Jack Dempsey fights on film

just want to add to this, Great footage Rocky never seen a lot of this footage before and im an avid Dempsey fan, i thought the only footage out there pre-Willard was of him and Big Bill, great to watch how he fought, great head movement, a stalker he was amazing on his toes as a fighter, great footage and great fighter. didnt realise how tall he was either, taller than most opponents he fought. Burt, you absolutely right, the Fulton fight is THE dempsey fight to see, 18 seconds, and many there said it was the gretest fighting skill theyd ever seen, hopefully well get to see it one day.

 

Hello Bman100, yeah as an agressive stalking type of fighter Dempsey also wasn't exactly a fireplugs type of fighter like your Marciano's, your Frazier's, your Tyson's, your Tua's etc - he was that touch taller and a pretty decent reach too at 77" so wasn't at a huge disadvantage against rangier fighters who might employ their reach over a short slugger type - Demps was such a great blend - like you say not short, but did have great bob and weave skills too like a lot of shorter fighters you'd expect it from more - but also good reach and distance on his punches too so not at any particular dissadvantage from a distance either, searing speed of hand and foot which maybe many puncher types didn't have. a lot of punchesr kind of had to forgo a little speed etc on the flipside to their tremendous power - Dempsey had both speed and power

 

exactly, in his heydey he had a great combination of speed and power, savage fighter, i notice how he steps in with his punches quite a bit with his power and that kind of leverage, his punches had lights out written all over them. there were flashes of that when he knocked tunney down in the second bout, steps in with a right cross and pounded tunney till he fell, very calculating and perfectly timed. like tyson said, Dempsey wanted to maim you, unbridled fury was Dempsey and he mixed it brilliantly with his immense skill.

 

I like this tribute to Dempsey done by Ted Spoon - pretty scary as well - poor old Jess

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONFKgforsX0[/ame]

...here's the Willard match in full too - watch Dempsey general quickness and movement from 1:53 to about 3:16 while he's probing for his opening - he looks brilliant on his feet - and if anything the 2nd and 3rd rounds are even more brutal than the 1st - god knows how Willard could take that kind of punishment - check out the stream of left hooks dempsey smashes him with at about 7:38 - its scary

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3BTycNuY44[/ame]

...and here's just something for my own benefit haha - check my avatar pic and you'll understand my selfishness here haha

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEOd25JozIU&feature=related[/ame]

 

dempsey actually talked in his book about having that spring in his step when fighting. its a shame he lost that later on, still he did not seem to be in his prime for very long, he was fighting from age 16 but what year would you say he was at his peak?

 

Dempsey was incredible. It is amazing to see him in his prime destroying Willard.

People take it for granted that Dempsey crushed him the way he did. Willard kept getting up despite his injuries. He had great heart, and an excellent chin. He never got knocked out cold. He also had a fight when he was 41 years old, where he was losing dramatically, but came back to knock his opponent out in the late rounds. He was a great fighter.



I also want to ask why people say these old time fighters didn't use simple 1-2 combos. Cant you see Willard using them a lot in this fight? But in Jack Johnsons time, nobody did? Sorry guys, but I'm just trying to vindicate the greatness of these old fighters.

 

Dempsey's peak was from the beginning of 1918 (Jan/Feb. when he beat Homer Smith, Carl Morris Jim Flynn and Bill Brennan inside a month) through to July 1919 when he beat Jess Willard for the title.
This includes wins over Fred Fulton, a KO over Battling Levinsky who had never been KO'd before, and Gunboat Smith, and a quick KO over Carl Morris, and two distance fights with Billy Miske.
Some of the opposition wasn't much but Dempsey was certainly "on fire".

Maybe the September 1920 defence against Miske can be counted as peak performance too, but generally the inactivity caused Dempsey as champion to erode.

 

Exactly..Dempsey's prime was spectacular then...Though only 25 or so, He started boxing in bars in the old Western towns ,before turning pro in
1914...At his peak he was a "meteor" burning fast and furious...The 3
year layoff ,and leading the good life in Hollywood, took the "claws" off
Dempsey, leading to his losses to Gene Tunney..Though the "long count"
is still disputed...Oh, to have seen him against Fulton, Morris etc, when
Dempsey at this time in his blazing career,might have whipped anyone who ever lived !A fire******* burns faster than a candle. And that was young
Dempsey...

 

P.S. I meant fire*******, burns faster than a candle....

 

This is a highly questionable statement. It has been said before, but must be said again.

 

burt, anyone you know see him against Fulton? what i would give to see that fight...


being in his prime for only 2-3 years is not typical of most fighters, ususally its a bit longer at least, but perhaps because he was inactive, he lost it, truly amazing fighter..

 

Fire*******...

 

Theres a great article in this weeks Boxing News about Jack

 

cant find it, can you please give us the link for it?

 

Yes three years is not typical of most fighters..But Dempsey post peak still won 12-13 rounds from a great defensive Tommy Gibbons, flattenef Firpo, crude but a powerful hitter, kod Bill Brennan, Kod the prime Jack Sharkey, and in 1927 dropped Gene Tunney with a barrage of punches in
the seventh round...He still was a dangerous hitter ,though his main asset,SPEED was long gone...