Did Jack Johnson fight Jack Dempsey?

[joeandthebums]

[Last image]

However once again at the bottom of that piece it is stated that the piece was a piece of fiction.

[joeandthebums]

For those that may be interested, here are the other contests Pearson wrote about, winner in brackets:

Dec 25th, Bob Fitzsimmons vs. Georges Carpentier (Fitzsimmons)
Jan 1st, Jimmy Barry vs. Jimmy Buff (Barry)
Jan 8th, Terry McGovern vs. Johnny Kilbane (McGovern)
Jan 15th, Jack Dempsey vs. Bob Fitzsimmons (Dempsey)
Jan 22nd, Kid McCoy vs. Tommy Gibbons (McCoy)
Feb 5th, Jack Dempsey vs. Jim Jeffries (Dempsey)
Feb 12th, Tommy Ryan vs. Mike Gibbons (Tie)
Feb 19th, Joe Walcott vs. Jack Britton (Walcott)
Feb 26th, Jimmy Wilde vs. Jimmy Barry (Wilde)

[James09]

Johnson would have been about 50 if they fought.

[The Old LefHook]

It was a fantasy matchup. There would have been incredible leakage if this fight had actually taken place. Joe's post shows that the same author was writing about other mythical matchups at that time. Case closed, really.

I am interested. Mythical matchups are always very interesting to me. But I cannot take it seriously. After such a fight, substantial rumors would have circulated. I feel that it would have come out in some fashion more believable than this. Many people write autobiographies. There should be a lot of supporting evidence. Personal letters should have been found among the belongings of deceased observers and participants in the affair. Not everyone was in love with Dempsety or felt they owed him something.

Furthermore, there is no good reason for Dempsey to have kept the secret until the last day of his life. Dempsey died in 1983. No one was coming after him or any of his property for something that happened 62 years earlier. Anyone would have realized this, including Dempsey. There would have been many private friends Jack divulged the truth to. After his death, why would they lie?

[billeau2]

This has been a pretty thorough debunking. Can anyone address the point where Eskrin asks Dempsey about the fight and seems to indicate Dempsey saying the fight happened? There is a lot of Hoophula about why the fight could have happened...I don't think much of this lol...there are a lot of reasons why Charles Mansen could have been a choir boy!

The one thing that is still curious to me is why Eskrin seems to maintain the fight was a possability while knowing that the newspaper accounts were what they were. I don't think the fight happened at this point, the newspaper articles seem to point in that direction...Just curious about why Eskrin didn't just turn around and say likewise, was the guy an attention whore?

Very good work on the news clippings Joe!

[billeau2]

It was a fantasy matchup. There would have been incredible leakage if this fight had actually taken place. Joe's post shows that the same author was writing about other mythical matchups at that time. Case closed, really.

I am interested. Mythical matchups are always very interesting to me. But I cannot take it seriously. After such a fight, substantial rumors would have circulated. I feel that it would have come out in some fashion more believable than this. Many people write autobiographies. There should be a lot of supporting evidence. Personal letters should have been found among the belongings of deceased observers and participants in the affair. Not everyone was in love with Dempsety or felt they owed him something.

Furthermore, there is no good reason for Dempsey to have kept the secret until the last day of his life. Dempsey died in 1983. No one was coming after him or any of his property for something that happened 62 years earlier. Anyone would have realized this, including Dempsey. There would have been many private friends Jack divulged the truth to. After his death, why would they lie?

Maybe Jack was pulling Eskrin's leg. That would make a lot of sense actually.

[The Old LefHook]

Maybe Jack was pulling Eskrin's leg. That would make a lot of sense actually.

Maybe Jack didn't want to burst the old civilian's fantasy bubble.

Lil' Arthur lived until 1946. It was impossible to cow Johnson. I feel he would have spoken of it, since it shows him so favorably, an old man almost knocking out the great Dempsey in his prime. Johnson gave a lot of one man shows aty fairs et al. I would love to know his full scripts. Mention of it, if there was any, might have been arbitrary and spontaneous, rather than written into his scripts, however.

I think prime Dempsey would have murdered elderly Johnson in short order. This account reminds me of how the white version of a mythical prime on prime bout of the time might go.

[PitbullParsons]

Johnson was black and Dempsey didn't fight black fighters after 1916 due to his promoter so...yeah, that's an easy one. If you have read any of Jack's books he would have mentioned fighting Johnson which he never did.

[billeau2]

Maybe Jack didn't want to burst the old civilian's fantasy bubble.

Lil' Arthur lived until 1946. It was impossible to cow Johnson. I feel he would have spoken of it, since it shows him so favorably, an old man almost knocking out the great Dempsey in his prime. Johnson gave a lot of one man shows aty fairs et al. I would love to know his full scripts. Mention of it, if there was any, might have been arbitrary and spontaneous, rather than written into his scripts, however.

I think prime Dempsey would have murdered elderly Johnson in short order. This account reminds me of how the white version of a mythical prime on prime bout of the time might go.

Lol I noticed that as well. Great minds being in the same gutter? Johnson, as I can piece it, was sort of shunned by boxing.

[HughJass]

Thanks for the input guys.