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This is something that I've seen brought up periodically around here and I saw this article and figured I'd post it for you all:
Did Jack Dempsey Take a Dive? Part 1
By Monte Cox
(Based on the research of Bob Soderman)
Jack Dempsey, heavyweight champion of the world 1919-1926, was knocked out only once in his entire career according to the official record. That loss occurred on Feb. 13, 1917 in Murray, Utah to Fireman Jim Flynn a veteran heavyweight who had twice fought for the title. Rumors have persisted for over 80 years that this fight was not on the level.
At the time it was a bout between a fading former heavyweight contender (Flynn) and a young, still unknown local heavyweight (Dempsey). There were virtually no results of the bout published in any newspapers east of the Mississippi River; not a word in the Chicago Tribune or New York Times. After all no one outside of Utah, Nevada, and Colorado had ever heard of Jack Dempsey at the time of his bout with Jim Flynn.
There have been numerous books written on the subject of Jack Dempsey over the years and they have offered a variety of versions of what happened in that historic encounter. Many of the early works written about Jack Dempsey had contradicting information. One must consider that newspapers were not available on microfilm until the 1930’s, so no serious research was undertaken.
What facts are known concerning this bout? The date and place of the event is without dispute. Frank Armstrong was the referee. The promoter was Fred Winsor who would later that same year become Dempsey’s manager. Dempsey’s manager of record at the time was A.J. Auerbach. Billy Roche was the manager of Jim Flynn.
Boxrec gives the following, which is the only information the average fan has of the contest: "Flynn pushed down Dempsey's guard with his right and swung his left to the jaw for a knockout." (Sandusky Star Journal) “Dempsey was down 10 seconds in to the bout, and he remained on his back for twenty seconds.”
This was also reported in the Pueblo Colorado Chieftain Feb 14, 1917, “Jack Dempsey of Salt Lake was knocked out in 10 seconds after the men shook hands. Flynn pushed Dempsey’s guard with his right arm and swung with his left to the jaw. The Salt Lake man sank to his knees and over for the count and it was 20 seconds after Flynn was declared the winner before Dempsey regained his feet.”
When questioned about the fight at the time Jack Dempsey seemed to be in agreement with that report. The March 16, Oakland Tribune wrote, “The one blotch on Dempsey’s list of performances is the fact that he was knocked out by Jim Flynn at Salt Lake. Dempsey explains this,” (Note article says ‘Dempsey explains’) “by saying that when they first came into the center of the ring for the first round, he put out both gloves to touch his opponent’s mitts as is customary, and Flynn took advantage of the move to whip a right haymaker to the jaw.”
This is contrary to what Dempsey published in his three autobiographies where he said he was down several times and his brother stopped the fight too quickly. An example of this is from his 1960 autobiography Dempsey By The Man Himself with Bob Considine and Bill Slocum, where Dempsey explains, “Flynn knocked me out in two minutes of the first round.” This is at odds with the newspaper and wire service accounts out of Salt Lake which all say Dempsey went down 10 seconds into the bout.
There has always been a great amount of suspicion over this bout. The first book ever written about Jack Dempsey was a 1929 book by Nat Fleischer titled: Jack Dempsey, The Idol of Fistiana. Nat only wrote one sentence about the Flynn fight, “In the following year (1917)…he suffered a questionable one round knockout to Jim Flynn.” Fleischer had no access to newspaper accounts because of the lack of microfilm issue, but he knew of insider’s talk of it being a fixed fight.
In the Sept 1933 Ring magazine author Harvey Bright wrote of the Dempsey-Flynn encounter saying, “The end came in the very first round.” But Bright didn’t offer any details of the encounter merely saying, “many of the ringsiders were of the opinion it was another one of “those things.” Dempsey’s friends have always insisted that Jack “took a dive.”
Bright inferred that ringsiders were of the opinion that it was not on the level. It is noteworthy that Dempsey was blackballed in the area thereafter. Take a look at his record. Murray, Utah, where the fight occurred, is a suburb of Salt Lake City. Though Salt Lake was a BIG fight town from 1910-1940, and though Dempsey was essentially a Utah native, Dempsey never again fought there.
The most telling piece of research is in a series of articles published by the Chicago Tribune in 1920 when Dempsey was in the first year of his reign as heavyweight champion. The Tribune ran a series of 23 articles running from February 15, 1920 to March 8, 1920. The articles were titled, “The Life and Adventures of Jack Dempsey.” The series opened with the following statement of purpose, “The Tribune assigned Eye Witness (sic), one of the ablest and most experienced reporters in the country to cover the career of Jack Dempsey in a series of unbiased articles, first of which is printed herewith. “Get the truth” was the only instruction given to the reporter. He is not a sporting writer and he has approached the subject as an outsider, without preconceived opinions. He has written here a human picture of one of the most interesting and spectacular individuals in modern sporting life. The series will appear daily on the sporting pages.”
Did Jack Dempsey Take a Dive? Part 1
By Monte Cox
(Based on the research of Bob Soderman)
Jack Dempsey, heavyweight champion of the world 1919-1926, was knocked out only once in his entire career according to the official record. That loss occurred on Feb. 13, 1917 in Murray, Utah to Fireman Jim Flynn a veteran heavyweight who had twice fought for the title. Rumors have persisted for over 80 years that this fight was not on the level.
At the time it was a bout between a fading former heavyweight contender (Flynn) and a young, still unknown local heavyweight (Dempsey). There were virtually no results of the bout published in any newspapers east of the Mississippi River; not a word in the Chicago Tribune or New York Times. After all no one outside of Utah, Nevada, and Colorado had ever heard of Jack Dempsey at the time of his bout with Jim Flynn.
There have been numerous books written on the subject of Jack Dempsey over the years and they have offered a variety of versions of what happened in that historic encounter. Many of the early works written about Jack Dempsey had contradicting information. One must consider that newspapers were not available on microfilm until the 1930’s, so no serious research was undertaken.
What facts are known concerning this bout? The date and place of the event is without dispute. Frank Armstrong was the referee. The promoter was Fred Winsor who would later that same year become Dempsey’s manager. Dempsey’s manager of record at the time was A.J. Auerbach. Billy Roche was the manager of Jim Flynn.
Boxrec gives the following, which is the only information the average fan has of the contest: "Flynn pushed down Dempsey's guard with his right and swung his left to the jaw for a knockout." (Sandusky Star Journal) “Dempsey was down 10 seconds in to the bout, and he remained on his back for twenty seconds.”
This was also reported in the Pueblo Colorado Chieftain Feb 14, 1917, “Jack Dempsey of Salt Lake was knocked out in 10 seconds after the men shook hands. Flynn pushed Dempsey’s guard with his right arm and swung with his left to the jaw. The Salt Lake man sank to his knees and over for the count and it was 20 seconds after Flynn was declared the winner before Dempsey regained his feet.”
When questioned about the fight at the time Jack Dempsey seemed to be in agreement with that report. The March 16, Oakland Tribune wrote, “The one blotch on Dempsey’s list of performances is the fact that he was knocked out by Jim Flynn at Salt Lake. Dempsey explains this,” (Note article says ‘Dempsey explains’) “by saying that when they first came into the center of the ring for the first round, he put out both gloves to touch his opponent’s mitts as is customary, and Flynn took advantage of the move to whip a right haymaker to the jaw.”
This is contrary to what Dempsey published in his three autobiographies where he said he was down several times and his brother stopped the fight too quickly. An example of this is from his 1960 autobiography Dempsey By The Man Himself with Bob Considine and Bill Slocum, where Dempsey explains, “Flynn knocked me out in two minutes of the first round.” This is at odds with the newspaper and wire service accounts out of Salt Lake which all say Dempsey went down 10 seconds into the bout.
There has always been a great amount of suspicion over this bout. The first book ever written about Jack Dempsey was a 1929 book by Nat Fleischer titled: Jack Dempsey, The Idol of Fistiana. Nat only wrote one sentence about the Flynn fight, “In the following year (1917)…he suffered a questionable one round knockout to Jim Flynn.” Fleischer had no access to newspaper accounts because of the lack of microfilm issue, but he knew of insider’s talk of it being a fixed fight.
In the Sept 1933 Ring magazine author Harvey Bright wrote of the Dempsey-Flynn encounter saying, “The end came in the very first round.” But Bright didn’t offer any details of the encounter merely saying, “many of the ringsiders were of the opinion it was another one of “those things.” Dempsey’s friends have always insisted that Jack “took a dive.”
Bright inferred that ringsiders were of the opinion that it was not on the level. It is noteworthy that Dempsey was blackballed in the area thereafter. Take a look at his record. Murray, Utah, where the fight occurred, is a suburb of Salt Lake City. Though Salt Lake was a BIG fight town from 1910-1940, and though Dempsey was essentially a Utah native, Dempsey never again fought there.
The most telling piece of research is in a series of articles published by the Chicago Tribune in 1920 when Dempsey was in the first year of his reign as heavyweight champion. The Tribune ran a series of 23 articles running from February 15, 1920 to March 8, 1920. The articles were titled, “The Life and Adventures of Jack Dempsey.” The series opened with the following statement of purpose, “The Tribune assigned Eye Witness (sic), one of the ablest and most experienced reporters in the country to cover the career of Jack Dempsey in a series of unbiased articles, first of which is printed herewith. “Get the truth” was the only instruction given to the reporter. He is not a sporting writer and he has approached the subject as an outsider, without preconceived opinions. He has written here a human picture of one of the most interesting and spectacular individuals in modern sporting life. The series will appear daily on the sporting pages.”
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