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HW Greats from 1920 to 1950

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    #11
    More on Dempsey. Pls correct if wrong.


    Dempsey would fight Sudenberg twice again and eventually return the pleasure and knock him out.

    One month before his first encounter with Sudenberg Dempsey had fought Emmanuel Campell in Reno, Nevada. The Reno Evening Gazette wrote about that match, “Emmanuel Campbell, a big colored fighter, took an awful beating from Jack Dempsey and finally quit cold after running to avoid punishment. He fell to the floor in the fourth round after turning his back and running half-way around the ring. After taking the count of eight he got off his knees and when Dempsey made another rush at him dropped back to the floor. Referee Moore promptly declared Dempsey the winner. Dempsey showed great cleverness and aggressiveness and has a punch with either hand that makes him a dangerous opponent.”

    Another episode of Dempsey’s early fighting career was his bout with John Lester Johnson on the 14th of July in 1916. The match was held at the Harlem Sporting Club in New York and had been arranged by promoter John Reisler (nicknamed “John the Barber” because he possessed a barber store). During the fight John Lester Johnson would hit Dempsey’s body so hard the he suffered three broken ribs. Dempsey managed to go the distance of 10 rounds with his last ounce of strength. Before the fight Dempsey was promised to received 25 percent of the receipt of 500 dollars. As he only got 35 dollars he took John Reisler to task about the missing 90 dollars. When Reisler claimed that he payed off old debts Dempsey professedly had with a former promoter of his Dempsey was both, speechless and helpless.

    By that time William Harisson Dempsey had abandoned his old nickname “Kid Blackie” and adopted the name of “Jack Dempsey” who was a famous middleweight of Irish ancestry and fought between 1883 and 1895. Dempsey himself had Irish ancestors. Soon he dedicated his whole life to the sport he loved and fed from. Through watching other fighters and growing experience the autodidact Dempsey invented a new fighting style. His common fighting stance became famous as the “Dempsey-Crouch”. He would march forward crouched and present as small as possible space to be hit. Out of this defensive shell he would unleash his furious punches, mostly in combinations.

    Dempsey did not drink or smoke. He chew self-collected pine nuts because he thought that the grinding work of his teeth would strengthen his jaw and therefore help him to withstand more punishment in the ring. In addition he dipped his hands into salt water because an old fighter told him that this procedure would strenghten the skin.

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      #12
      In contrast to his steeled body Dempsey had a very high, nearly feminine voice.

      When the United States entered the first World War in 1917, Dempsey continued to box while working in a shipyard. After the war he was accused of being a draft dodger and it wasn’t until 1920 that he could clear his name on that account, when evidence was shown that the U.S. Army turned him down.

      Meanwhile Dempsey was handed his first and only defeat by way of knockout when fought the experienced “Fireman” Jim Flynn on the 13th of Februar in 1917. According to the newspaper report Dempsey was down 10 seconds into the bout and remained on his back for 20 seconds. The Sandusky Star Journal described the knockout punch as following, “Flynn pushed down Dempsey’s guard with his right and swung his left to the jaw for a knockout.”

      Around that time Dempsey first met with one of the most famous promoters of all time in “Doc” Kearns. Kearns would always take an incredible 50 percent of the revenues of his boxers as his salary. Everything Dempsey earned, being a landlord or an actor, would go halves between him and Kearns. Kearns would go on to lead Dempsey to his fame and eventually to the world title. Years later when Dempsey had bought a house for his old mother and Kearns would sell it behind Dempsey’s back the duo infernale would finally split. Dempsey wrote about Kearns in his biography, “Meine jahrelange Großmut hat er als Dummheit eingeschätzt und ausgenutzt. Er war ein Spieler, der das Geld noch viel schneller hinsauswarf als ich. Aber er war ein überragender Fachmann. Ich habe nie einen anderen Menschen kennen gelernt, der einen Boxer so perfekt analysieren könnte wie Kearns, der in kurzer Zeit alle Stärken und Schwächen eines Boxers erkannte und seinen Fighter entsprechend beriet und steuerte. Das bleibt ihm unbenommen, auch wenn er mich finanziell jahrelang um Million betrogen hat.”

      With Kearns as his manager Dempseys career started to take off. In 1918 he revenged his loss to “Firemann” Jym Flynn by knocking him out in the first round. In his next match he would fight the esteemned Bill Brennan on the 25th of February in the Auditorium of
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      Milwaukee. The Warren Evening Times reported from the fight, “Just one man, Fred Fulton, stands today between Jack Dempsey, the shiftiest two-fisted fighter since Bob Fitzsimmons, and Jess Willard, the heavyweight champion of the world. When Dempsey fights as he fought against Bill Brennan here last night, no lesser man can stand against him. Dempsey knocked Brennan out in the sixth round, and it was a masterly piece of work. Very few fighters have taken a better licking or taken their licking better than Brennan did last night. In sixty-seven fights Brennan had not been knocked off his feet, and his record includes about forty knockouts. Dempsey had him down four times in the second round and twice in the sixth. That ought to be answer enough to the question, can Dempsey hit? Just once did Brennan's robust wallop net Dempsey for a punch that stung. Dempsey took that punch and came back fighting like a tiger. Brennan's vaunted defense crumpled like paper before Dempsey's attack and his deadly left hand could not find its mark. Dempsey punished the big Chicagoan in every round but one.”

      In 1918 alone Dempsey fought at least 23 fights of which he managed to win 21 with 1 loss and 1 draw. It did not take long until he was in the public eye. Dempsey himself was a product of the “roaring twenties”. “Doc” Kearns managed to present him as a superhero who would break a lions neck with bare fists and strangle dragons. For the majority of his fans he represented everything that they yearned for in their own lifes. He was succesfull and many believed him to be the strongest man of the world. It was at that time when Dempsey’s nickname “the Manassa Mauler” became more and more acquainted.

      From 20th January of 1919 till the 2nd April Dempsey fought five opponents and knocked them all out in the first round. These fights were more like pubilicty stunts as “Doc” Kearns would try all sorts of things to get Dempsey in the ring with Jess Willard, who won the World Heavyweight Title from Jack Johnson and had defended it only once since, against Frank Moran in the Madison Square Garden in New York. Willard had been inactive for nearly three years and lived of the extent of his fame as champion of the world. As the public continued to demand a fight between the two Willard finally signed the contract.



      10

      Jack Dempsey and Jess Willard were to fight on the 4th of July in 1919. The winner should be declared as Heavyweight Champion of the World. The Bay View Arena in Toledo, where the bout was held, was newly constructed. 20,000 viewers payed more than 500,000 dollars to witness this highly anticipated fight.

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        #13
        Tex Rickard, the famous promoter, would organize most of the spectacle.

        Jess Willard was the betting favourite as most experts believed that Willard was too big and strong for Dempsey. A rumor has it that Jack Dempsey and “Doc” Kearns bet 10,000 dollars at ten to one odds that Jack would knock out Willard in the first round. Supposedly that was all the money that had. Many called this fight a modern David and Goliath. However, Dempsey was fearless and very self-confident.

        When the fight finally started it soon became obvious that, despite all the buzz in the buil-up of the bout, it would be a very one-sided affair. Dempsey came out bobbing and weaving and almost immediately knocked Willard down. In one of the most brutal first rounds in boxing history Jack “the Manassa Mauler” Dempsey would continue to knock down Willard for six more times. The champion looked helpless through times as he found no way to stop Dempsey, whose fists broke three of his ribs, ruptured his jaw, rived his lips and closed his eyes. The count from the last knockdown in the first round reached ten soon after the round bell rung. Most people believed that the fight was over and were leaving the arena. Dempsey thought he had won and celebrated before leaving the ring. It was total mayhem when the referee Ollie Pecord called him back. After some delay, the fight continued. The second round saw Willard connecting with his only meaningful punch of the fight, a good uppercut. Other than that the contender dominated and hit Willard at will. During the third round Willard lost several teeth and suffered a broken cheek-bone. Despite his immense bravery Willard had to quit on his stool before the 4th round was started. Jack Dempsey was the new Heavyweight Champion of the World. (** a video-recording of the fight is enclosed to the attachment)




        11

        Dempsey preluded the golden age of boxing. Although many people still opposed prize-fighting, a majority clamored for its legalization. On the 14th of January in 1920 James J. Walker introduced his boxing bill in the Albany senate which would eventually be signed into law by Governor Smith. After boxing had been primarily a western sport for the past generation this step secured boxing a place in the spotlight of America’s top sports once and for all. Two months after the legalization of boxing in New York, Tex Rickard became the proprietor of Madison Square Garden. New York became the mecca of the pugilistic world.

        Comment


          #14
          In his first defense Dempsey stepped into the ring to face Billy Miske on the 6th September of 1920 . Miske took a count of three in the second round, said to be the first knockdown of his career. In the third round Miske was down for nine before takeing the full count. Years after the fight, it became public that Miske accepted the fight while suffering a terminal disease and needed the money to secure his family after death. Miske died two years after faceing Dempsey, who always expressed regret about that fight and declared he would have given Miske the money he needed if he had only known about the circumstances.

          After succesfully defending his title against Bill Brennan, whom he knocked out with a two punch combination to the body in the 12th round, Dempsey was set to face the European Heavyweight and World Light Heavyweight Champion George “The Orchid Man” Carpentier on the 2nd of July in 1921. Carpentier was not only a champion but a decorated veteran of the French Army who had served in the first World War. Ironically, Dempsey's promoter used this angle to promote the fight, since many Americans still regarded Dempsey as a slacker during the war. It was good versus evil again and Carpentier, an elegant and well educated man, was the ideal fan favourite. Tex Rickard once again advertised this bout as “the fight of the century”. The match was held in a farm that had to be rented to accommodate all the public in New Jersey. 80,183 viewers payed a record 1,789,238 Dollars to see the action live. This was boxing’s first “million dollar gate”.




          12

          Dempsey weighed in 16 pounds heavier than Carpentier and knew all the physical advantages on his side. This was the first championship bout to be broadcasted live on radio. Though Carpentier landed some solid punches Dempsey was always in control and never in serious danger of losing his title. When Carpentier broke his right thumb during the 2nd round the fight was virtually decided. It was only a matter of time until Dempsey would eventually knock down Carpentier. He did so in the 4th round and after Carpentier got up at the count of nine Jack quickly followed up with the final punch of the fight. Carpentier had fought heroically but was overwhelmed. At the end he was badly gashed and bleeding while Dempsey was unmarked. (*** a video-recording of the fight is enclosed to the attachment)

          After this fight, Dempsey's fame reached unexpected heights, becoming one of the top five sports stars in the United States, along with baseball’s Babe Ruth, American football’s Red Grange, golf’s Bobby Jones and tennis’ Bill Tilden. They were know as “the big five of sports”. All the bad press in the build-up to Dempsey’s bout with Carpentier was suddenly forgotten.

          The good-looking Dempsey with his simple charm had always been a womanizer. He met his first wife way back when he was still fighting in saloons and dancing halls, where she would sing and ********** herself. He married the 15-year older woman in 1916. Dempsey describes in his biography how she would solace him when got beaten badly, for exmaple when he suffered the horrible beating to the hands of John Lester Johnson. However, they got divorced in 1920 and though she would cause him some problems in the progress, Dempsey would later describe her in his biography as “a fine women”. After their marriage his former wife became a prostitue again.

          Comment


            #15
            Dempsey Tunney Schmelling Louis

            Here's some VERY brief statements about the fighters in question.

            Dempsey won the title by beating the hell out of Jess Willard. Broken ribs, nose jaw and eye socket is what Dempsey did to Willard. This is one of the top three heavyweight championship massacres with the other two being Louis Schmelling II and Tyson Spinks.

            Gene Tunney was ahead of his time in regards to boxing style. His stick and move style proved way to much for an over the hill yet still effective Jack Dempsey. Forget about the long count. In my opinion it wouldn't have mattered as Tunney got up and proceeded to stay out of Dempsey's reach for the rest of the fight and even put Jack down once in the fight.

            Max Schmelling was a hard hitter and the first man to defeat Joe Louis. He also beat guys like Young Stribling and a blwon up Mickey Walker (middewieght). Won the title on a foul against Jack Sharkey.p light heavy Billy Conn but came on late, in typical Louis fashion, was able to stop Conn with a vicious combination.

            Tiger Flowers

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              #16
              its nice to read about something other than ali thanx guys

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