Did Jack Dempsey cheat against Jess willard?

[Sugarj]

The July 5, 1919 NY Times quotes Willard as saying, "Dempsey is a remarkable hitter. It was the first time that I had ever been knocked off my feet. I have sent many birds home in the same bruised condition that I am in, and now I know how they felt. I sincerely wish Dempsey all the luck possible and hope that he garnishes all the riches that comes with the championship. I have had my fling with the title. I was champion for four years and I assure you that they'll never have to give a benefit for me. I have invested the money I have made."

It was reported that Willard had his jaw broken at 13 places. I doubt you can open your mouth with that amount of injuries. Him giving the interview points out that his injuries were exaggerated.

Teddy Hayes (another Dempsey second) cut the wraps after the fight and had no trouble doing so. No trace of plaster.

Agreed, the only thing I believe Dempsey had in those gloves were his fists!

[Terry A]

The fight doctor Ferdie Pacheco would also make a claim that he saw footage at some private event once upon that showed a metal sp!ke clearly fall out of Dempsey's gloves after the fight. With that said I don't believe it for various reasons already listed here, also if a guy illegally beat you with dangerous object, would you be making videos like this with him:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5rV9y_LbFE

Thank you for posting that video. I'd never seen it.

[Terry A]

I seriously doubt that Dempsey's gloves were loaded.

My grandpap's all time favorite fighter was Jack Dempsey & because of that, I've always liked him. I've read about as much on him as I have on almost any other fighter. And the question that begs to be asked is WHY would Jack have to load up his gloves for to beat Willard? Loaded or not, Dempsey was going to win that fight that day.

I'm aware of Kearns betting big on Dempsey to KO1 Willard (for anyone who thinks that may have been the motivation.) However, I think Kearns thought that Dempsey could KO1 Willard anyway, & didn't need to load the gloves. Had he gotten caught doing something that wasn't even needed to win, Dempsey's career would have been ruined. And Kearns wanted to milk all he could from Dempsey. Why would he risk all those future paydays by taking a chance like loading up Jack's gloves???

All that being said, a famous man who I can't remember his name, once said "If you want to win really, really bad, cheating will help you!"