The papers stated he started a count.Im not criticizing Barry for not taking up the count when Dempsey refused to go to a neutral corner , he was perfectly correct to do so. BTW. Was Firpo in the farthest neutral corner when Dempsey got back in the ring?
"Was Firpo in the farthest neutral corner when Dempsey got back in the ring?" No. But he was at least in the middle of the ring. He did step back to allow Dempsey to reenter the ring unimpeded. But the 1923 referee did a lousy job, no doubt. And it is even worse if Firpo is correct that the referee in his pre-fight instructions told the fighters to go to a neutral corner after a knockdown. In that case he made the standard clear and then ignored it.
Just for my clarity....... everyone is aware that Dempsey was almost knocked down by the very first blow Firpo threw seconds after the bout begins? Only thing that saved him was grasping hold of Firpo. This is not shown in any of the films of the bout I have seen. Tunney and Corbett reinacted this one punch and Dempseys reaction during their filmed sparring session. (Corbett playing Dempsey while Tunney played Firpo)
There might be several versions of the film from the sounds of it. Remarkable that one of the versions seems to be totally unedited (according to klompton), that's a great thing,
Both the film and the ringside report have Dempsey going down to one knee, but bouncing up quickly. What exactly is the issue?
We didnt get to see if the ref was partial because Dempsey arose immediately. The ref counted and continued to count over Tunney until he noticed Dempsey hovering then halted to usher Dempsey away. The referees actions were in both instances are perfectly consistent.
The alternate version i have is not unedited. Just that crucial spot where Dempsey goes out of the ring and climbs back in. Thats complete and shot from one camera with no cuts. The first knockdown suffered by dempsey in the opening seconds it cut among other parts, either due to age and wear or out of intent. Its difficult to say. The first kd suffered by dempsey must have been intentionally edited because its the same in all versions. That would difficult to reproduce.
You see Firpos punch and then it looks as if the film was edited and it just looks like the two fighters are in a clinch. Then it appears out of the clinch Dempsey lands a punch for his first knockdown. Until I read specific accounts of the bout I never knew Dempsey had to grab and hold Firpo because of that right hand to avoid the knockdown.
on that first knockdown the film is the same as this description in the New York Times on Sept 15, 1923-- "the champion, half-slipping, half-knocked over by Firpo's right hand counter, was down on one knee . . . He was up again before they could more than start counting."