Who thinks Dempsey would have met Wills post-Tunney?

Don't you think he'd probably go the easy route and meet, say, Heeney in a slugfest that would be guaranteed to draw a big gate(and would be quite a winnable fight for a flatfooted Dempsey)?

 

I think Dempsey would have fought Wills straight after Tunney, If Wills wouldnt have lost to Sharkey. He had to fight Sharkey, because Sharkey was the No 1 contender. But Dempsey Wills was easily the biggest money fight out there. Looking at results of the two, Dempsey would be a near certainty here, which would put an interesting complexion on both legacies.

In a different tact, i think that if Wills had defeated Dempsey or not lost to Sharkey, he would almost certainly be in line for a shot at Tunney. I say this because outside of Dempsey, Wills was the next biggest drawcard and Tunney actually wanted the fight on his way up. A year or two later, i think he would have seen as easy and massive if Wills results could have justified it.

 

There were some newspapers arguing that Tunney had superseded Wills as a contender. Even by that logic, Wills would be next in line.

In practice, the fight would probably never have happened for the reasons that it did not happen earlier. Rickard would have tried to steer Dempsey towards prety much any other contender, and might have tried to put other obstacles in Wills path. There would have been issues with venue. Wills loss to Sharkey would ultimately have provided too good an excuse to pass up.

The only thing that might change matters, is that Dempsey or Rickard (depending who you blame) might make the calculation that Wills was getting old and ready to be taken as a low risk high reward prospect. This is probably the least likley scenario.

 

Wills: 'Hey Mr Wills, hows it hanging'
Wills: 'Great, what about you Mr Wills?'
Wills: '**** Off Wills, you schizo'
Wills: 'Who the **** are you calling a schizo Wills? You the 1 talking to yourself *****'
Wills: 'Hey you keep on talking that trash, I'm going to meet up with you and kick your ass Wills, I've wanted to shut your mouth for ages Wills'
Wills: 'Wait, I thought you wanted to get it on with Dempsey Wills?'
Wills: 'That Dempsey ***** made me go crazy, got damn that Langford mother****er hits damn hard'

Reminds me of 1 my neighbours.........

 

Wills was beaten up by Sharkey a few weeks after Dempsey-Tunney.
If Dempsey had beat Tunney, fighting Wills would have been a ridiculous match.

Truth is, if Dempsey had fought Wills instead of Tunney, a lot of us here on ESB would be pointing out he fought a shot-to-**** old man instead of the bright young contenders.

 

Dempsey would have gotten a lot more brave about fighting Wills after Wills lost to Sharkey...

 

The idea of Dempsey beating Tunney in 1926 is absurd though.
And Wills remaining viable for a million-dollar gate after getting thrashed by Sharkey is unthinkable.

I think Dempsey and Wills should have fought each other anyway, both washed-up old losers in an last chance eliminator. One last payday for the overpaid warriors, grudge match, unfinished business and all that bull**** we see so often in boxing.

And Sharkey should have got a shot at Tunney.

 

I think the political problems which prevented a Dempsey-Wills match prior to 1926 would have also prevented the match after 1926, regardless of what Dempsey did with Tunney or Wills with Sharkey.

 

Why not meet him, he was getting beat by only top fighters he faced, and easily. Uzcudum and Shakey both ko'd him, and Firpo, who was retired, fought him and almost got draw.

 

What are you blabbering about? Sharkey didn't knock wills out. Wills was dq'd. Firpo wasn't retired when he fought wills and did not almost earn a draw. Wills dropped firpo and dominated him with ease.

 

OK. Imagining that Tunney wasn't as good as he was, and Dempsey gets past him ..... and imagining that Wills just waits in line, or fights another tomato can instead of getting beat by Dempsey ..... I suspect that Dempsey would be out of the ring for at least another 12 months - and it really depends on who and when Rickard (no other promoter seemed to be able to deliver to Dempsey's liking) chooses to build up as the next challenger.
That's my best guess.

I suspect Dempsey was always willing to fight whoever, as long as the price was right and the promoter could deliver without any hiccups.

 

This is exactly what I think - Wills wouldn't be thought of anymore as a thorn in Dempsey's side rather than a footnote after having been chopped down in about 3 rounds

 

and this is also exactly what I think too

on the Sharkey-Tunney thing I think more people would give Tunney a bit more of the respect he deserves had he faced maybe Sharks and Schmell