Would more film have helped or hurt Dempsey?

Films from 1916 would not hurt Dempsey's reputation. He wasn't even a full-time pro fighter by then.

I think that having his early KO wins on tape would make him even more appreciated. Say all you want about Dempsey's title reign, but he was extremely dominant before Willard fight.

 

I’m of the opinion it most definitely would have helped

 

Depends what side of the coin you're on. For some, more film = more to critique. For others, more film = more to prop up. What's for sure, is that if there was more film we'd be talking about Dempsey more and I for one, don't care for that.

I think fans'd love it and detractors would be even more rampant.

 

Hard to say, if they had the ability to produce great film,
their still would be "Jim Crow" . He still wouldn't have
fought the best black fighters available.
Without that it's hard to honestly say he was the best
fighter of his own era with any conviction.

 

If Dempsey looked good in the video, it would enhance his reputation, if he didn't, it would hurt his reputation. Depends...

I'd like to see more rounds of sparring with Bill Tate, Tate looked like a big guy with some ability. It was just sparring, so it was probably less intense than a real fight, but people don't change their fundamentals or style for a sparring session so you can see how they fight/fought. Too bad that sparring video is so short.

 

Think it would have helped considering the majority of his prime wasn’t filmed

 

Jack fought 16 times in 1916 and traveled across the country to relocate in NYC to further his career. I would say he was as full time as any aspiring contender was at the time.

 

my thoughts exactly

 

Keep in mind that Tate wasn't anything special in his era.

 

Fine enough, wrong choice of my words. I'd say that he was still learning his job and 1916 Dempsey definitely wouldn't be a good example of how he fought in his prime.

 

That's why video is so important. Tate might not have a great record, but we don't know the circumstances behind his fights. We know that he was 6-5 or 6, black, and he could move without tripping over himself, doubtful that he is going to get fights with top contenders in that era. For the fights he did get, he might have been told/threatened/paid to lose, he might have taken fights on short notice for money, with little or no preparation, he might have fought in the other guy's home town with judges from that town, he may have known that he wasn't going anywhere in boxing in that era and been unmotivated...who knows? In the short video with Dempsey, he looks decent.

Unless Tate had some major flaw that wasn't apparent in the short video I can't imagine him losing to a Willard or Firpo type if the fight took place on a level playing field.

 

The usual anti-Jack garbage. The best ever always has detractors. Dempsey is no different. LUCKILY, history has already decided his place in the pantheon of greatness. Todays belittlers are squirrels peeing on a monolith.

 

I seriously doubt there's any footage not already out that would set off any light bulbs in people's heads. Plenty of people aren't even mildly impressed that a 180 lb man completely mauled the 6'7" 250 lb champion. For me personally I'd love to see more of his style on tape if it was clear footage. Would help a lot more if we saw a few fights of his opponents too. Then we'd be able to truly see how talented he was.

Imagine reading about Gennady Golovkin 50 years from now and only having footage of his fights with Jacobs, Canelo, and Derevyanchenko? It would be very hard to believe he's the thunderous bad ass that he was in his prime. Watching all of Dempsey's fights from 1918 would be very informative.

 

"I think that dempsey was the greatest fighter to ever step into a ring"..... Mickey walker 1970