JUNE 1 R. I. P. JACK DEMPSEY

Always loved the story Bob Dylan told of his manager taking him to Jack Dempsey's in the early 60s and meeting the old champ:-
'Lou introduced me to Jack Dempsey, the great boxer. Jack shook his fist at me. “You look too light for a heavyweight kid, you’ll have to put on a few pounds. You’re gonna to have to dress a little finer, look a little sharper—not that you’ll need much in the way of clothes when you’re in the ring—don’t be afraid of hitting somebody too hard.” “He’s not a boxer, Jack, He’s a songwriter and we’ll be publishing his songs.” “Oh, yeah, well I hope to hear ‘em some of these days, Good luck to you, kid.”'

 

I've honestly read 90% of the Dempsey books out there and not only is he one of my all time favorite fighters but I cant think of too many men in history I would have rather spent the day with.
Arthur Merchante recounts a very cool piece on Dempsey in his book.
Its fascinating to me that this guy fought hundreds of basically street fights against grown men from the time he was 14-15 yes old.
He was generally described by most as a very nice gentleman who would sit down and talk to anyone when he had his restaurant yet get him in a ring and it didn't matter who it was he turned into Jaws. Fascinating gentleman.