Jack Dempsey and The Color Line...

Goddess

An eminently reasonable position.

The potential weakness with it, is that you might have built Wills into something that he was not.

 

On paper your case is pretty iron clad.

Of course we can’t be sure that one of Dempsey’s title opponents would not have beaten Wills head to head.

 

A perfect example of what I tried to convey in my post is your reply OMMITING the fact that Dempsey and Wills DID sign for a fight that was CANCELED through NO FAULT of Jack Dempsey or Harry Wills. This is what irks me the most Mc, this vital omission that Dempsey SIGNED for a bout with Wills in good faith and how can you or anyone reasonable deny this fact ??? A court of law would not deny this signing for that fight. As I wrote before Harry Wills NEVER blamed Dempsey personally for this cancellation of that fight, why in fairness SHOULD YOU.?
I am guilty of being on the same side of, to repeat again, a Sam Langford, Mickey Walker, Gene Tunney, Jack Sharkey, Max Schmeling, Nat Fleischer, Hype Igoe, Ray Arcel, along with
the two hundred of expert boxing writers who in 1950 voted
by overwhelming majority Jack Dempsey as the best fighter they had seen, and I am not ashamed to be in accord with their
valued opinion...
After all THEY saw him in ACTION...

 

I would add the caveat, that the picture is confused by the fact that black and white contenders rarely fought. Wills beat Fulton and Firpo convincingly enough, but he was unable to make fights with a lot of the other white contenders. Logically he should have been matched with Jess Willard, Frank Moran, Billy Miske, Tommy Gibbons, and probably others.

 

In terms of Kearns reliability as a witness, we would have to consider the story he told about Dempsey’s gloved being loaded. He detailed exactly how he mixed the plaster of paris. Boxing Illustrated carried out a practical experiment based on the recipe he gave, using Cleveland Williams as a test subject. The test showed that what he described was completely unworkable. Now we would have to conclude from this that either Kearns lied on this matter, or that his ability to recall facts was very poor.

 

What he did was mighty impressive to me and thousands of
hardened fight fans and boxing writers. He after he met Jack Kearns flattened-
Carl Morris 1 rd
Battling Levinsky for the 1st time in a 150 bouts
Gunboat Smith 2rds
Fireman Jim Flynn 1rd
Fred Fulton in 40 seconds [Fulton once beat Langford].
Jess Willard truly in 1 rd. Willard though not a great fighter was
never ever floored before.
Bill Brennan 2 times
Georges Carpentier the idol of France who was the bane of British heavyweights flattening Bomb. Billy Wells and Joe Beckett
both in one round
Tommy Gibbons- who was a great defensive boxer who was NEVER stopped until his last fight in 105 bouts..
Luis Angel Firpo- though awkward and clumsy was a bull of a man with a powerful right hand wallop, Dempsey flattened in 2.
And all these sensational kos made Jack Dempsey the greatest ring attraction ever. Did he beat the greatest resume of HWTs
ever ? NO sir, but what he attained before his going Hollywood
was enough to win over boxing fans and fighters, along with
expert boxing writers who marveled at his tigerish power and
toughness who gave no quarter and asked for no quarter in the ring.
And oh yes, HE DID sign for a fight with Harry Wills...

 

Just stick to the proven truth that will be sufficient.

 

I would not necessarily put Jeffries in that line up. I think he dodged a couple . Other than that your post cannot reasonably be argued against. I truly wish Dempsey had fought Wills,the result would have elevated him in to the pantheon imo.

 

I find this a very well-stated summation of the problem a number of folks including myself have with rating Dempsey at or near the top of historical rankings.