powerful why did he never inflict the massive damage against any other opponent?
Did Willard just have an unusually fragile body that broke and bruised easily compared to an average man? Well no, evidence of all his other fights proved otherwise and show that theory to be nonsense.

These simple conclusions that Willard did not have a fragile body and that Dempsey could never recreate the massive damage he did to any other opponent lead my to believe that yes, Dempsey did indeed use something in his gloves.
What that thing might have been, is something only Dempsey and his trainers knew.

 

I gotta agree. I first read this article about 2 years ago and I appreciate even more now than I did then. I think the key arguement centers around how injured Willard really was, apparently not as injured as many have come to believe.

 

Great point muchmoore! If you watch the fight, you'll understand how and why Dempsey inflicted that much punishment. He was litterally winding up and teeing off on Willard with full force. With no neutral corner rule, as soon as Jess' legs or hand rose from the canvas, Jack was laying into him and landing cleanly to the body and head. And we are talking a big puncher here with small 5 ounce gloves. When you get dropped 7 times, you also get up that many, and you are groggy, you are going to suffer punishment. Hell, I'd argue that if Jack really did have a bolt, Jess would not have been able to get up 7 times and continue for a few more rounds - he'd have been out cold.