Why is Dempsey vs Firpo highly edited film?

Looking at the Corbett Tunney reinactment of the knockdown Dempseys knees did not hit the canvas.

 

It also looks to me that Dempsey drops to one knee for a moment.

 

Ok, that might be what I've seen then. Some of the film of the knockdowns of Firpo are similarly choppy. I don't know whether that's intentional related to the action or something to do with quality of film.

 

Why choose a Corbett Tunney reenactment over the actual film?

 

Just need to be clear if this is the sequence in question. A right hand later on in that round put Dempsey very quickly down. The right hand I am discussing was the very first blow of the fight seconds after the opening bell. Dempsey had to grab and hold to prevent from going down at least as per the reinactment.

 

The film looks as if it has been edited so this entire sequence cannot be seen.

 

Yes, Dempsey charges Firpo.
Firpo hits him with a right hand.
You can watch it and pause it and Dempsey's on his knee. That's still there in the film.

 

Possibly a frame or two but no way that sequence has not been edited. You do not see the grab and hold that immediately resulted from the punch. And it cuts immediately to a clinch.

 

That is what I am talking about.

In 1945, The Ring described the moment thus,

"It appeared he was ready to sink to the floor, but he saved himself by grasping Firpo's body and pulling himself to his feet. Dempsey's knees touched the floor."

A better source, the September 15, 1923, New York Times, had his knee on the canvas. The film seems to back that up.

All this happened so quickly there was no official count. A flash knockdown.

Watching the film, I think Dempsey was down three times. Two flash knockdowns and getting knocked out of the ring.

 

"Dempsey's on his knee. That's still there in the film."

Yes. I managed to pause it also. He is definitely on one knee. The film does jump then, but off the NY Times report not much is missing. Could just be deterioration of the film rather than some sort of deliberate edit.

 

The sequence where Dempsey is grasping onto Firpo to prevent falling to the canvas is missing or severely cut.

Also a few seconds later they are in a clinch, the ref taps them on the shoulder to break. You can see Dempsey pulling his left arm away from Firpos grasp....The film then cuts to a closeup shot with Firpo on the canvas. My interpretation is that Dempsey hit on the break or it appeared Dempsey hit on the break and this was edited from the film.

Later on Firpo went down from a body blow and As he is getting upDempsey comes into view lunging with his right, film is cut, you don't see that right land and Firpo is down again. It appears Firpo could have been hit before he was fully up.

It has always appeared to me that the film was edited here and there to remove sequences that could put Dempsey in a bad light.

I do agree however that the knockdown out of the ring is probably shown in its completeness.

 

There's a lot of film from that era that just as similarly "choppy". I don't think it's a deliberate editing out of fouls or whatever, it's just the poor film and filming techniques (and perhaps poor editing techniques) they had then. I'm no expert in any of that but I know I've seen a lot of film from the era that looks the same as that.

 

Sure however it's curious that the choppiness is occurring at specific points in the action. The removal of Dempsey grasping hold of Firpo or at least the majority of it plus the other cuts/chopping certainly could be interpreted as Rickards edits.

 

Randy Roberts biography of Dempsey states.
"Dempsey rushed across the ring to meet Firpo and threw a wild right hand.For one of the few times in his ring career Firpo executed a classic move:he sidestepped Dempsey's right and countered with a perfectly timed short left uppercut.Less than ten seconds after the opening bell Dempsey's knees hit the canvas".
"After being knocked down he sprang to his feet before the referee began to count and wrestled Firpo into a clinch".
Dempsey knocked Firpo down twice and then they fell into a clinch.
"Referee Johnny Gallagher, who was having trouble following the action demanded the fighters break the clinch.Firpo who obviously had not been tutored on what to expect fromDempsey ,dropped his hands and took a step backward in response to Gallagher's orders.It was a costly mistake.As Firpo stepped back Dempsey stepped forward and delivered a hard uppercut to the Latin's chin."

 

Sounds about right but the actual blow that fell Firpo from the clinch is not there. You see the ref tap the fighters shoulders, Dempsey starting to break his left arm free from Firpos grasp......then cut to a closer up shot with Firpo on the canvas. Perhaps the blow could have been interpreted as Dempsey punching on the break was edited out.