Dempsey vs Firpo is the most overrated fight in boxing history

Reading Dempsey Part 3 now. Amigo, seriously did you have to include every comment from every newspaper or promoter or politician from September 1923 onwards? Constructive criticism here as I appreciate your research but summarizing a fight once in a while is ok. 600 pages of numbing quotes could have been a brisk 300 page read. The reader tends to skip over lots of
pages that repeat the same thing. Just saying.

Nonetheless, as you wrote, Dempsey was blasted 5 seconds into the first round and didn't remember a thing about the rest of the round. Until his corner dumped a half bucket of water on him and waved smelling salts under his nose Jack was a zombie.

 

I was a classic event. It was a ho hum exhibition of boxing.

 

Hi Buddy.
Thanks for taking the time and effort to enlighten us all on this short but exciting brawl, I have only watched it once or twice, but didn't take the time to breakdown the fight as you have, also makes it more interesting when posters draw comparisons, sort of gives the reader a better insight as to what transpired, always have time for your input and thoughts, you make a lot of sense, and articulate your posts in a measured and easy to understand format , which I for one appreciate.
stay safe buddy, chatsoon.

 

Firpo KO Joe Louis and Mike Tyson in 1 in the same night.

 

In 300 years this matchup will still be talked about.There isnt any other Worlds Heavyweight Championship title fight on film with anywhere near the chaos.

Casual sports fans want bloody violence not prolonged sufferings like Larry Okolie fights.

 

Raw looking but still a real fighter, he’d flog many beyond or before his time no doubt to me - strength and determination can get you far.

 

Like Ingo, he was also a little deceptive. He did a lot of retreating, steps back to draw opponents into that right, magnifying the impact. He's not really a come forward brawler. It's when Willard jettisons his defensive poster and goes on the attack in round eight that he opens himself up for the kill. We see Luis giving ground to an oncoming Big Jess, then gets his right to Willard's heart in an exchange which spells the beginning of the end. Firpo was winning handily to that point, Willard only taking the fifth round, but Jess wasn't looking to survive 12 rounds for accolades, he wanted Dempsey again, and Luis had the scoring all his way. Just two months earlier, Willard stopped the never before stopped Floyd Johnson in 11 rounds and now he didn't have four years of ring rust. So he did the right thing and went for broke. For fighting to win rather than survive, Jess does deserve credit.

Firpo a hype job? Bill Brennan had been decisioned a number of times, but only Dempsey had ever stopped him. And while Dempsey beat the daylights out of Willard in Toledo, only Luis ever put him down for the count, albeit when Jess was 41. By knocking out Brennan in 12 on film, Firpo showed fine stamina and late round power. He was a suitable enough challenger for Dempsey, if not the far more accomplished Wills.

 

Brennan was in the penultimate fight of his 60+ fight career and was disinterested at best. Still, Firpo blatantly rabbit punched him repeatedly to get the result. He would be disqualified in any ring post 1970. Likewise, his supposed credentials were built on a 70-year old Willard with an injured arm.

 

Well overated or not, it sure beats a lot of the borefests we have witnessed in the squared circle.

 

Overrated?? There is a reason this fight is still mention 101 years after the fact. It was a fun fight to watch. Yes it was wild and sloppy, but it had a lot of action in it. Yeah this is not going to go down as one of the science of boxing, but a wild brawl.

 

It was an exciting back and forth heavyweight fight between two guys who were both big punchers. Similar to Foreman Lyle. You don’t see many heavyweight fights like that where both guys are willing to exchange and go for broke.