Who actually beats Johnson at his absolute prime?

[Bronson66]

I understand fully. Where I part company with you on this particular subject, and with Brady as well, is in supposing that I can reach inside of Dempsey's head.

The issue from my perspective, is in doing so in order to slander Jack Dempsey's good name, and laying the blame for the fight not happening at his feet.

Unimaginable today, are the social pressures associated with a black challenger a scant dozen years after the country saw massive riots occur throughout the country, in major cities and smaller communities all over the U.S. such as Atlanta, Georgia; Cincinnati, Ohio; Houston, Texas; New York, New York and St. Louis, Missouri, Keystone, West ******ia Mounds, Illinois, Baltimore, Maryland; Chicago, Illinois; Clarksburg, West ******ia; Columbus, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio; Fort Worth, Texas; Johnson County, Missouri; Kansas City, Missouri; Little Rock, Arkansas; Los Angeles, California; Louisville, Kentucky; New Orleans, Louisiana; Norfolk, ******ia; Omaha, Nebraska; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roanoke, ******ia; Springfield, Illinois; St. Joseph, Missouri and Wheeling, West ******ia which all saw organized violent disturbances, in one of the worst episodes of racial unrest in the nation's history, before or since.

Dempsey, more than 100 years later we feel, should have, what? Pushed harder for the fight to have been made?

How was Dempsey supposed to do that?

Between 1918 and 1926, effectively parallel to Dempsey's reign as champion, Harry Wills was arguably the best heavyweight on the planet, save for Dempsey, and at a minimum the best contender for the title. That, is widely accepted, then and now.
It is certainly unjust that he never got his opportunity for the title challenge; as are the deaths and injuries of those caught up in the violent reaction to the last time promoters put profits above public safety.

Brady's work on behalf of renowned black cyclist Marshall Walter "Major" Taylor and Matthew Alexander Henson, the black arctic explorer who was part of the expedition that may have been the first to reach the geographic North Pole in1909, demonstrate his deep lifelong commitment to racial justice in the U.S., and it is that which drove his speaking out in support of Harry Wills.

I have just one caveat here,your last paragraph is projecting a mindset on Brady,ie."reaching inside his head",which is precisely what you are objecting to in the post you are discussing.
You may believe your interpretation of his thinking is correct, but you cannot know it to be so!

[Bronson66]

Well of course only he knows what he was thinking for sure, but he did give us a little bit. He broke a contract to fight the man. I assume if he wanted to fight him, he simply wouldn't have broken the contract. Why go through the motions of making the fight if race riots so put you off from it?

It's clear to me that he was complicit in ducking this match. But as to why, that is what I can't say. My personal opinion is that he felt he could have beaten Wills, but he didn't want to take the chance of losing to a Black fighter and having his legacy have that kind of mark on it like what happened to Jeffries. His wife apparently was a racist and a loss to Wills wouldn't be a good look.

He did have a history of avoiding Black fighters after one broke a few of his ribs. He had his name attached to an article that clearly stated he would fight any 2 White challengers but not a Black one, and he drew the color line a couple of times, while also at times saying he renounced the color-line.

Langford, alive and well at this time, also noted the games Dempsey was playing with Wills as stated he could come to no conclusion other than Dempsey being a bit afraid of Wills. I think he was more afraid of a possible loss to Wills.

Quotes made by Estelle Taylor,if correct ,do indeed indicate she was a racist,but private quotes are often rather different to publicly made ones.

[Willow The Wisp]

I have just one caveat here,your last paragraph is projecting a mindset on Brady,ie."reaching inside his head",which is precisely what you are objecting to in the post you are discussing.
You may believe your interpretation of his thinking is correct, but you cannot know it to be so!

Brady was Johnny on the spot with his social objectives and was on task. I have his 1916 book, which is a very interesting piece.

[Willow The Wisp]

Quotes made by Estelle Taylor,if correct ,do indeed indicate she was a racist,but private quotes are often rather different to publicly made ones.

I would venture that the thinking was most typical of white people during the 20s. It's taken for granted, thankfully, today, that no one race is superior to another.
Slowly, we seem to be getting there as a world community seeing the wisdom of living harmoniously. Do we get there before the self inflicted extinction event? Stay tuned.

[Willow The Wisp]

17520809272297109536180061252678.jpgOh, what could have been!

[Bronson66]

I would venture that the thinking was most typical of white people during the 20s. It's taken for granted, thankfully, today, that no one race is superior to another.
Slowly, we seem to be getting there as a world community seeing the wisdom of living harmoniously. Do we get there before the self inflicted extinction event? Stay tuned.

We have come a long way ,with still some distance to go, but I am hopeful.

[Bronson66]

Brady was Johnny on the spot with his social objectives and was on task. I have his 1916 book, which is a very interesting piece.

Very smart man.What is his book called? I will look out for it.

[Willow The Wisp]

Very smart man.What is his book called? I will look out for it.

The Fighting Man 1916 William A. Brady A Boxing & American Theater Memoir

[Bronson66]

The Fighting Man 1916 William A. Brady A Boxing & American Theater Memoir

Thanks Mate!

[QueensburyRules]

I think us real fight fans all want to see the best fight the best period.

Rickard initially wanted to stage the rematch between Johnson and Jeffries but Jeffries wasn't with it. His team also seemed down with a Wills / Dempsey fight in Montreal, but Dempsey claimed he couldn't get in shape in time. At some point after that he switched up and claimed he was afraid of riots. I'm just not buying it.

- - As a reminder for our untutored posters, the very wealthy Opera producer in Boston Harry Frazee and owner of the Boston Red Sox offered a Jack who had beat Willard and Harry fight in the Red Sox Stadium for the largest purse in boxing history, and both teams agreed, but Boston Politicos killed it.

The next year with his financial buddy, the equally wealthy Jacob Ruppert who owned the NY Yankees and had just built the new Yankee Stadium, they offered an even bigger purse in their new stadium that both agreed to, but NY politicos killed it. After that their was no $$$ in the fight because it was impossible as it played out because who wants to waste $$$ on an impossible fight?

Why the usual idjit ninnyboys who love to do dumpbys on forums.

Of course, the moon landing was faked, recent presidential elections stolen, and there were weapons of destruction in Iraq and so on forevermore little BBs rattle in Brittle Noggins...forevermore...