Jack Dempsey footage: what do you see?

You think that a George Godfrey, or a Big Bill Tate were "soft sparring partners" ? Well you need to brush up on these two tough heavyweights of that era...

 

Burt, do you want direct quotes from Kearns regarding the use of soft sparring partners because they can be provided.

Lemmy is dead and I don't give a f*ck.

 

L, Dempsey made one mistake which we see today on film when he rushed out of his corner sailing into Firpo, and Dempsey stumbled into a clubbing right hand which immediately put him on ***** street for the remainder of the fight. In his other filmed fights we see today ala Willard he is more careful and bobbed and weaved until he went into full mode attack...His close brother Bernie used to say that "no one has seen the real Jack Dempsey til he is hurt".
You mention Tyson, Liston,Louis and Marciano capitalizing on a
Dempsey 'mistake". Well they too made mistakes many times in every fight but as is usual the case, got away with it...All fighters
are vulnerable at times but great fighters have a way of overcoming
those "mistakes"...

 

Tunney stated that Dempseys win over Gibbons was one of his greatest wins. Once he saw he was not going to ko his opponent he changed his fight plan and outboxed his opponent the rest of the distance. So much for "not having a plan B".

Arcel stated Dempsey wanted to stay active with fights on a regular basis. It was his management that instead had Dempsey milk his title as prior hwt champions. (Rickard and Kearns were very old school). Thus he fought exhibitions, vaudeville and the new form of entertainment motion pictures.

Understand that great trainers and fighters rated Dempsey as the very best.....Arcel,Stillman, Langford, Bimstein, Tunney. This high of praise from such ATG especially Langford who universally is considered an ATG is something to ponder.

The high def film clips allowing you to see some of Dempsey's incredible skills are things I have seen in Dempsey since the early 70s.

 

First of all Jack Kearns was a carnival B.S. artist who when Dempsey fired him claiming Kearns stole his money, said many outlandish things about Dempsey. Such as when Kearns managed Joey Maxim the light hitting LH, Kearns said "Maxim is a better fighter than Dempsey, except
Dempsey "hit harder"...Like saying Madonna is a better singer than Enrico Caruso except Caruso had a better voice.
P.S. who the heck is "Lemmy" ?.

 

Very true about Kearns. Early quotes from Kearns he touted Dempseys skills truthfully. Later on He castigated Dempsey at every turn.

 

It was very shih-shih, you had to be rich and connected. Sort of like the people now cloning younger versions of themselves to transplant their consciousness into when their body reaches the end of its natural life cy- whoops. Said too much. Someone's at the door. Carry on my work. My password is t................

 

Well, I like the phrase "raw goods" ha ha, sounds kind of fitting in the way I like to judge fighters.
Sure Demps had a naturally good physique but coming up the hard way gives people a certain something. Some have quoted it as fluidity or balance or handspeed.....whatever.
I believe these attributes are a blend of some genetic disposition but essentially due to the many many hours spent fighting. There's a reason the best in the world tend to practice the most, whatever they do, and this is the impression I get from watching Dempsey footage.

On his best night, he can produce a moment that changes a fight against anyone you care to name but I will say that size is against him in hypothetical match-ups Vs Super-HWs.

If you start to look away from the footage and take his paper record into account....meeehhh.....not so great, but I don't like to do that personally.

 

Burt, Jack was saying these things to the press at the time of the fights in question.... in the 1920's, not decades later.
He liked to ease up on Dempsey's sparring partners to coddle his ego... in the 1920's, not decades later.

Ian Kilmister is Lemmy.

 

:nono Smart aleck! You know darned well that boxing movies with home film projectors had already been in abundance for years and years by then. (Dempsey films for sale were as much a staple of magazine ads as Charles Atlas.)

 

Please inform me what exactly did Gibbons do to justify mention as a heavyweight contender at the time. If that's one of his greatest wins it doesn't speak much of his resume.

Also, his Plan B was to foul Gibbons unmercifully while his former roommate and House Ref Jim Dougherty looked on with convenient disinterest. Gibbons showed reporters the bruising on his hips, thighs and groin the next day.

 

Wow, really... well, then it must be true! I certainly can't think of a single reason, why Mr Tunney would say something like that, if he didn't honestly mean it.

 

i see a guy with a world level offense and an average defence.

i do see a plan B though, if left hooking your head off didn't work he was very effective in an inside fight.

 

Dempsey had excellent head movement in his low charging crouch. Far better defense than Marciano or Frazier