Tunney vs. Dempsey I, Was Dempsey just not ready for Tunney? or was it just to late?

Pretty much every fight is for the money.

 

Jack hadn't fought since the brawl with Firpo in 1923...had a nose job...married an actress...appeared in movies...while Gene Tunny stayed busy...Jack was ripe for the picking that night in 1926...

 

Dempsey was in so-so shape in '26 Pennsylvania for Tunney...... Plus, rusty as a nail in a haunted house of the 16th century..... Dempsey was much better in '27 Chicago at Soldier Field..... However, Tunney was very slick and speedy........

MR.BILL:deal

 

Dempsey wanted the fight when Tunney was the top man of '26 and Jack saw how much cashola was soon to be rolling in.... He trained in the summer of '26, but his reflexes had slowed and his timing was off, along with this rumor of stomach flu hindering him...... J.D. was seen sippin' olive oil prior to the bout...... Olive oil will aide the digestion, but also give you the shits.....

MR.BILL

 

Oh, no question.

I'm not convinced Jack makes the distance either time if they were set for 12.

 

There is some evidence to suport this theory.

 

In Dempsey's autobiography he admits that he wasn't in the kind of condition he should have been, what with the long layoff, lawsuits from Doc Kearns, etc. He admits to being sick and vomiting on the way to the fight. But in spite of this, he said "I still felt that I could beat Gene Tunney."

He hadn't figured on fighting again after losing the title. His weight went up to 227 pounds. Dempsey credits Babe Ruth with giving him the swift kick to give it another shot. In his autobiography he says that he was in much better condition for the 1927 bout, but that "he never should have stepped into the ring that night." For while he was better prepared, so was Tunney.

 

When you get rich and lazy and stop doing something for three years, you are never the same again. Not if you are intending to compete at an elite level against the best in the world. Tunney was getting better while Dempsey was getting worse. From late '23 to '26, when Dempsey had 0 fights, Tunney had 19. One guy was fight sharp; while the other guy allowed himself to become past-it. Plus, Tunney's style was such that he would have given even a prime Dempsey some troubles.