How would dempsey do against todays Heavyweights?

[Rossman]

Size is one thing but todays heavies have questionable chins and struggle to go 12 rounds. Don't count out guys like Dempsey.

[ShoulderRoll]

Doubt it was quite the same product in the 20's though and Dempsey being the sportsman he was would never have entertained the idea anyway
He was quite compassionate really, and always the first to help a man back onto his feet

Do I detect sarcasm?

[mickey malone]

Do I detect sarcasm?

"Gentleman and a Gentle Man" are the words engraved on his tombstone

That in itself could be labelled as sarcasm in it's entirety
Personally I've never believed any of the loaded wrap stories

Willard simply got a good hiding
And in later years when his farm business failed it was Dempsey who bailed him out
Remorseless prize fighter but if he could help anyone he would
Firpo, Carpentier, Brennan, and Sharkey were all hauled off the canvas & assisted to their corners
Just one of his many traits copied off to a tee by Mike Tyson over the years

[Dempsey-Louis]

"Gentleman and a Gentle Man" are the words engraved on his tombstone

That in itself could be labelled as sarcasm in it's entirety
Personally I've never believed any of the loaded wrap stories

Willard simply got a good hiding
And in later years when his farm business failed it was Dempsey who bailed him out
Remorseless prize fighter but if he could help anyone he would
Firpo, Carpentier, Brennan, and Sharkey were all hauled off the canvas & assisted to their corners
Just one of his many traits copied off to a tee by Mike Tyson over the years

There is a story: years later when Willard was down on his luck Dempsey gave him a gig as a sales rep for his new whiskey, Jack Dempsey's Blended Whiskey, later when Willard was in a Broadway bar, with more than a few sports writers around Willard bellied up to the bar and asked the bartender for a drink, the bartender thinking he could be helpful asked in a loud voice 'Will that be some Jack Dempsey Whiskey?' Willard in just as a loud voice barked back, "Not that crap, give me the good stuff." It made the papers and Dempsey had no choice but to sack him.

[GhostofDempsey]

Two-ton Tony Galento who once knocked down Louis before being stopped by him use to pester Dempsey to manage him. Finally, Dempsey who was long retired and not in fighting condition stepped into the ring to give Galento a boxing lesson. After out-boxing him, Dempsey floored him with a left hook. "There Tony, said Dempsey to the fallen Galento, that's how you hit. Now go get yourself a new manager."

[Dempsey-Louis]

- OK I got one more . . . Dempsey is refereeing a bout; after a round where one fighter landed several low blows the other fighter's second complained to Dempsey "You're letting him hit my guy low, do something." - Incredulously Dempsey replied, "Tell your guy to hit him low back." - It wasn't that Dempsey was crooked, he just understood the game differently; Dempsey was not a great ref.

[The Old LefHook]

Perhaps too much is being made of tape that hardens. Any tape you wind tightly will form a hard mass, there is not exactly a need to further harden the mass, for it is already more destructive than a fair wrap if it is simply thicker and slightly heavier. This constitutes a loaded glove. Dempsey could have used any tape to gain an advantage. Tape that hardened would have provided even more advantage.

It does sound like perhaps many trainers were gift wrapping their fighters' punches. If Dempsey's consciousness was different enough from ours to simply tell a complaining corner man in a fight he was refereeing to have his boy punch the other guy back in the nuts, then maybe his consciousness was also different enough to load his gloves and feel okay about it and about himself as a sportsman and a gentleman. Warrior that he was, Jack might have felt that damned near anything was fair in love and war, but also have been smart enough to understand that you could never admit the direct truth about some things to romantics in general, including most sports fans.

But the point remains: tape does not need to harden to become super destructive once it is tightly wound in too many wraps.

[The Old LefHook]

Let's have Corso come on and give a precise lesson in wrapping the hands of a boxer first. For instance, I want to know:

1 What is the main material used? Is it that stuff like medical gauze, then a little tape to hold it on?

2 About how many wraps directly over the knuckles?

[Dempsey-Louis]

Perhaps too much is being made of tape that hardens. Any tape you wind tightly will form a hard mass, there is not exactly a need to further harden the mass, for it is already more destructive than a fair wrap if it is simply thicker and slightly heavier. This constitutes a loaded glove. Dempsey could have used any tape to gain an advantage. Tape that hardened would have provided even more advantage.

It does sound like perhaps many trainers were gift wrapping their fighters' punches. If Dempsey's consciousness was different enough from ours to simply tell a complaining corner man in a fight he was refereeing to have his boy punch the other guy back in the nuts, then maybe his consciousness was also different enough to load his gloves and feel okay about it and about himself as a sportsman and a gentleman. Warrior that he was, Jack might have felt that damned near anything was fair in love and war, but also have been smart enough to understand that you could never admit the direct truth about some things to romantics in general, including most sports fans.

But the point remains: tape does not need to harden to become super destructive once it is tightly wound in too many wraps.

Interesting point regarding Dempsey's attitude towards the game. He was held by his contemporaries as a 'dirty fighter' both for not giving proper opportunity for a downed fighter to rise and for low blows. One could argue they 'created' the neutral corner rule because of Dempsey, because he refused to to do what all his predecessors had done before him, given the opponent a fair chance to rise.

I agree, why we choose to believe he would draw the line at loaded gloves is arbitrary.

Do you, or anyone know the rule regarding how many strands of tape are allowed across the knuckle? I believe it is four but I am not sure. I think it is wrong that they allow fighters today to use as much tape as they do in support of their wrists. I believe there is no limit on how much is used so long as it does not cross the knuckles. They create what is almost a cast. All that tape has to add impact to a punch just from its sheer weight alone.

[Anthony342]

Why do they even still use tape? Someone should just invent a glove made from the same materials that opens and closes down the middle, so the fighter can open it if someone wishes to inspect the inside in order to make sure nothing illegal is placed in there.