BOXING

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 54, 27 November 1926, Page 5

BOXING

HOW TUNNEY BEAT DEMPSEY

PROFESSIONALS IMPROVING

(By "Punch.”)

Hairy Casey and Dick Elmour are to meet at Taumarunui on December 12.

Mr. G. P. Aldridge, secretary of the Now Zealand Boxing Association, was in Christchurch last week (writes "Cestus” in the “Star.”). I understand ho has been deputed by the council to tour the Dominion, and while I am unacquainted with the object of the tour, I am perfectly satisfied it is not for the purpose of advancing the interests of the New Zealand Amateur Boxing Association.

Germany has made great progress in boxing during the last two or three years, but no German boxers have competed in England, owing to the ban imposed against German athletes in all classes of sport. A recent cablegram announces that the Home Office has now consented to German boxers appearing in Great Britain. A later cablegram from Paris reports that France also has lifted the ban. A few days ago, for the first time since the war, German boxers competed in Paris. Five bouts were contested, the Frenchmen winning four of them.

The official receipts from the Demp-sey-Tunney championship bout were 1,895.733 dollars. The Sesquicentennial profits 170.000 dollars. The State’s portion is 86.150 dollars, and the ‘ Federal Government takes a tax of 172,339.40 dollars. It was estimated the promoter would have a profit of about 500,000 dollars. The total paid admissions were 118,736. In addition, 25,732 were admitted on passes, which made the total attendance 144,468. The paid admissions were distributed as follow: 27.50 dollar tickets, 28.903 ; 22 dollar, 12,805; 16.50 dollars, 23.014; 11 dollars, 19.589: 7.70 dollars, 15,747; 5.50 dollars, 18,678. Dempsey’s end of the receipts amounted to approximately 700.000 dollars and Tunner’s to about 200.000 dollars. Georges Carpentier, who has gradually descended in the boxing scale since his defeat by .Tack Dempsey, has at last decided to retire and devote all his attention to the films (says London “Sporting Life”). I.ike his former, rival, Carpentier has decided to repair the damage caused his once classic features by a. visit to a beauty doctor. Carpentier is another example of a once champion boxer finding his powers of _ resistance to heavy punishmen lessened in succeeding bouts. After his hammering by Dempsey, he was but a shadow of his former .brilliant self, and never a?ain showed that wonderful vitality and speed bo once possessed. How Tunney Beat Dempsey.

Summing np the Tunney-Dempsey contest for the world’s heavy-weight championsliip, Thomas S. Rice, the wellknown American boxing authority, has the following to say: —Tho most remarkable feature of the contest was the complete transformation in Tunney’s fighting spirit. Never before had he shown real aggressiveness. On the contrary, he had always been overcautious. Against Dempsey it was plain he had drawn up a definite plan of battle, which was to launch right hooks and right uppercuts on all occasions. Tunney followed this plan strictly, and eight right hooks and one right uppercut reached Dempsey s head in the first round alone. Those blows told the tale of Dempsey’s madecpi<icv» Dempsey never was 3 first-class boxer. He never had a defence against a ri”bt hand. Willard, Brennan, Tom Gibbons, and Firpo all reached his head easily with the right hand, as did Tommy Lough ran and even inferior sparring partners who helped Dempsey to prepare for this big fight. Dempsey has always known of this weakness in his armour, but it had stood proof against all assaults. He figured on taking an opponent’s right as the prelude to getting in one of his own battering punches. He underestimated Tunney’s right. He counted, as usual, upon taking it, and responding with a deadly left to the bodv. That once-famous left was by no means deadly on this occasion. Further, Tunney hit much harder than Dempsey expected. What is more,. Tunney, by clever defence to in-fighting, tied up Dempsey almost completely and prevented him from getting in wicked, weakening, short-arm blows with the left and then switching the same hand high on tho head. Tunney also interrupted Dempsey’s famous rushes by beating him to the punch with a right Hook or U PP®£* cut, and throwing him out of his stride. Contrary to expectations, Tunney nev ®’’ got confused or panicky when Dempsey did succeed in reaching him ww ith a hard punch. He kept his head throughout aud in all circumstances, and adhered strictly to his plan to box his man cleverly anti to keep to open woik as much as possible. Dempsey had Wsted-or was said to have boasted—that while sparring partners had hit him with rights to the head, they always hit him as he was f 'oin*? away—meaning v moving his head back as the punches landed But here we saw . Tunney several times take the aggressive, step into Dempsey with both left and right hooks and compel him to cover u-P or break ground. Dempsey was defeated, but he does not stand disgrae ed. He tried desperately, and failed—-failed be cause three years of idleness had weakened his niinch and dimmed Ins jiuument of distance, bn.t the loss of Ins punch was the most serious defect. He Ind less tape, and none of it bard tape, on his hands than in any previous big contest, but it if that circumstance caused his feeble hitting He was largelv the Mctirn 01 bis own failings, due to the cruises stated, but do not let us belittle Tunnev’s achievement. He fought a gallant' a clever, and a consistent battle, and‘won strictly on bis merits. Do no believe anv tales that Dempseys lighting was affected l>v worries over lawsuits nnd stop-the-fight agitations, Tunney lieat him all right—with some assistance from Father Time. .Tunney bad the whole American Expeditionary Force backing him to beat the champion. whose former manager, Jl } ck , Kearns, is reported to have backed Tunnev to the extent of many thousands of dollars; but Tunney seemed totally unaffected bv the knowledge that he was carrying the. money and hopes of so many of his war-time friends. That he carried the responsibility so care-free, and that he was unaffected by Dempsey’s reputation and the vast crowd of 132.000 spectators astonished me. Tunney s defeat ot, Dempsov was surprising, but 4 liwney himself is even more surprising.