Obviously numerous posts have covered this topic, but I wanted to cover the second day of sparring in particular. On September 2, Greb beat Dempsey's ass. According to the New York Times; "Dempsey tackled Bill Tate, Harry Greb and Marty Farrell this afternoon. He took them on in that order, boxing two rounds with Tate and three each with Greb and Farrell. The bout with Greb was a real one. It was the best work-out Dempsey has had. The Pittsburgher was in prime shape, and although he weighs only 165 pounds he gave the champion a real honust-to-goodness battle. Dempsey hasn't seen so many gloves in a long time as Greb showed him. Greb was all over him and kept forcing him around the ring throughout the session. Dempsey could do but little with the speedy light heavyweight, while Greb seemed to be able to hit Dempsey almost at will. Time and again Greb made the champion miss with his famous right and left hooks to the head and countered with heavy swings to the head and hooks to the body." However, reports of the second spar on September 3 vary. To quote the Seattle Daily Times: "The performance concluded with a sliced tongue, occasioned when Greb butted rather savagely in a clinch. And Greb seemed quite relieved when the third and final round was over, for Greb took a socking in the stomach in that last round that is causing him to believe all that he had heard about Dempsey's terrible shooting power." So, let's discuss it. What REALLY happened on the September 3 spar?
There's also a report from the Washington Post of Sept. 3rd, page 10: "...Dempsey sparred three sessions with Harry Greb, Pittsburgh lightweight, and another trio with Marty Farrell, Pacific Coast middleweight. Miske felt the lack of capable sparring mates and he was compelled to set the pace himself. He stepped the first two rounds with George Wilson, a negro heavyweight, the second two with Jack Heinen. Early in the third round Greb's head collided with Dempsey's mouth, cutting the champion's tongue so severly that he spat blood for the remainder of the round..." Another from The New York Times (with a paragraph skipped) also from Sept. 3rd, page 16: "...It was Harry Greb who again today gave Dempsey his stiffest workout. The Pittsburgher was in fine fettle after the excellent showing he made against the champion yesterday. He was full of pep. With the call of time signalizing the beginning of activities, Greb promptly rushed Dempsey. The onslaught was so sudden that Jack was caught off his guard and it took a solid left hook into the body, plied with all the force at Greb's command, which is considerable, to jolt Dempsey into action. Then the fur began to fly. It was a whirlwind three rounds that these two fighters staged for the edification of the biggest crowd that has yet shoe-horned its way into the grandstand at the baseball park in front of which the ring is built. There were fully 2,000 people present, and they were treated to as much action in those three rounds as is usually crowded into eight of a real bout. The bout caused the crowd to burst into cheers and prolonged applasuse. In fact, during the intermission between the second and third rounds Ted Hayes, who acts as announcer at the Dempsey camp, was compelled to request the spectators to refrain from urging either of the men to greater efforts. -Dempsey Slows Up a Bit- These three rounds were followed by three more against Marty Farrell, another middleweight. Dempsey perceptibly eased up in his work against his second opponent. Although Dempsey insists that his wind is perfect and that he is not troubled by shortness of breath while working out, to those who have studied him closely it appears as if his wind might be in better shape. He was puffing very hard after boxing Greb. Of course, it was an unusually fast workout, but it seemed to take him longer than it should to recover his wind even after so strenuous a session. By this is not meant that Dempsey is likely to suffer from shortness of wind in Monday's battle...." There's another from The New York Times but I don't know if it was in reference to the September 3rd sparring session or the day before or after: "...Both men limited their actual boxing to four rounds each today. And there were no firworks, not even when Harry Greb and Dempsey clashed, which usually is accompanied by old man speed stepping on the accelerator. It was the lightest kind of boxing, consisting cheifly of feinting and footwork. (paragraphs about Miske skipped) Harry Greb, looking as chipper as ever in his U.S. Navy Jersey and his black tights, climbed into the ring to take Dempsey over the jumps for two rounds of three minutes each. Just as soon as they squared off it was apparent that there was to be none of the continuous slam-bang stuff which had accompanied their previous engagements. Greb did not rush the champion and they feinted and pranced about for a full minute before either made a real lead. Toward the close of the round they met near mid-ring and there was a sharp exchange of body punches. The second round was a little livelier, but it wasn't a cyclone, and the crowd was somewhat dissappointed. The fans had expected to see more of a real battling than had featured the jousts between these two..."