Dempsey vs Quarry

good find

 

The Willard interview by Jim Murray was very good

 

I can list many, many articles and interviews that state the opposite, including articles along his route and at his arrival back in Kansas, AFTER HE DROVE from Ohio, and as he planned a business trip to Texas oil country the following week. Please state your source.

 

It's not a find if he can't give provenance to it. He has zero citation but his good word and/or memory.

 

Seamus is once again as off base as can be. Ridiculous individual. I sited the newspaper the article came from. AGAIN you ignore words from the man (and his wife).

Willard PLANNED to drive home from Toledo but instead took a train. This was as per Willard and his wife in 1963.

 

July 10, Fort Worth Star Telegram, byline Chicago
July 13, Tulsa World, Tulsa, OK (informs that the car had to be left a town previous because of weather)
July 11, Bay City Times, Bay City MI
July 14, Arkansas Gazette, Little Rock, AR
July 12, Denver Post, Denver, CO

 

Willard and his wife stated they planned to drive home from Toledo but instead took the train. Do you believe them or second hand reports?

 

I have read the articles from '63, which contain quite a few inaccuracies (like that their home was in California). But pieced together with the articles I cite above, here is what seems to have happened. They left Toledo in their car, went to Chicago in their car, continued toward KS but rains intervened in Buckner, MO and there they switched to the train and retrieved the car later. This means that Jess drove 700 miles, beginning days after the fight, and took a train the final 60 miles.

 

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Jack Dempsey was taller than Quarry and had a longer reach than Jerry, and Dempsey was also a better inside fighter than Quarry.

I don't see Quarry winning on the inside or the outside. In fact, I think Dempsey brutalizes Jerry on the inside. And I don't see Quarry's face outlasting Dempsey's, either (in terms of cuts).

I just don't see any way for Quarry to win this.

In fact, he might be the perfect opponent for Dempsey. Quarry might be the Cleveland Williams to Dempsey's Ali.

Had they met, it could very well have been Dempsey's greatest performance because Jerry would've been right there for him. No reaching. Not a lot of knockdowns. Just Dempsey accurately blasting Quarry from pillar to post.

 

two points--certainly Willard in his old age thought and said he took a terrific beating. This is from the AP, January 9, 1964

"In an interview in his home, Willard said: 'I've been trying for almost 45 years to get the story printed, but nobody would believe me. They thought it was just a loser complaining. I'm glad Kearns has finally admitted it. My jaw is still caved in from the beating that fellow gave me with cement on his hands."
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on the other hand, contemporary evidence doesn't seem to back up this claim. From the Toronto World, July 6,1919

"Willard was examined by the boxing commission physician however, soon after his return from the ring. The latter stated officially that Willard was not seriously injured and would be able to appear in public as soon as his bruises had yielded to ordinary treatment."
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*I guess the questions raised.

Willard was criticized as a quitter. Was exaggerating his injuries a way of covering himself? Did he end up believing his own excuses? He does seem to have ended up as an old man convinced Dempsey cheated.

On the other hand, was the physician and perhaps reporters trying to minimize the injuries out of worry that the anti-boxing lobby would seize on the brutality of the fight to attack boxing? At least a remote possibility.

**There is no doubt about the AP report, as I remember hearing a radio interview with Willard in which he dwells on his "cement" theory.

***I also remembering reading, I think in Sports Illustrated, an article by a writer who was invited by Willard to press his cheekbone, and found that it indeed moved under pressure. (remember though that we have only Willard's word that this injury was the result of his fight with Dempsey, rather than some later accident-and an old man with failing memory might have honestly confused the two)

 

Of course Willard took a terrible beating.
I've seen it on film. It must have looked absolutely horrific in real life or even colour film, horrible. It would be remarkable to the point of disbelief if no part of Jess was broken by that sustained onslaught. Fight should have been stopped in the first round.
Weird how people would even dispute it. Anyone with any concept of the reality of violence knows Willard was all smashed up from that.

 

They are not supposed to be heavyweights ,they were active fighters plying their trade in the 1920's which was Dempseys' era. You don't even know who half of them are do you.

I don't need to feel like a man, I boxed for 18 years .I know who I am ,and I sure know what you are!

You won't be here long ,so no point engaging with you further.Like last time, when you were Black Hercules ,you'll be booted .
Whereas your reply just confirms you are.

 

Bingo.

This does nothing to diminish what Jack accomplished. He tore Jess a new @sshole in an emphatic performance. But let's get off the superhuman narrative.

 

I don't find it hard to believe that Willlard had some permanent mark from the Dempsey fight.

Perhaps when the contemporary press announced that he had recovered, they were probably looking at his immediate health. The fact that his face was still together and normal looking was probably a relief. And perhaps they weren't inspecting him to a certain granularity.

Louis has done permanent damage to opponents with a single punch. Dempsey was unloading punches that were loaded and winded all the way back, while Willard was on all fours. I can see how three rounds of that could put in a dent.