How Impressive Was Dempsey s Kd Of Tunney?

You do realize that not only was Dempsey not disqualified but those that watched the bout were very much divided as to whether any low blows were struck within the KO combination.

They showed the film of the bout the very next day at Yankee stadium for all the newspaper people who attended the day prior. Headlines the next day were “Films of fight show body blows were legal”. The ref stated the following:

“The blow preceding the ko blow, which was a left hook to the jaw , was a fair one that landed at the beltline but not below”.

 

Putting the ultimate low blow foul aside, and other low blows leading up to same, there is no doubt that Dempsey was doing some legitimate work in there - work that was taking it’s measure of toll on Sharkey.

However, Jack still saw fit to blatantly foul Sharkey, so Jack obviously felt that he needed to do that in order to win.

I wouldn’t say that Dempsey himself would necessarily be the guy advantaged by the fact that there was still another 8 rounds to go - Jack was fatiguing himself and had copped his fair share of licks throughout the fight - certainly, Sharkey very nearly had Jack out in round 1.

Tunney was 30 by the time of his last fight with 60 odd fights behind him. Not an impossibility but I’m not sure how much room was left for him to improve.

Did Gene say why he got out of the game when he did?

Oh, I just remembered, he said there was no competition left for him to face I think.

Perhaps he really felt that way or perhaps he knew he was just poking his head into the other (down) side of his peak?

For some years I put Tunney down as having the stylistic advantage over any form of Dempsey. I have long since felt that I was quite wrong in that estimation.

Imo, Dempsey’s prime speed, agility and mobility wouldn’t have just made the difference - I think it would made a huge difference very much in favour of Jack with Dempsey securing a mid to later round KO against the best version of Gene that we know.

 

There is no evidence that Dempsey blatantly fouled Sharkey. The eye witnesses were divided that low blows were struck within the four punch ko sequence. Why wasn’t Dempsey DQed for a blatant low blow? The referee stated the following after the fight:

“The blow that preceded the KO blow, a left hook to the jaw, was a fair one that landed at the beltline and not below”

The ref also stated that both fighters were landing low blows during the fight but nothing intentional or that did damage. Also that neither fighter or their corner complained of low blows during the fight.

The film of the fight was shown the next day at Yankee stadium for all the “newspaper people” who attended the bout. Headlines the next day were “Film of bout shows body blows were legal”.

Truth is eye witnesses were divided over whether a low blow was struck. It was in no way shape or form cut and dry Dempsey fouled Sharkey. To go around stating Dempsey blatantly fouled Sharkey is a significant distortion of the actual record from that time. Some said they saw a low blow, some did not.

The person who counts, Referee OSullivan, saw the blow and stated it was fair. “On the belt-line but not below”.

Tunney made an interesting point the day after the fight. “Sharkey has been involved in numerous foul bouts in his career”. I believe Sharkey holds the heavyweight champion record of involvement in “foul” bouts. Add to this several where he claimed fouls including his bout with Dempsey.

 

I can stop most fellows by hitting them in the balls.

 

Let's play my favorite game - Count the Fouls.

Some great work with his head and a beautiful shoulder to the chin and would make Connor McGregor proud (but at least in Connor's sport, it is legal).

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Another very interesting tidbit I found a few days ago while looking for the official scoring of the Dempsey Sharkey bout.

we knew already that the fight doctor examined Sharkeys groin in his dressing room and found no evidence that any low blows were struck.

The new bit of information is that Sharkey spent one night in the hospital for what his doctors described as “intestinal damage”. Note “intestines” have nothing to do with his balls.

 

Its not an outright distortion to call a low blow.

It’s an opinion based on interpretation of the vision.

As you said, opinions were divided. Accepting the vision as evidence one way or another, you can’t say there was no evidence of a low blow.

If it was a distortion to say there was a low blow, then it would obviously be as much as a distortion to say there wasn’t.

Dempsey fouled during the fight multiple times, including other low blows. Dempsey was also known to foul throughout his career.

That single shot under the microscope, if a legit body punch, wasn’t worthy of Sharkey’s immediate and reflexive reaction - but a direct hit to the nuts was.

The nut punch paved the way for a free shot at Sharkey’s head. Dempsey knew exactly what he was doing and his follow execution was seamless (eat your heart Evander, lol).

That final punch didn’t even put Sharkey out - rather, his posture whilst on the deck was exactly in line with the clear symptoms of having been struck with a low blow.

It’s been a long held myth that Sharkey forgot to protect himself at all times - unless we’re including him failing to duly protect his nuts.

That false observation was intended to legitimise Dempsey’s victory - AS IF an error by Sharkey led to his own defeat - pure redirection from what looked like an obvious foul, imo.

Sharkey’s reaction to the low blow was reflexive pain, causing him to drop his hands to the impacted area and turn away grimacing. As simple as that.

 

The doctors failed to mention that they were searching for and found Sharkey’s balls up in the region of his intestines.

A pair of testicles heading up there at high velocity can cause quite a bit of damage to that area - not to mention the damage to the ruptured testicles themselves.

 

The alternative film of the count shows Sharkey striving to arise.not continually grabbing at his balls.

Sharkey stayed in the hospital overnight due to possible “intestinal damage”. Intestines are far removed from balls.

As was also pointed out after the fight a blow to the groin brings a fighter to the canvas immediately. Sharkey if hit that low would not have been up to hit with the hook that laid him out.

The ref who saw the final blow stated:

The punch that preceded the ko blow, a left hook to the jaw, was a fair one. It landed on the beltline but not below”.

Fight doctor found no evidence of low blows after examining Sharkey in his dressing room.

Headlines after the film was shown at Yankee Stadium the next day:

“Film of fight shows body blows were legal”

Referee stated:
“Both fighters landed low blows during the fight but none intentional or that did damage. Neither fighter or corner complained about low blows during the fight”.

Sharkey was known to claim foul. This was also discussed in the press pre fight and is obvious if you study Sharkeys record.

 

So you have both the fight doctor and the doctors at the hospital who give no indication of “groin” injuries. The fight doctor found no evidence low blows were struck and he examined Sharkeys groin after the bout in the fighter’s dressing room.

The doctors at the hospital stated Sharkey had “intestinal damage”. No mention of any injury specific to blows into Sharkeys balls.

So where are the doctors attesting to damage caused by low blows to Sharkeys balls?

Completely absent.

The ref saw the last punch Dempsey threw to the body and he was six feet away at best. He stated that the blow landed “at the beltline but not below”.

I believe Sharkey was involved in more foul claim bouts than any other heavyweight champion.

 

I’ve seen the alternate Pathe view. Viewed from the other side of the ring, Sharkey can most certainly still be seen to be clutching at his groin area.

Additional notes: After the low blow, and after turning away from the direction of the referee, Sharkey is already beginning to descend to the canvas - before Dempsey caught him with the final left hook.

Also, Dempsey was blatantly holding and locking Sharkey’s right arm with his own left when he dug in the low blow with the right hand.

To reiterate, Dempsey was known to foul throughout his career - and there were more than just low blows that constituted as fouls by Dempsey during the fight.

After the close of round 6, as they headed to their corners and passed one another, Dempsey blatantly clocked Sharkey with a right hand when The Gob’s hands were down.

An angry Sharkey justifiably whacked Dempsey with his own left hand to return “in kind”. The old Mauler tried on whatever he could get away with.

Of course, in the Tunney rematch, Dempsey also refused to properly retreat to neutral corner after Tunney went down but, on that occasion and in karmic balance, Dempsey was burned for his blatant infraction.