Jack Dempsey's reign as heavyweight champ coincided with the appearance of both sanctioning bodies and mob influence in boxing. Watch to find out how the greatest champion of his day dealt with the reigning boss of bosses.
For more info regarding Jack Dempsey, pick up these books: A Flame of Pure Fire: Jack Dempsey & the Roaring ’2Os by Roger Kahn Jack Dempsey: The Manassa Mauler by Randy Roberts
Jack Dempsey was a great heavy weight boxer , and an honorable man . The anecdote in this video confirms that . I grew up in Brooklyn , New York , and a couple of times when in Manhattan , my family and I would have dinner at Jack Dempsey's restaurant on Broadway , which was a landmark . We saw him in there on one occasion , and he approached our table and was very attentive , making sure that everything was to our liking . I was only ten years old at the time , and Mr. Jack Dempsey was , in the eyes of my family a really nice gentleman , and he seemed genuinely interested in us , and that we were enjoying ourselves . I will remember Mr. Jack Dempsey fondly for the rest of my life .
@@anonymousf454 Dempsey said no. "Doc" Kearns, his manager, said yes. Dempsey at age 19 was broke, and his wife Maxine had already worked in the "trade"; so, maybe the story is true.
@@ET-RAMBLINGS Its been a long time since I read about it, but if I recall it said he used to break in the new ones...lol....idk man, seems plausible, seeing how he came from such a rough and tumble background. Did he and Kearns have a falling out or something?
When I was twelve or thirteen I read a biography of Jack Dempsey. A lot of it was about surviving being poor and fighting in hobo camps and stuff like that. He also talked about being a Jack Mormon a lot which is a Mormon who left the church. It was a really interesting read. One of the greatest boxers of all time
Brennan was winning on points in his fight against Dempsey. Dempsey's legs were weak during this fight from taking in all the sites of the town at night with his brunette. In the later rounds Jack Kearns had to yell profanities at Dempsey to get him riled up. Dempsey always fought his best when angry. This did the trick which led to Dempsey getting the knockout and winning the fight.
Your right, Brennan was indeed leading on points, not only that, but Dempsey 's ear was hanging on a thread, and he knew a knockout soon after that was his only way to win, between the points lead and stoppage due to his ear injury
@@vijayvijay4123 he must have, he claimed in his autobiography Jack Demsey, by the man himself, that was the case, Dempsey fought Brennan twice, I believe this happened during there second fight, he had to rally also, Demsey was behind on points
Al Capone funded "soup kitchens" all over Chicago during the Great Depression, even after he went to prison. When he was asked by Frank Nitti if Capone wanted to close down the soup kitchens after he went to prison, he said no. I know this because my dad, who was born in 1928, in Little Italy in Chicago, in dire poverty, just he and his mother, and with no father at home, ate in these soup kitchens on a regular basis, as did many people during the depression. If you can find an elderly black American today in Chicago who remembers, they will tell you straight out that, Al Capone saved them from starvation. His soup kitchens were all over the city of Chicago and many people had nowhere else to get food to eat. Oddly enough, the wealthy elites in Chicago who used the IRS to bring down Capone, did not care to spend their money to feed anyone during the depression as Capone did, as far as I know. Another myth I'd like to dispel is that Elliot Ness did nothing that hindered Capone. Ness was a lush who drank every day of his life during the prohibition and had to buy his booze illegally just like everyone else did. The book about Ness and the "Untouchables" was complete fiction. Lies that Ness told an author who Ness met in a bar in Cleveland where Ness went to drink everyday while "working" as the head of Cleveland's detectives.
Interesting to learn of Dempsey's integrity. A lot of historians when speaking of him emphasize his brutal fighting style but don't bring out the fact that he was a really decent guy underneath that.
I once met a man that told me that no one could ever say anything bad about Al Capone around his Grandmother. It turns out that she was from Chicago and that if it hadn't been for food given to her family by Capone when she was a little girl that they would have starved.
When my step father was a kid living in Chicago one day he missed school and was on a pier when he saw a really nice car drive up and stop about a hundred yards from him. Two guys got out opened the trunk and took out what looked like a huge carpet with something rapped in it (like a body) and they dumped it in the ocean. One of the men then walked up to him and threw him a coin and said “You didn’t see anything did you kid”. And he said no and they left. That coin bought him a lot of goodies that day. The next day during breakfast his father was reading the paper and on the front page he recognized the man who threw him the coin and the heading read”Al Capone arrested for tax evasions.
My family is from Chicago since 1872. Do not mythologize Capone. The St Valentines Day massacre did him in. My family were blue collar not elite and they were glad to see Capone go down. He like the drug cartels who feed the poor in Mexico did this to gain acceptance with the population. Nice , but you can’t have a safe city with rampant murders. Capone was a murderer. As a kid I used to ride my bike into the cartage company wher the massacre took place at Clark and Dickens. The bullet holes were still in the wall. They chased us out😄. The building was torn down in the late 60’s and is now a senior citizens apartment building Mythologizing Capone is no different than mythologizing the drug cartels. Neither belong in a civilized society.
@@jaysonb.6669 uhhh, he extorted from everyone. My family had a tavern. They killed your or took over your business if you did give them money and buy beer from them. They held a guy to my uncles head. They killed his friend who would not comply. Do you know anything about the Chicago Outfit?
@@Thelategreatjohnnybratton I know about relatives from Canada who sold whiskey shipments to Capone and only met him a few times but said he was a fair, jolly guy. The Jewish gangs from Detroit (before the mob took over) were ruthless and regularly ripped off/murdered suppliers.
@@jaysonb.6669 and Capone was a murderer thug. You believe what you want. My family and thousands of others suffered under Capone End of discussion for me.
The day Al Capone was arrested in 1931, he had planned to meet Max Schmeling on a private party of his. Schmeling met Augi Scalfaro there instead and Augi asked Max if he would win his next fight and then placed a wager on Max for his upcoming world heavyweight title defence against Young Stribling. After Max had kayoed Stribling the Champ received a small package from Augi with a very valuable wrist watch in it....
The guy Max met, Augi Scalfaro, was a good friend of "Joe the Boss" Masseria. Max also met Masseria on that party in Miami, who was killed only weeks later.
Jack Dempsey's parents were from Logan County, WV. They were Mormons who traveled West, which is why he was born in Colorado. His family returned to WV, where he was raised in Logan County.
The narrator is right. Big Bill Thompson was the mayor of Chicago and he let Capone do his thing. Thompson was a Republican and the last Republican mayor Chicago ever had. He was defeated by Pushcart Tony in 1931. Another thing, Capone being a blue collar guy from New York, he wouldn't have liked high society Tunney from Manhattan.
@@ET-RAMBLINGSJohnson and Jack had nothing to do with eachother. He dodged Langford not cuz he was black but because he knew he would flatten him. He also dodged Harry Greb who was white and on Top of that was gonna fight wills(top contending black heavyweight at the time for the title) but it never came to be, there's photo evidence of him signing a contract for it. Jack was hardly a racist
@@capoislamort100 Johnson, under extreme pressures, had to find $$ where he could. More was available when taking on, say, a Fireman Jim Flynn than a far more dangerous Sam Langford (who already lost a decision to Jack).
This video is about Capone and Dempsey. These days, I see a subject listed, click on it, and find out the video is about the presenter rather than the subject of interest. They plaster their face right in front of what you are trying to view, and talk over the audio. Then, they have the nerve to ask for financial support, and like and subscribe and whatnot. THIS guy didn't do any of that. Videos like this are rare. And in this medium, this was well-done. Yeah, I like steak too.
I had an very elderly Irish boxer neighbour Who claimed to have fought : Jack Dempsey. I think he was credible Dempsey had many hundreds of fights. That would make modern day bare Knuckle look tame.
My grandfather was a neighbour of Dempsey’s in Manassa. They would spend a little time together now and then. Gramps said he was a great guy with no airs or graces. He gave my gramps one solid piece of advice though. Wear moleskin pants, he said, and you’ll be ready for anything. I took that piece of advice myself and I’ve never looked back. I do believe they protected me from the worst of Covid, and I owe it all to Jack Dempsey.
Dempsey and Schmeling had v e r y similar looks facewise. Media back then often commented on that. I know that from Schmeling`s bigraphy. So my guess is if someone has a face like that better be very respectful with him. Ahem always be anyway towards anyone :)
Dempsey second wife was asked by a reporter what he was like around the house reportedly said. Jack has a bear skin rug in the den...the bear isn't dead just afraid to move
Great movie. Seen it many times..The chemistry between Bronson's character Chaney and the James Coburn character ' Speed ' was just terrific. Great supporting role by Strother Martin also.
My dad was a hard hitting minor league ball player from 1945 to 1960 he got on the wrong side of Branch Rickey but anyway his first mgr was Charley Root the pitcher who served up Babe Ruths called shot he was the mgr of the Hollywood Stars when my dad broke in all the youmger players asked him about that of course he replied l would have knocked him on his ass if he had done that ok but he told them another story before that series Root was walking down state st when a long black limo pulled up and parked im front of him then 2 guys in trench coats came up behind him stuck guns in his side and ordered him into the car when he got in Al Capone was there he wanted to talk about baseball he was a fan
Capone gave the pepole what they wanted , and fed the Hungary . John Gottie sr gave the peole want they wanted and Helped feed the Hungary . Never said the good they did .
Dempsey was good friends with Nick Dandalos aka Nick the Greek and Charlie Fischetti who was Capone's cousin. Mamie Van Doren's blog is a great source, she was briefly engaged to Dempsey
Bro I just Read about it lol. The guy caught Dempsey having an affair with Clara. She was with that guy at the time. The guy apologized to Dempsey after threatening to ko him lol. Dempsey took his wife
Chicago, after the Great Fire, developed into the first modern city, complete with "skyscraper" buildings plus the world's most advanced commercial infrastructure. That should be Chicago's legacy; unfortunately, it isn't in 2023.
Dempsey like a good number of people from that era loaded their gloves when there was felt a need and opportunity to use it. Alot will say the accusations was sour grapes by Kearns but I saw either a interview or a piece about one of Dempseys former hand wrappers who talked about that. It was a lost art it wasn't plaster of Paris. The guy said the mixture would dry just harden about the time the fight started. To me the way Dempsey holds his gloves in that Willard fight looks weighted. If you believe the accounts of the damage done to Willard it would point to something akin to brass knuckles. Willard until his death maintained that Dempseys gloves were loaded. Dempsey hit hard enough without help. This was for all the marbles and a time this loading would be deployed.
To give you an Idea how tough Mr. Dempsey was, The USA ARMY 🪖 asked him to update their hand 2 hand combat system. T Urns out Mr Dempsey was a well rounded fighter, training in grappling. (🥋 Judo I think)
