Dempsey vs Willard - best footage i've ever seen

[gest12645]

It was a brawl, didn't look like a boxing fight to me. IMHO

[hardcore_crash]

It was a brawl, didn't look like a boxing fight to me. IMHO

I understand, but if you look closely it's all there.
Dempsey's balance, footwork, defense, feints, his punching technique, it's a thing of beauty.

He was just against an outmatched opponent, and didn't give him a second to breathe.

[Violent Demise]

Fight should of been stopped after the 3rd knock down

[Mars_ax]

Fight should of been stopped after the 3rd knock down

True, but back then they almost didn't stop HW Championship fights unless you couldn't beat the 10 count or were knocked out. That being said, the ref definitely should have stopped the fight at the end of the 1st round when Willard was sitting helpless on the canvas. Saved by the bell my ass, the only way he could get up was with the help of his corner.

[Master]

Dempsey was a vicious fighter in the ring that was starving for the title. He would have killed to get that belt and nearly did to poor Willard. Brutal savagery.

[Saddo]

one of my fav fights of all time for soo many reasons.... good find on the better footage.

is ribs where broke in the first round and i think he'd have stayed down if his corner hadn't forced him up to try and steal the fight.

[Master]

one of my fav fights of all time for soo many reasons.... good find on the better footage.

is ribs where broke in the first round and i think he'd have stayed down if his corner hadn't forced him up to try and steal the fight.

The corner men were very brave and showed tremendous courage.

[bradlee180]

Willard's injury reports have been greatly exaggerated. In this scan from Reading Eagle newspaper in 1919:
"Aside from the swelling on the right side of his face, which was subsiding under cold applications, he was none the worse for his encounter with Dempsey."

"The defeated Champion said today that rumors that he was severely injured and that he was taken to a hospital were gross exaggerations. The only injury he suffered was a deep cut over the eye and badly cut mouth. He did not lose any teeth, nor was his jaw fractured, as reported."



Willard drove himself home a few days after the fight.

[kyoto]

Dempsey!