Just watched Dempsey vs Carpentier in HD

I have an 8mm of this fight.

Carpentier was the equivalent of a super middle. He had no chance. He hadn't even beaten a decent heavyweight to get the shot, unless you include a fight 7 years previous. The whole match was a sham concocted by Rickard and a gullible, innocent public ate it like sh*t stew. Heavyeeight boxing at this time much more resembled pro wrestling of today

 

Rez, a few points.
I have read several accounts by different boxing writers who saw the Dempsey/Carpentier fight in Boyles Acres, stating that before the bout Tex Rickard pleaded for Dempsey to let Carpentier last a few rounds so the paying customers would get their money's worth.
Yes Dempsey's arms were the size befit a much heavier man...
Bulk doesn't make a powerful hitter alone. It is the speed and accuracy
of the blow along with God given hitting ability...This is why a bag of bones as LW champion Lew Jenkins, was considered one of the hardest hitting lightweights ever. Why a Bob Foster skinny as a rail wrecked Havoc as a LH annihilator. Why a Dempsey and Joe Louis under 200 pounds absolutely murdered much larger opponents...Speed, swiftness and power is many, many times an advantage amongst bigger muscled men...
fighters who have these traits...

 

No mention of Carpentier, the same guy who lost to the best fighters he faced from WW to HW (unless you include a fixed fight with Levinsky and a controversial DQ win against Smith while on the canvas) wobbling Dempsey in the second??? Strange because watching Dempsey's legs turn to rubber and bounce back to the ropes when he gets clipped again and forced to hold briefly is interesting.

Ive said it before and I will say it again. The fight was too big not to be made but had the general public had access to the kind of coverage of boxing that we do today (or even as much footage of Carpentier as we have today) this fight would never have been taken seriously even in speculation much less been signed and executed. You cant watch glass jawed ex WW Willie Lewis batter Carpentier around the ring, or a used up MW like Papke beat the hell out of him, or Klaus do the same, and expect a much bigger, stronger, much much harder hitter to do the same in much easier fashion. I know I know Ive heard all of the excuses about how young Carpentier was but he didn't get any better than he was in 1912. His style and tactics never changed. He was the most predictable one trick pony who ever pretended to greatness. Jab, jab, leaping right hand clinch, wipe off the gloves on your shorts. Jab, jab, leaping right hand clinch, wipe off the gloves on your shorts. When Carpentier made his tour in the United States in 1920 and the American public got its first look at him go and read just how quickly opinion of him as a contender started to falter and how fast people started to pick Dempsey by KO early. Its pretty remarkable. Next thing you know Rickard sets up the Levinsky farce and once Carpentier legitimizes his challenge with a title Rickard makes damn sure he isn't allowed to fight anyone else until Dempsey can get to him and made sure that most of his training was done in secret away from the press so they couldn't see how little threat he posed.

 

Carpenter's knockout of Joe Becket is good.

Joe Becket was a good heavyweight.

 

Part of the hype for this fight was the WWI angle. Carpentier was a war veteran while Dempsey was considered a "slacker" by some observers. They sure sold a lot of tickets.

 

Is this on YouTube?

 

Yeah, Dempsey beat him up. There was blood alright. Brutal business, this boxing game.

 

I can't find this! Any links, Reznick?

 

Becket had been previously KO'd 4 times in a mere 18 fights the first time they met, 6 times by the second go around. Someone who cared for his well being must have finally and wisely insisted he hang up the gloves.

 

Say what you may of Georges Carpentier as a fighter, he was reputed to have one of the greatest and fastest right hands in history by multitudes of boxing writers who saw him ringside. With that laser right hand the MW Carpentier flattened two of Britain;s top heavyweights of the time Joe Beckett in 1 rd and Bomb. Billy Wells twice in rd one and 4. Carpentier could really bang with that right hand and yes he hit Dempsey on the jaw dazing Jack, who was truly
not looking for an early ko, due to Tex Rickard beseeching Dempsey to let Georges last a few rounds for the large crowd in Boyles Acres. And then Dempsey went to work and flattened Carpentier pronto...Carpentier also flattened the tough as nails Ted Kid Lewis in 1 rd with that laser right hand...
Whatever place you have for Carpentier in boxing history, one thing is for certain, he had a great right hand capable of starching anyone he hit solidly...

 

Good Lord, did you copy and paste the script straight from Rickard Inc?

He beat the fragile Billy Wells EIGHT YEARS before. Beckett got dizzy at the first sharp in God Save the Queen. This match was a complete farce and a bamboozling of the public.

 

If you want to see Dempsey at his best, there is a clearer film of Dempsey vs Willard owned my Mike Hunnicut. Dempsey looks like a stalking panther.

Mike is a huge fan of the mauler, and thinks Dempsey had the best chin of all time!

But he also has a rare account as he has talked to the Stillman's and Arcel's of boxing.