Was the Dempsey-Wills Contract Photo/Press Conference Staged?

I didnt state it was staged. I stated that that signing (the one with Floyd Fitzsimmons) was tantamount to a payoff of step aside money to Wills. Fitzsimmons was a close friend of Dempsey's (Dempsey had once given his own car to Floyd's wife) and wrote a contract that no promoter in the world at that time could have fulfilled allowing Dempsey to walk away from the Wills fight and allowing Wills to take home $50,000.

The other "contract" Dempsey signed. Which wasnt really a contract was admitted by Dempsey in his bio to have been written in a manner that allowed him out of it. A quick newspaper search will show you that it was not a contract. It was simply an "agreement" that stated Dempsey "would" fight Wills within sixty days of the signing if a promoter made Dempsey a "favorable" offer. There was no date for the fight, no site, no promoter, and no guidelines stating what Dempsey or Kearns would consider favorable. In essence a promoter could offer them a $10,000,000 purse and they could walk away saying it was unfavorable. Thats just what they did (not that they were offered ten million) because no promoter could stage such an event within sixty days and Dempsey and Kearns wouldnt accept ANY monetary offer. So they walked away.

And you are exactly right about the commission. Dempsey always blamed the New York commission for barring a Wills fight. However, this is bull****. After Tamany Hall won back the govt in 1922/1923 it was populated by progressives who were very eager to get the black vote. They pushed and pushed and pushed for a Dempsey-Wills bout. Regardless of the racial views of the Athletic commission there were literally tons of venues that were offering to host the match both inside and outside the country.