Does Dempsey get too much of a free pass for the Meehan fights?

suzie,

Dempsey did not have a losing record vs Meehan. Meehan won the first fight, however according to most accounts dempsey was robbed in the last fight which was more of an exhibition, Dempsey was fighting with an injured hand, knocked willie down and the referee gave the decision to Meehan even though most thought dempsey won. In that case the record is supposed to be more like 2-1-2 in favour of dempsey

 

SAN FRANCISCO.—Amid the wild-
est enthusiasm thathas greeted a pair
of boxers in the local ring in several
years, Referee Eddie Graney awarded
Willie Meehan the decisio over Jack
Dempsey after four rounds of rather
hard-fighting at the Civic auditorium,
the other night.
While the spectators, especially the
gallery gods, cheered the decision
loudly, it did an injustice to Jack
Kearns fighter. Dempsey was at least
entitled to a draw.
What little damage was done during
the four rounds belonged to Dempsey.
His punches had far more sting than
Meehan's and he came dangerously
near scoring a knockout in the second
round, when he sat Willie down with
a left hook to the jaw and pumped in
some pile driving punches to the rolypoly
heavy's head and body. Meehan
was in a wobbly condition at bell time.
The third found Willie fully recuperated,
thanks to his good condition,
and he fairly tore at Dempsey, swinging
his arms from every angle. He
startled Dempsey with his come back
and the latter was forced back to the
ropes before he regained his equilibrium.
When Meehan again rushed
Dempsey landed a left-swing that
staggered him. As he did so it was
noticed that he dropped the arm, and
after the contest it was discovered
that h!s left hand was in a badly
swollen condition;
Dempsev acted as if in pain and
didn't fight back as hard as he might
have done, and Meehan took the lead
and kept it to the end of the round,
The punches Willie kept uncorking
usually missed their mark, but His
rushes forced Dempsey back and it
appeared to the spectators at a distance
that the blows were staggering
him, while they had little or no effect.
The fourth round waS fairly even.
Meehan was rushing and swinging
wildly, while Dempsey was shooting
in some short jolts, with an occasional
swing. Willie kept in close all through
the round, and with his arms working
overtime it appeared as if he was
doing some great execution. The majority
of the blows, however, were
smothered by Dempsey.
For two rounds Dempsey looked like
a greatly improved fighter. He was
fast on his feet, blocked nicely and
had a fine assortment of hooks and
swings that hurt. Beginning with the
third he seemed to slow up, but he
stated after the contest, and the condition
of his hand bore this out, that
he was in -pain and could hardly use
his left- hand.
After the contest Dempsey stated
thathe had no kick coming; that he
wished Willie all the luck in the world.
"I thought I was entitled to a
draw," said Jack in his dressingroom,
"but when a referee gives a declsion
that settles it, so what's the use of
raising a howl. Willie is a good boy
and can fight, and I hope he makes
plenty of money by his victorv over
me."

 

Every one has their Bogey man.With Ketchel for example, it was Maurice Thompson ,he had a couple of toughies with Joe Thomas too.Ali and Norton.etc
Meehan was a slippery guy and a 4 round specialist,a tubby Sailor he looked like he couldnt fight ,but he could.

 

From what i've read, it sounds like Meehan is a bit similar to a fat version of Calzaghe.

 

Thanks for that .Great Stuff!:good

 

Oakland Tribune, 1917-08-11:

“Willie Meehan got a draw with Jack Dempsey at Dreamland last night, but Willie and Billy Snailham, the referee, were about the only people who saw it that way. For Dempsey hit all the punches of the bout that did any damage. Meehan’s whirling slaps made a lot of noise and made him look as though he were doing something, but that is about as close as he came to doing anything in the way of holding his own with Dempsey.

“Meehan resorted to his old time clown tactics but they did not buy him anything. About all they did was to keep the minds of the spectators off Meehan’s fat stomach. About ten seconds before the final gong, Dempsey brought home a right upper cut that came close to finishing Meehan and the gong was about all that saved him from dropping before the limit.”

 

willie meehan would've beaten any poster on this message board in a boxing ring, so who cares?

 

The fact that the bouts were four rounders also lessen their impact ...

 

excellent, lets see suzie respond to this

 

:good

 

Actually, this is not the story the SF papers told. Four of the five papers in the SF library had Meehan winning. He seems to have cuffed Dempsey around for three of the four rounds.

Dempsey did claim to have an injured hand. I believe he fought the next night, though.

 

intersting. He did fight the next night , although it was against a guy with a reported 3-9-2 record. I dont have the other 4 papers, i only posted the report that i have but i could be wrong.