Why didn't Jack Dempsey ever fight a black fighter again after John Lester Johnson?

And Tommy Gibbons , kod Kid Norfolk...Truly from the early 1920-23 era only Harry Wills was a VIABLE black HEAVYWEIGHT contender. Sam Langford and Sam ******* were close to 40 years old by this time,while Harry Wills was about 32-34 years of age...George Godfrey was a sparing partner for Jack Dempsey and was dropped several times by Dempsey in training sessions....
As i posted before in the mid 1940s, I was at Stillman's gym and standing about 3 feet from a distinguished tall gentleman who turned out to be Harry Wills, chatting with someone...All I had to do was walk over and ask him about his non Dempsey fight, and his answer might have enlightened all of us on ESB...But I knew nothing of what I learned later on...Oh well !

 

I would say in general terms that if he is defending his title against Gibbons, then Norfolk probably falls within the umbarella of the contenders that he is willing to defend against.

Lets stretch a point and say that he saw something in Norfolk, and decided that discretion was abetter part of valour. There were still plenty of black fighters who were not in Norfolk's class.

 

They fought already:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5zWBRQpzFY[/ame]

 

McVey was on the slide after 1917, Dempsey would have stopped him, and McVey was dead at 37 ,in 1921.

 

Another stupid thread in a long line of stupid threads to discredit Dempsey. There are plenty of fighters I dont like and feel are overrated but thankfully I dont let it consume my life and fill up the classic forum. WTF already.

 

Personally, I don't think there is any way in hell Dempsey was going to fight Wills or any other black contender while he was champion. The color line was simply way too strong in that era when it came to heavyweight championships. I don't think America was ready to allow it to happen again and the powers that be would have prevented it, some way, somehow.

BUT, the real question is what black contenders could Dempsey have fought while on the way up, from around 1916 when he fought John Lester Johnson, up to 1919.

 

'Why didn't Jack Dempsey ever fight a black fighter again after John Lester Johnson'

Somewhat a matter of hitting the 'Easy Button'; also, Tex Rickard swore off promoting mixed bouts after the Jeffries-Johnson riots and film transportation laws. Maybe Dempsey would have tried out Wills if Rickard was shilling it? Jack and Doc would have wanted paid plenty, given what they were pulling in for fighting Carpentier and Firpo.

 

ru, you are so right...there are some posters who are consumed with the
idea of tearing down and diminishing the stature of Jack Dempsey...Of this I am convinced....You would think that Dempsey was the Benedict Arnold of the boxing ring...Funny in all my years growing up with boxing lore and history, Dempsey's so call "aggrieved" boxing figures ie. Wills, and company felt less animosity towards the personage of Jack Dempsey, than
his ESB detractors of today... Hmmm.:good

 

Why didn't he ever fight a Mongolian witch doctor ?
Ever ?

 

Why didn't he ever fight a Pueblo Fireman after Jim Flynn ?

... ah, wait .. he did.



Seriously, we all know Jack Dempsey was a superstitious racist who believed negroes had hidden fists and magical powers.
John Lester Johnson put a hex on him and his family.
Later on, Dempsey died.

Dempsey's phobia of blacks is well-documented.
Or is that Howard Hughes ??
Either way, it's nothing but a race thing, baby.

 

The bout WAS scheduled in the Gobi desert, but was canceled because of
a Camel strike .atsch

 

Now you mention it, I've heard Dempsey wouldn't even spar with a camel.
He once slept in the same boxcar as a llama though (or so his publicists claimed).

 

Dempsey was some animal in the ring...He even developed a rabbit punch !
This thread reminds me of the movie "Animal House ". Finito...

 

Bold outrageous lies sir! Dempsey ducked all the good llamas of the period. That was an alpaca