Saw a YouTube video stating a secret fight happened in 1921. Dempsey winning in 7. Unknown if it is true or if there is more to it?
Lol say it AI t so! Supposedly there was a newspaper clipping of it and historians that swear it happened. I had never even heard the rumor but plenty of history nuts here to get the answer quickly
Steve Compton is of the opinion that the newspaper article has been pretty comprehensively discredited. I am inclined to believe him.
I stumbled upon the series of fanatasy fights (or mythical battles) it was a part of more recently, having heard about it a while ago, it was in the Sunday News of New York, and by Ray Pearson. At the top is "This is the first of a series of articles by Ray Pearson describing mythical battles between present-day champions and those of a decade or more ago. The object of the article is to show possible results of battles if each of the principals was in his prime today." I made a note of the day, page, title, and result of each of the article. 1921 Dec 11 (page 44), DEMPSEY KNOCKS OUT JOHNSON IN SEVENTH ROUND (Jack Dempsey knocks out Jack Johnson in the 7th) 1921 Dec 18 (page 42), GANS'S RINGCRAFT TOO MUCH FOR BENNY LEONARD (Joe Gans outpoints Benny Leonard over 15 rounds) 1921 Dec 25 (page 42), KETCHEL KNOCKS OUT WILSON IN THIRD (Stanley Ketchel knocks out Johnny Wilson in the third round) 1922 Jan 01 (page 44), JIMMY BARRY BEATS BUFF IN FURIOUS GO (Jimmy Barry outpoints Johnny Buff over 10 rounds) 1922 Jan 08 (page 43), "TERRIBLE TERRY" McGOVERN BATTERS JOHNNY KILBANE TO CANVAS IN NINTH (Terry McGoverns knocks out Johnny Kilbane in the 9th round) 1922 Jan 15 (page 44) DEMPSEY'S BODY BLOWS BEAT FITZ (Jack Dempsey knocks out Bob Fitzsimmons in the 4th round) 1922 Jan 22 (page 42) WILY KID M’COY PUTS GIBBONS OUT IN 8TH (Kid McCoy knocks out Tommy Gibbons in the 8th round) 1922 Jan 29 (page 44) JOHNSON WINS BY A SHADE OVER JACKSON (Jack Johnson outpoints Peter Jackson over 10 rounds) 1922 Feb 05 (page 44) DEMPSEY DEFEATS JEFFRIES IN 12th (Jack Dempsey knocks out James J Jeffries in the 12th round) 1922 Feb 12 (page 43) “PHANTOM” MIKE AND TOM RYAN DRAW (Mike Gibbons and Tommy Ryan fight 10 rounds to a draw) 1922 Feb 19 (page 37) WALCOTT HAS EDGE ON JACK BRITTON (Joe Walcott wins on points in an 8 round contest against Jack Britton) That should make it easier to find if anyone is interested. They can be found on Newspapers.com Edit: To be clear, I found them in that paper, they appeared in multiple and I don't know which it was in first.
You can read the "fight report" here: https://news.google.com.au/newspapers?id=BONQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9P8MAAAAIBAJ&pg=1844,3630691&hl=en Apparently some papers printed it without the explanatory note that it's just an imaginary account of what might have happened if they'd fought for real, and that's where the legend of the secret fight comes from.
