The Washington times., 1922-01-22

And 20 the argument rattles on.
This writer Is firmly convinced that
Dempsey could have taken every man
mentioned. one each week and
Knocked him out. There never was a
heavyweight quite like this thunder
ing boy for the simple reason that
none OF the big Champions Of other
years was made up OF such an amax-
ing combination OF fighting assets.
sullivan had the punch but not the
speed and .clevernees of Corbett. Cor
bett had the speed but not the punch
OF Fitzsimmons. Jeffries had STAN.
ina. physique, ability to take II and
keep coming. johnson had defensive
cleverness, was an uncanny timer"
but lacked the punch of either Sulli-
van or FftzsimmoDs. From Sullivan
on not one Of these champions com
bined all the great assets of the
champions before or after him.
Dempsey the Greatest.
And that's just where Dempsey
looms up as the greatest heavyweight
that ever lived. He has all of the
great assets of the heavyweight
greats. He has the punch of Sullivan,
the speed of Corbett and. too, speed
that Is offensive and not the hit-and-
run kind that was Corbett's. Demp-
sey Is a better puncher than Fitz was,
harder, faster and a more finished
puncher than the freckled one. JEFF
fries was too slow TO have COPIED with
Dempsey. He couldn't stop little Joe
Choynsli I'm twenty rounds. Nor
gone twenty rounds with Jeffries the
best day jeff ever saw. AS for John
son. his defense. marvellous as II was
against a long line of thir6-raters.
would have been punctured as surely
as IL the great black had been wearing
= coat Of mail fashioned out OF
saltines. Dempsey has Jeffs
strength, and in his own peculiar
fashion has, when he needs 1t. much
Of Johnson's ability to buffer blows.
IL is silly to compare the men from
defensive standpoint. for the simple
reason that Dempsey, because Of his.
killing aggressiveness, does not need
to rely on defense. He manages to
keep the other fellow worrying about
that.
Willard was great defensive fight
er. Few men ever reached him with
punches and no man ever knocked
him down until Dempsey dumped him
seven times in the first round at To-
iedo. Jess boosted that no man ever
lived that could floor him with a
punch. SO sure was he that his guard
could not be penetrated.
Would Put Up Fight.
''At his very best Sullivan would
ave given Dempsey q hard fight, but
dempsey would have knocked him
nut. 1t would have been a short and
sweet fight, I'll tell you that, but
Dempsey would have beaten Sullivan
to the right cross. 1t might have
e..
or the fourth, but the minute that
sullivan tried his, Dempsey would
have beaten him to IT,"
McAuliffe has predicted victories
with surprising exactness before this.
Before Jeffries and Johnson fought
one year previous, to be exact-this
writer asked McAuliffe for his opin-
ion. He almost hit the nail on the
head. Said McAuliffe:
'.Jeffries viii suddenly find. after
his long absence from the ring, that
his range Is all off. that his Judgment
Of distance has failed him. Then he
win become mark for johnson. and
the black win knock him, out in six.
teen rounds"
Just that happened, except that
Jeffries was knocked out in fourteen
rounds. II is this writer's opinion
that Sullivan came at a time when
heavyweights were a downright in
ferior lot. The tip-off on Sullivan,s
real ability came with his thirty
round bout with little Charley Mitch
ell In France. A middleweight and
he was whipping Sullivan when the
bout was called off.
Is there middleweight in the world
who could go more than three rounds
with Dempsey at the very best? FOLDS
often say that Ketchel could have
whipped Dempsey. AS much as we
admired Ketchel. we're willing to ad-
nit that no 152-pound man was ever
able to whip Jack Dempsey, with his
200 pounds Of steel-like fighting flesh.
Impossible, no matter how great a
fighter Ketchel was. Might just as
well have expected George Dixon or
Terry McGovern to do 1t.
Styles and methods have changed
since Sulliyan's good days. The old
time stiff, stand up stance would have
been the finest target in the world for
Dempsey. Any man who assumed
those picture gallery fighting poses
would have been knocked cockeyed
In punch. Sullivan fell a victim Of
the very first innovation Of his boxing
time, the Jim Corbett style of hit and
get away. Dempsey is the very es-
sence Of all that has been great In
the ring. Perhaps sullivan had
lived in this day and been brought
up in the present school he would
have been Just as formidable as
Dempsey, but we doubt it. Dempsey
is ONE in a CENTURY, Sullivan the
picturesque lord of an unforgivably
bad lot.
Had Great Reputation.
But back TO Sullivan. In the first
place, John l.. was three-quarters
reputation and one ability. Sulli-
vans name rang around the world
like some great bugaboo. Strong
men trembled at the very mention
OF him, simply because he went
about the country knocking over big
fat, helpless dubs, totally unschooled
in the art OF self defense. Sullivan
completed one tour with a record of
having knocked out eighty men in a
row. That record wasn't an form
dable as II sounds. He was Offering
81 900 to any man who stood before
him for four rounds. A lot of small
town devil-may -cares tried TO win that
money, but after sampling a few jolts
on the chops decided that Sullivan
was all that runners had him. And
=. A. n n