the dempsey roll!!

[cougar]

anyone knows how to do that jack dempsey move is?

[DaxxKahn]

Not sure what move you are inq to?....Something he did in training camp or in the ring while fighting?

[ThomasTabin]

I know that Dempsey loved to lean away and under from punches by moving his upper body back towards his right. It loaded up his right hand and made him extremely hard to reach. The Dempsey roll would come after. With his upperbody positioned over towards his right side (which by the way he stood was behind him - he stood almost sideways) he would weave low so that weight would be over his left leg. This movement slipped punches and allowed him to load up on his left hook.

The whole theme of this is to make the opponent miss whilst putting the body's weight in a position to strike. If you notice of Dempsey, he always had full leverage on every punch. You must start out in a stance similar to his to do that.

[Von Milash]

I would not recommend leaning to your right side unless you're on skates. You're in no position to hit and your vision of your opponent is limited, making you open to a good stiff right hand. If you do it, you have to roll under and out asap.

[ThomasTabin]

Dempsey did it in every fight. He was also hard to hit and had very underrated defense. Too bad that because he liked to press forward he gets billed as being some kind of a savage incapable of thought. He was pretty cagey in my opinion.

As for the move it doesn't limit your vision. I'm not sure how it would. And you're right that it leaves you in a position where you can't punch but only for the left hand. If you've seen any Dempsey you know that he likes to spring up from that crouch with a right hand. Dempsey hit pretty hard last I remember.


He looks pretty open but know that Dempsey's upperbody was constantly moving and he used a shoulder roll. Tunney as quoted saying that Dempsey was one of the hardest fighters to hit with his right. Kept catching air or shoulder.

[Chris Nagel]

Yep, that was all the bobbing and weaving that he'd use to dodge punches and to get closer. I remember reading about Archie Moore giving credit for Dempsey's bobbing and weaving that he'd use in own style. I'm sure that the shoulder roll was no exception.

I like the fact that Dempsey almost always had good leverage for his punches. When I think about it, I'd put the Dempsey-roll is in the same category as the shoulder roll. The beginning position is essential. For starters you duck/roll away from the punch, you shift your weight onto your left, getting set to punch with your right. It's not a big difference to duck under it, or roll away from it as long as you're in position to come back with with your own punch. You can also hook off it as long you shift your weight back to your right leg.

[Canvasback]

"...the head must have assistance in slipping the punches. That assistance is provided by rolling the shoulders. In fact, the shoulder roll will do all the work in shifting your head. You need not to tilt your head even slightly. And that's fortunate; for when you tilt your head to either side, you find difficulty in keeping your eyes on your opponent. Moreover, when you side tilt your noggin, you immediately change the head and neck angle of greatest resistance to a punch - the angle you use in your normal position."

That's right from his book "Championship Fighting" published in 1950.