Wills Firpo Report States Wills Has No Chance With Dempsey

Silly posts, you have no idea if Wills was Ali's superior or the era's equivalent of John Ruiz

If he really wanted the fight he could have made it elsewhere. Klompton who's researched the era said there are records of Dempsey saying he wouldn't fight Wills once he won the title and that the press conferance was a publicity stunt

 

Don't they EVER give up ?
Dempsey, shoulda, coulda, woulda....Maybe if Dempsey's kinfolks had a little more Indian blood coursing in their veins, he wouldn't be so villified today by his ESB haters ! Take care Mc...

 

PP, your such a NOBLE creature...

 

Of c ourse the contract "signing" was a publicity stunt ... to everyone but Wills ... just like the posted article ... as if dozens of newspaper men through out the country were not paid off by Rickard and /or Kearns to downplay such a bout ... folks forget that this was an era where newspapers ruled .. no t.v., no internet .. I'm not doubting that Dempsey would fight Wills .. Jack was a warrior .. however Tex and Doc clearly wanted zero part of risking their meal ticket against such a dangerous opponent ...

 

he, a reasonable post on your part. They Dempsey and Wills did sign...
Whether it was a ploy we will never know.
New York State Boxing Commission would not sanction that bout...
Harry Wills who DESERVED that shot was a victim of his cruel times...
Yes of course Jack Kearns and Tex Rickard had the greatest boxing meal ticket in Jack Dempsey and they told Jack who to fight...
Most every great meal ticket ,including Joe Louis, Ray Robinson, avoided
some MORE deserving fighters, than some of the contenders they fought
by their financial braintrust....
Jack Dempsey DID NOT FEAR any fighter during his heyday. He was a vicious animal in the ring ,and left the business end to his well paid
manager Jack Kearns....
Just as" a man is innocent until proven guilty " , the signing of the
Dempsey /Wills bout in 1924,by a Michigan promoter must be taken at face value today. The $50,000 deposit lost by the promoter Fitzpatrick
was a lot of dough those days...
There is today only on the ESB site, a paranoid hatred of Jack Dempsey
who fought his last bout EIGHTY FIVE years ago...It is clinical I believe and reflects political correctness run amuck...
Cheers...

 

Dempsey & Co. (or should I say Rickard & Co.) were getting million dollar gates. He was getting giant wooden stadiums built just to hold the crowds for a single fight! This wasn't small time, pride in the belt type thinking: it was about banking coin.

What do you think the gate was for this?

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There were promoters genuinely willing and anxious to put on Dempsey-Wills. Whether they were truly capable of delivering such an event, we will never know.

When Dempsey split with Kearns he had offers to fight Wills, all of which never materialised for a number of reasons.
Dempsey's fault at this time was his ultimate reliance on Tex Rickard to advise him.
It even came out in a court of law (Dempsey v BC Clements/Chicago Coliseum, I think) that Dempsey had contacted Rickard enquiring about how much Tex could get him for the Wills fight. Because Dempsey had received offers from others, but he seemed to trust Rickard.
Rickard replied he didn't want the fight, said it would kill boxing, and said it would never be allowed anyway, that the promoters out west were full of it. That was in early 1926.

This isn't just hearsay, telegrams were produced in court. 1929, 1930, some time around then.

Anyway, Rickard ended up delivering Tunney for Dempsey !
Not the best advisor was he ?

According to Dempsey's trainer (Teddy Hayes I think it was), Dempsey's new wife also "advised" Jack against fighting Wills.
Hayes (again, I think, though I might be getting him confused) reckoned that Wills would have been a "one punch fight" and the old man was only looking for a payday. Again, this is in reference to a 1926 fight. This is just anecdotal.

Dempsey took bad advice.
Even if Wills was still a threat in 1924 - '26, I seriously doubt he could have given Dempsey the beating Tunney administered. And Wills was rated number 1 contender, so no one could criticize Dempsey if he had taken the fight and Wills turned out to be a "shell".

 

Mc, in a more harsh age, why would the HW champion go to other country's to fight a contender when he could make a ton of money at home. ? There are no Saint's in boxing today or surely in Dempsey's time.
Why didn't Joe Louis give great money matches to many black heavyweights of his time who were FAR superior to many of Louis's bum of the month club.? Why ?
Why did not Ray Robinson give a money shot to VERY dangerous black fighters as Charley Burley, Holman Williams, Cocoa Kid, etc. ? Were they not better than many of his victims.? Of course they were !
Mc, boxing is a business first and foremost, and Dempsey, Louis, Robinson
great as they were, were guided by the quest for do,rei, mi....
The question that gives me agita, is WHY JacK Dempsey, a decent and well beloved chap has a bullseye on his back by some of today's holier than thou ESB posters ? So, so, easier to pick on a man who can no longer defend himself . Well while I have the wits about me I will try to defend
the Manassa Mauler, wherever he may be....:hi:

 

McGrain,

Are you suggesting Dempsey should have promoted the fight himself ?