Does anybody know what kind of stimulants the classic fighters took before their fights? I know a lot of professional baseball players in the '50s and '60s took Dexamyl, Benzedrine and other amphetamines before games. I can imagine amphetamines and ephedrine being big in the fight game.
Maxine Dempsey claimed that Jack took strychnine before his fights, which in low doses had a stimulant or restorative effect. It was a pretty common practice in endurance sports at the time. As you noted "greenies" were all the rage from the 50's-70's in many sports. Hard to believe that they didn't transfer over to boxing.
I'm not the biggest Dempsey fan and I still think he would lose to most of the champions of the past 60 years, but holy cow, strychnine?! That makes him a certified badass, in my opinion.
