Fireman Flynn KO 1 Jack Dempsey

I looked up the census report for 1910 on the average income for a working American, and it was $750

$500 was a solid amount of money in those days, but one certainly has to question if Dempsey should have been as hard up as portrayed. Off the info given on his 1916 purses, his income should have been much, much higher than that of an ordinary American.

And yes he had dependents, but so would most adult working men in that era when families were large with lots of kids, and there was no Social Security to help with the elderly.

*My main point is that with a gate of $5000, a $500 share for the main attraction is certainly not inexplicable, and in fact seems way too low. Maxine would have been more likely to ***** about Dempsey holding out on her than wonder where he got all that money. A not unreasonable 25% of the gate would have been $1250.

 

This quote at least is congruent with the ringside reports, unlike most of the others. It does have the ring of truth.

 

Of course the biggest cash prize when a fighter takes a dive, is knowing the round when it is going to take place.

All hypotheticaly of course.

 

"the biggest cash prize when a fighter takes a dive, is knowing the round"

If folks are betting rounds. This fight was a local Salt Lake City fight. The rest of the country probably didn't even know it was happening. This isn't a fight in New York or London.

The Mormans were into betting big money on rounds?

Seems unlikely to me.

And regardless of what money is supposedly involved, Dempsey is described as getting only $500 (or even $300 according to another source).

Which doesn't seem enough to justify him (or his promoter or backers) throwing away his drawing power.

 

No problem, as long as the FBI doesn't.

 

Did Flynn ever offer his thoughts on Johnson vs Langford. We know he marveled at Sam's power.

 

Was there a $5,000. gate for the first bout between Fireman Jim Flynn and Jack Dempsey? That seems quite high for a bout between a former fringe heavyweight contender far past his prime and a young heavyweight who was no more than a journeyman or a club fighter during that period of time. For a gate of $5,000. during early 1917, the attendance would have had to be quite substantial.

- Chuck Johnston

 

Fireman Jim Flynn KO1 Jack Dempsey 1917

Jack Dempsey KO1 Fireman Jim Flynn 1918

Both were most likely fixes.

 

Based on what exactly...

 

Thats what I was thinking. The venue would have likely been relatively small. Even if it seated 1,000 tickets would have had to have been $5 per. A very high average ticket price for the era (and which would have been impossible if Im near correct on the venue size as ringside seats for the fight were $5 and standard seats which would have been much more numerous were $2), particularly for a match between an up and comer and a down and outer.

 

A reasonable point.

The $5000 figure comes from the ringside report of the Deseret Evening News

"The gate receipts amounted to approximately $5000"

I agree that this seems high, but it at least comes from someone who was present that night.

As for Dempsey and Flynn, we have to remember that this fight was in Utah and there was probably no real sports options out there. They had no major league baseball. I can't believe there was big-time college football. Boxing was probably the only big-league sport in town.

In New York this fight wouldn't have amounted to much. But in Utah it could have been a different story. Flynn was, or at least had been, a world class fighter. He had twice fought for the world title. He might well still have been considered a big name in the backwaters like Utah, a man who had fought them all, including Johnson, Langford, and Burns. Dempsey was a local hero and an up and comer. This fight might well have excited the locals who had few other sporting options.

 

The venue was the Murray Fire Hall (or Fireman's Hall)

How large could that have been?

The population of Murray in 1920 was, according to the census, 4.584. For the era, a mid-sized town. I grew up in a town about that size. Our biggest building was the Legion Hall where they held weddings and dances and the like. I remember them packing them in for donkey basketball (a game in which the players have to ride donkeys or mules up and down the court and take their shots while sitting on the donkey/mule. Has anyone else on here ever seen this game?) For a charity pro wrestling event, they really packed them in. I wouldn't be surprised if there were over 1000 folks in there, but I can't say.

Is it possible that the Murray fire hall could shoehorn in over a 1000 folks. Possible, but who knows.

Is it possible that there were enough folks around to buy tickets. The pop of Salt Lake City in 1920 was about 120,000, and Ogden 32,000. So yes.

Would a fight between Dempsey and Flynn draw that well. Again possibly. It might be a big event in such a sporting backwater.

Anyway, these are reasonable questions and valid doubts.

 

Just an aside here.

The population of Ely, Nevada in 1920 was 2090.

I actually passed through Ely many years ago during my footloose youth. It was still then the definition of no-wheresville. It must have been something like the town in Bad Day at Black Rock back in the teens.

But according to the IBRO article, Dempsey managed to get a $325 pay day in Ely back in 1916.

Makes a $5000 gate in Murray look more plausible.

 

Home advantage for Flynn then!

 

It was a big hall.