How much blame should Dempsey get for not fighting Wills?

I remember seeiing something about Dempsey signing the contract. Not sure if it was true or not.....

 

Dempsey definitely did try getting it made in 1926, there's even footage of them signing a contract:

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However, I've also seen articles of Dempsey fully stating that he won't defend his title against blacks. It wouldn't surprise me if he waited Wills out either.

 

Dempsey did the training and fighting, Kearns and Rickard negotiated the rest, and bloody good they were at it too, the mega purses Dempsey got were down to his manager and promoter.

Hard fighter, hard nosed manager and a genius seller of a fight, a very successful trio indeed

So Dempsey as the champion fought who he was told to by Messrs Kearns and Rickard.

Tex Rickard refused to make the fight with Wills and is reportedly quoted as saying, “If a ******’s the champion, the heavyweight championship’s not worth a bucket of warm p*ss.”

 

Dempsey at one point was ready to fight after Wills attempted negotiations multiple times if I recall correctly. He even sat down ready to sign, but the promoter was unable to come up with the money. A smaller amount was offered and I think some sort of IOU but Dempsey wasn't hearing it and left.

Tex Rickard had helped with promoting the Jeffries/Johnson fight which led to riots. Because of that experience, he tried to talk Dempsey out of mixed race bouts. Dempsey turning down the fight because the money wasn't available is understandable, but he didn't go out of his way to try and make the fight either. It seemed to always be Wills reaching out and Dempsey brushing him off. I don't think he made any attempts after the issue with the bank which was the only time they sat down and had serious talks. Dempsey's bottom line was money once he became champion and if it wasn't worth his time he simply didn't care. Considering how insanely popular he was, he probably thought his legacy was intact with no blemishes.

 

Two questions there.

1. To what extent was it Dempsey's fault, that the fight did not happen?
2. How much does this damage Dempsey's legacy?

The answers are:

1. Possibly very marginally if at all.
2. Enormously.

 

Dempsey early on had been ripped off in his career so when Wills team turned out to be wanting to pay him from an empty account, he was understandably not willing to proceed and happy to fight much lesser men for much more and guaranteed money.

 

I love watching people who have no idea what they are talking about pontificate

 

The replies here make you wonder what people will say about Fury-Usyk years from now...

"Fury wanted to make it, but they couldn't agree on money. Usyk insisted on a rematch clause."

In a thread here a while back these so called "contracts" were brutally debunked, but these things get forgotten until the narrative about signed contracts is all that survive.

The first was signed with a little known promotor who was a friend of Dempsey's. It was contingent on this promotor posting the guarantee, which he of course never did.

The second was signed without a promotor and contingent on both parties accepting a bid from one. The Dempsey camp of course never did.

In other words, Fury/Warren's ploy to look like they were trying to reach a deal when they really weren't is just a child's copy of what Dempsey/Kearns did almost a century earlier.

Of course Dempsey could have made the fight, just as Patterson made the Liston fight. All excuses when it comes to the undisputed champ not facing the outstanding contender are just that. These fights can always be made and real champions make them. Easy as that.

 

Louis did not fight the black fighters of his day not because the fight would not sell, but because they could not get past the likes of Abe Simon or Bob Paster.

 

Very important distinction. When a black fighter, like Walcott, became nr. 1 contender, Louis fought him immediately. Huge difference.

 

For the most part, Louis fought his rank NUMBER 1, not his fault that 9 times out of ten the best fighter happen to be white. And the white guys had to beat some top black contenders to get the shot.

 

Quite true. Louis fought his nr 1 at least once a year. Dempsey went three years without fighting his. Hate how this is getting relativised and white washed, but the same thing happening with much more serious things as we speak, so not surprising.

 

It's not that Dempsey was not fighting his number 1 in the 3 years, but he was also not fighting his number 2-100 lol.

 

He wasn't making up fake contract for the rest, though.