How Tunney Conquered Dempsey

This is a modified firsthand account by Tunney himself on his fights with Dempsey and how he won the heavyweight crown in 1926.

Tunneys preparation for the ultimate prize in boxing began long before 1926. It began in 1919. At this time Jess Willard was soon to face the upcoming Dempsey in what would be one of the most one sided beatings in heavyweight championship history. Tunney, on the other hand was a young marine and boxer in waiting stationed in France. As an amateur boxer he was stationed there to provide boxing exhibitions for bored enlisted men awaiting return home, and being an accomplished amateur he harboured ambitions of a career in the ring upon leaving the army. Amongst the stationed men and boxers was a Corporal who had been a journalist with specific interest in boxing prior to the war. The upcoming Willard/Dempsey bout was much talked about and naturally Tunney discussed boxing with this Corporal at length.

Dempsey was not widely known at the time, although his reputation was growing. Tunney asked the Corporal whether he had known about Dempsey and what his chances against Willard were. The Corporal had seen Dempsey box and his reply was telling - "he will murder Willard. Dempsey is a big Jack Dillon". Dillon is a boxer that has largely been forgotten about now but the comparison would have meant alot in Tunneys time as Dillon was a fearsome swarmer who had enjoyed great success in the 1910s. Tunneys response was to affirm that Dillon had been beaten by Mike Gibbons which the Corporal duely confirmed saying that Gibbons was just too fast and too slick for Dillon to catch. Mike Gibbons was considered by many to be the premier technician of his time. In an era which produced many brawlers, Gibbons defensive skills and technique set him apart from many and it was on Gibbons that Tunney had began modeling his own style. Tunney enquired that if Dillon could be bested by Gibbons, then was it not possible that Dempsey could be beaten by a slick, clever fighter. The Corporal digested this before concluding that if Dempsey was to be beaten, it was going to be a quick and defensively skilled fighter that would do it. From this point on Tunney began to mould himself into a "big" Mike Gibbons in order to beat the "big" Jack Dillon.

Tunneys first encounter firsthand of Demspey was the 1921 Dempsey/Carpentier bout, in which Tunney fought on the undercard. Tunney was unimpressive and in his own words won only because his opponent was terrible, selected for his name "Soldier" Jones in a military themed card rather than his boxing ability. Few would have noticed Tunney nevermind earmarked him for future greatness. The Demspey/Carpentier bout was largely a mismatch in favour of Dempsey. However Tunney saw weaknesses to be exploited. He noted Dempseys best punch was the left hook, something he made sure to avoid when facing him. Tunney was unimpressed with Dempseys defence, seeing him especially as vulnerable to the straight right. Carpentiers fleeting success in the bout was via this punch which nailed Dempsey on a few occasions (Firpo would later knock Dempsey out of the ring with this same punch). Tunneys conclusion was that on top of defensive minded tactics, the straight right was also to be added to the tactical plan to beat Dempsey.

Further evidence gathered by Tunney came his way, ironically, via Dempseys fight with his prototype Mike Gibbons brother - Tommy Gibbons. Dempsey won the fight, but was made look clumsey at times by Gibbons and failed to really land many significant strikes on the smaller man who was similar in style to his brother Mike. Nowadays Dempseys win over Gibbons is considered arguably his best in terms of the calibre of the opponent beaten, but in those days this was seen as a really bad day at the office for the ferocious Dempsey who was expected to knock out the smaller and lighter Tommy convicingly. Tunneys confidence in his style and plan grew, and by this stage he was gaining invaluable experience by beating many of the top light heavies of the day aswell engaging in a brutal series of fights with Harry Greb. Tunney noted that his progress as a fighter could be reflected over his series with Greb. The first fight beginning with Tunney receiving the beating of his life at the hands of Greb. The final fight in the series being a near complete reversal as Greb was the victim.

After a series of fine wins, Tunney was eventually in position for a shot. Not many gave him a hope. However Tunney had been preparing diligentally for years. He had problems with fragile hands, so to combat this he supplemented his training with working as a lumberjack logging. Whether there some kind of placebo, or whether the logging worked Tunney began to enjoy increased power and confidence in his own fists. He had gathered a reputation as a feather fisted fighter and believed this would work to his advantage against Dempsey who would not respect his power (and perhaps be unaware of its increase). Too add to events surrounding Tunneys preparation, a journalist (Brian Bell) discovered his habit of reading the likes of Shakespeare, Butler and Shaw which Tunney said helped him escape the tension and monotany of training camp. The story was printed and Tunneys chances fell even further as the public could not comprehend a fighter who enjoyed literature whilst preparing for the unstoppable Dempsey. Tunneys was accused as not being a real fighter and lacking killer instinct (the latter of which Tunney concurred with). All of this made Tunney somewhat resentful, especially in a fight world where he percieved brawn was valued over brain and most people didnt appreciate a great technician. He felt the public failed to appreciate the wins he had already acheived (which was true - he had knocked out Gibbons where Dempsey had failed for instance). What kept him going was his unwavering belief in the logic of his plan and his own ability to carry it out. He had been preparing for this fight for years now and been scientifically studying his opponent and working on his own game.

When the fight came around in 1926 in Philadelphia, Tunney surmises that it had gone so according to plan as to be unexciting for him. Early on he had sprung his surprise punch - a straight right hand thrown with as much power as Tunney could muster and the hardest single blow he had ever delivered. The result was it staggered and dazed Dempsey but failed to put him down. Tunney was impressed at Dempseys toighness. From then on Tunney just concentrated on boxing and moving. There was light drizzle during fight, which Tunney felt aided him overall as he had the better footwork than Dempsey who needed to plant his feet to land his power shots. Tunney was able to avoid them and boxed Dempsey to a relatively comfortble victory and a huge upset.

The second meeting, in Chicago, 1927 was much less straightforward. It became known as the long count fight. The fight had began where it had ended in the first encounter for the most part. Tunney methodically outboxing Dempsey. Then, in the 7th, Dempsey landed a big left hook which stunned Tunney. He followed this up with a barrage which sent Tunney to the floor. The rules at the time indicated that the count would only begin when the fighter had moved to the neutral corner. Dempsey in his eagerness was slow to do this and as a result the count started late with Tunney being afforded an extra 4 seconds approximately. Tunney never knew how he had been caught by Dempseys left hook (his best punch). He considered it embarrassing to be caught by such an obvious shot. One thing he considered was that he had suffered a thumb in the eye during sparring and that his eye may have developed a blind spot which would account for not being able to see the shot coming. But either way, it landed and he was on the canvas. Tunney said after momentarily being out of it he came to with the count at "two". He decided to take the full count before rising and in the meantime his thoughts immediately turned to how to survive. He knew he couldnt outgun Dempsey and even a surprise attack on the oncoming Dempsey was likely to fail. He thought about clinching, but that too was too dangerous against the physically stronger and ferocious Dempsey who smelt blood. His best course of action was to rely on the area where he held the biggest advantage over Dempsey - his legs. He knew Dempsey could not match him for footwork so he hoped his legs would feel ok when he got up and he would run until his head was fully cleared. He got up and his legs felt strong. Dempsey could not catch him and became frustrated visibly. But Tunney recovered and picked up where he left off, outboxing Dempsey for a second time.

The second fight remained controversial for the "long count" although on Tunneys account the controversy was largely misplaced as he would have beaten the count regardless, and in any event Dempsey was clearly infracting on the rules. Nevertheless the fight was much debated and a third installment was in demand. However by stage Dempsey had had enough. According to Tunney he had become very concerned with the punishment his eyes had taken in the two bouts and was fearful of going blind. He decided to call it a day, to Tunneys somewhat disappointment who also had ambitions of retiring and felt it would have been a great last payday in a fight he was extremelly confident of winning.

That was largely a summary of Tunneys own account of his own preparation, mindset and analysis of his fights with Dempsey. I thought it was interesting to see how far back Tunney had his sights set on Dempsey and how he was greatly inspired by the Mike Gibbons and Jack Dillon bout which he used as a prototype to topple Dempsey.

Nice one, Manos - great article. If you haven't read it, I can recommend Jack Kavanaugh's biography of Tunney. It's as much about Dempsey as it is about Tunney and builds brilliantly towards their fights.

great read manos

Brilliant article, Manos. Hats off to you.

Like you, it always amazed me just how early Tunney had Dempsey in his sights. It's odd that we now think of Light-Heavyweight as one of the great glamour divisions of boxing, but as I've said before, it's remarkable that, right up until the sixties, it was nearly always seen as little more than just a springboard to bigger and better things at Heavyweight. Just about every Light-Heavyweight champion up until that point either vacated the 175 lb crown to go after Heavyweight honours, or at least dipped their toes at the higher weight while they held the title.

Tunney, of course, was never given the chance to contest the Light-Heavyweight title, but once more this article highlights that, even though the majority of his best work came there, he really viewed Light-Heavyweight as a launch pad more than anything else.

Great analysis and write up anyway, mate. And as Superfly has said, Kavanaugh's biography of Tunney is excellent - a must for anyone who takes an interest in the Tunney / Dempsey rivalry but hasn't read it so far.

Great read. I'm not really a bxing historian in that I tend not to look at things before 1960 however this was a great read and has inspired me to do a little more reading into the greats I have yet to realise

Bloody brilliant artical Manos, perfect read of a morning cuppa. Thanks for posting!

Loved it. Its a blueprint for other potential greats to follow, the value of intelligence, experience and "boxing brain" has rarely been demonstrated so effectively.

Cheers Manos

ShahenshahG wrote:Loved it. Its a blueprint for other potential greats to follow, the value of intelligence, experience and "boxing brain" has rarely been demonstrated so effectively.

Cheers Manos

...well not since waingro left the board

great article manos