Dempsey/Tunney/etc. sucks

[ShawnTaylor]

Dempsey/Tunney and all of these "great white ATG boxers" from almost 100 years ago fought in a time where they were kept safe from the black boxers and didn't have to fight them, which they also refused to do when they had the chance (example: Jack Dempsey refused to fight Harry Wills, who would have humiliated him). When the black boxers finally got unleashed, these white legends "magically" stopped appearing for ages... So why are we still talking as if these lame, outdated, protected, pale poster boys actually belong on any ATG lists? They may have been great in "white-only boxing" generations ago, but today, they wouldn't have been worth shyt. It's pathetic how some people can't see the past for what it actually was and prefer to hype it up as some legendary era of legendary quality. It was a time of small, protected white fighters who wouldn't even be top 500 heavyweight boxers today, and that's the harsh truth, deal with it.

EDIT: No racism intended, I'm just sharing the truth. Read up on boxing history before going into defense mode. White boxers were protected from black boxers, the protection stopped, the black boxers took over in dominant style. That's just the way it happened.

[Thraxox]

Didn't Dempsey destroyed the guy that destroyed Jack Johnson?

And reported for racism.

[ShawnTaylor]

Didn't Dempsey destroyed the guy that destroyed Jack Johnson?

And reported for racism.

ABC logic doesn't work in boxing. The fact remains, Dempsey refused to fight Wills, as he knew he would get embarassed.

And I'm not racist, you know that I'm saying the truth. When black boxers finally were allowed to get at the white boxers, the time of "white legends" came to a sudden end and the "black era" began and lasted a looong time.

[W1LL]

Jack Johnson, the first African American to win the World Heavyweight title, also drew the colour line and refused to fight the leading Black contenders of his era. The irony...

[ShawnTaylor]

Jack Johnson, the first African American to win the World Heavyweight title, also drew the colour line and refused to fight the leading Black contenders of his era. The irony...

Maybe Johnson ducked the other brothers, maybe he didn't. But one thing is for sure... He spanked every "great" white boy that ever dared to step into the ring against him.

[W1LL]

I seem to recall there being a story that Dempsey and Johnson did indeed fight, in the early 20s in a "secret" fight. There were newspaper articles about it years later, and insider accounts but never any solid coverage. Going off what was said, Demspey won by 7th round KO, apparently. Johnson would have been in his early 40s, while Demspey was still in his prime.

[ShawnTaylor]

I seem to recall there being a story that Dempsey and Johnson did indeed fight, in the early 20s in a "secret" fight. There were newspaper articles about it years later, and insider accounts but never any solid coverage. Going off what was said, Demspey won by 7th round KO, apparently. Johnson would have been in his early 40s, while Demspey was still in his prime.

TBH, bro, I don't think such a "secret" fight is relevant to mention at all... It might as well have been a lie and it probably was.

[Marchegiano]

Dempsey/Tunney and all of these "great white ATG boxers" from almost 100 years ago fought in a time where they were kept safe from the black boxers and didn't have to fight them, which they also refused to do when they had the chance (example: Jack Dempsey refused to fight Harry Wills, who would have humiliated him). When the black boxers finally got unleashed, these white legends "magically" stopped appearing for ages... So why are we still talking as if these lame, outdated, protected, pale poster boys actually belong on any ATG lists? They may have been great in "white-only boxing" generations ago, but today, they wouldn't have been worth shyt. It's pathetic how some people can't see the past for what it actually was and prefer to hype it up as some legendary era of legendary quality. It was a time of small, protected white fighters who wouldn't even be top 500 heavyweight boxers today, and that's the harsh truth, deal with it.

EDIT: No racism intended, I'm just sharing the truth. Read up on boxing history before going into defense mode. White boxers were protected from black boxers, the protection stopped, the black boxers took over in dominant style. That's just the way it happened.

All eras prior to now are kinda....limited, in their fighter pools.

What I never understood is if the colorline is going to be upheld in the modern era, IE if we are going to continue to call Sullivan-Braddock champions despite their refusal to fight an entire race, their ducking, then why the **** do we not elevate the 'colored' title to equal?

Why is Sullivan seen as an undisputed despite Godfrey's dispute?

Why is Godfrey not seen as a champion?

Are we not, by listing Sullivan to Braddock as champions and making NO mention of (Old Choco) Godfrey to (Shadow) Godfrey as champion, uphold some old racist bull****?

I have and always will deny the racist narrative fed to us by CBZ and TBRB. George Godfrey was a great champion. Wills was great, hell even scalping Morris Grant and Frank Childs deserve recognition. CC Smith was dangerous as ****.


What's sad is you can't hardly get fans into backing the old blacks. They look at the records, see the losses and say they were bad at boxing. No son, they were black at boxing They were just black men in an era when black men were not allowed to win too much. Period, they were great fighters who got screwed over a lot.

[W1LL]

To be fair to Jack Dempsey, he was remembered more for ushering in a short, brutal style of Boxing, more than anything. He wasn't an active, long-reigning champion. But before him, fights had gone 20, 30, 40 rounds with "newspaper decisions" common. Dempsey came along and was bludgeoning people in the early rounds, fight after fight. Once he got the title his promoters used his status to try to make the biggest fights/shows possible, which led to him not being very active at all. Only 5 successful defences in over 4 years, and then his next fight was another 3 years later, when he lost the title to Gene Tunney. So his run lasted 7 years, with 5 defences and 1 loss. Not great on paper.

For a bit of clarity:

• Jack Dempsey had 69 fights, with 284 rounds total. That's an average of 4.1 rounds per fight.
• Jack Johnson had 78 fights, with 711 rounds total. An average of 9.1 rounds per fight.

[QueensburyRules]

Dempsey/Tunney and all of these "great white ATG boxers" from almost 100 years ago fought in a time where they were kept safe from the black boxers and didn't have to fight them, which they also refused to do when they had the chance (example: Jack Dempsey refused to fight Harry Wills, who would have humiliated him). When the black boxers finally got unleashed, these white legends "magically" stopped appearing for ages... So why are we still talking as if these lame, outdated, protected, pale poster boys actually belong on any ATG lists? They may have been great in "white-only boxing" generations ago, but today, they wouldn't have been worth shyt. It's pathetic how some people can't see the past for what it actually was and prefer to hype it up as some legendary era of legendary quality. It was a time of small, protected white fighters who wouldn't even be top 500 heavyweight boxers today, and that's the harsh truth, deal with it.

EDIT: No racism intended, I'm just sharing the truth. Read up on boxing history before going into defense mode. White boxers were protected from black boxers, the protection stopped, the black boxers took over in dominant style. That's just the way it happened.

- -U sucker?