They sparred, and the story was loughran boxed dempsey's eyes off, how would it of gone in a real fight?
At the point in Dempsey's career that they sparred Loughran would have decisioned him. Prime for Prime I pick Dempsey.
I do have footage of this sparing sesson, they only spar for a min or so. Loughran did box Dempsey's ears off pretty well. Not sure how a ten rounder or 15 rounder would have gone, might have been one of the few times Loughran had a shot of winning the title.
Loughran was a beautiful boxer and while he may have some success against a past prime Dempsey in sparring, an actual fight is something different. Loughran lacks the toughness Tunney had and this is crucial against Dempsey. He would stand a chance against an aged Dempsey but I would make Jack the solid favourite. Prime for prime there isn't any question who wins for me.
i feel the same as most would a prime dempsey stops loughran at some point if dempsey hurt him like lomski did he may not get up. but the dempsey of the tunney fight may well find himself on the wrong end of a decision
Greg Paterson actually has footage of the sparring, and supposedly Loughran fares better than Tunney. Knowing Loughrans ability to mix it up with bigger, stronger guys I'd say he has a live chance of outpointing Dempsey here.
yes Dempsey sent me it (the poster who posted on here already, no Jack Dempsey, he was abit old) What i liked with Loughran is he smothered Dempsey more, he moved around popping his jab and when he needed to he just smothered Dempsey completly and looked to work the inside himself. He really did tame Dempsey only thing is i think Dempsey managed to cut off the ring quicker against Loughran than Tunney but Loughran managed to deal with Dempsey when he did. Also i have footage of Loughran vs Delaney (and you guessed it Delaney got Tunney ready for Dempsey) and Loughran handled him well but delaney was quicker than Dempsey and that agve Loughran more problem than te size or ferociousy of dempsey.
"The incidents of Loughran's favorite story took place on Sept. 11, 1926, 12 days before Gene Tunney took the heavyweight championship title from Jack Dempsey in Philadelphia's Sesquicentennial Stadium before 120,757 people, the largest paid attendance ever at a boxing match. " Dempsey was training down in Atlantic City for the fight with Tunney," recalls Loughran, "and he needed a boxer for a sparring partner. He had some other partners down there—Jimmy Delaney from St. Paul, Big Bill Tate and a fellow named Marty Burke from New Orleans, a really tall, rangy redheaded fellow—but they all knew Jack's style better than he did. They were no good to him; they were defensive fighters. They wouldn't lead or do anything offensive. Dempsey wanted to train with me because I had fought Tunney in an exhibition the year before. I knew Tunney's style, how he fought at that time. I knew what it was all about, how Dempsey should train. Dempsey needed a boxer like me. "They rang the bell and we started the round. The first round I just moved away from him and didn't throw many punches. I just made him miss me, move in. feint him, get him to throw some punches and catch them. He'd move in there. I'd back up against the ropes, he'd throw punches, I'd take them on the arms, push them aside. The crowd was in an uproar, watching it. Although I was a boxer, I could fight defensively, too; I could change my style according to the fellow I was fighting." "We had only agreed to box one round. When we finished the round I walked to the ropes and Jack followed me. He gave me a little thump on the back, and when I turned around, he grabbed me on the forearm and looked me in the eye with a serious expression and said, 'Wait a minute, Tommy. Don't take those gloves off.' "I said, 'What do you want. Jack?' "He said, 'We're not through yet. I want you to go another round.' "I said, 'Listen. Jack. I'll go six rounds with you if you think you can stand it.' "He couldn't hit me to save his life, see, and it made him furious. Ooh, was he mad. I'd stay against the ropes and say. 'Let's see if you can hit me. Jack.' I'd go this way, then I'd go that way: next time he came at me I'd step back, he'd step forward, I'd step back another way. He didn't know what to do. "I got back to my corner, and I said, 'Joe. I can't believe it. He can't hit me.' And Joe said, 'Then why don't you get moving?' "In the second round I saw a left hand shooting out and shooting out and shooting out, and I realized it was mine. Then I brought over the right. I knew Jack was a hooker, of course: I'd stick out my left and slide inside and throw the right. I could tell by the way Jack looked at me he was really mad. He started fighting like a wild man. We stood toe to toe. He'd throw rights and I'd throw lefts, back and forth like that. Oh boy, how that man could sock. And he could move around fast, bobbing and weaving to make a tough target. "But gees, boy, what I didn't do to him. The year before he had had a nasal job, his nose was all shortened, and they didn't know whether it would stand up under punishment. I let him have it on the nose. Blood squirted in all directions. He stepped back and cussed me out loud, and when he did, I grabbed him and turned him around and put him up against the ropes. Gees, I poured it on him, I gave him such a beating. I hit him in the belly, hit him with uppercuts, hit him with a hook, caught him with another. I had his eyes puffy, his nose was bleeding, he was spitting out blood. I had him cut under the chin, and I think his ear was bleeding. I don't know whatever held him up. He always came tearing back in, no matter how hard I hit him. Then one of the fellows training Dempsey reached through the ropes and grabbed my leg. 'Hey,' this fellow said. 'watch the rough stuff.' I stared. 'Who, me?" I said. Then another trainer screamed. 'Cut this out! Who the hell you think you are!' They cut the round short to save him. I guess they were afraid I would beat him up so bad he wouldn't be able to fight Tunney." Read the whole article here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1094862/index.htm
thanks that account TGA put up Loughran is correct in what he says (although he does a bit of hyperbole) and backed up with the film
