I thought it might be worth a second look at the list, not least because some of their selections for "Greatest Rounds in History" are extremely strange. By the end we'll have our own list - keeping the good ones and junking the odd ones for something better. Not sure if anyone will be interested in it, but I find it interesting, so here goes.
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Jack Dempsey vs. Jess Willard, Round One
Toledo, OH
July 4th, 1919
The lineal heavyweight title is often styled "the man who beat the man who beat John L. Sullivan," implying an unbroken string of champions stretching back at least to 1897, when Gentleman Jim Corbett knocked Sullivan out in the 21st round.
In reality there have been at least four heavyweight boxing lineages - the Sullivan line, the Hart line, the Schmeling line, and the Patterson line.
Jack Dempsey and Jess Willard's time at the top of the division came during the Hart line, a lineage that boasts three heavyweights of historical note. The first was Jack Johnson, the first black man to be recognized as the heavyweight boxing champion and a constant target of racist anger, especially in the American South. Black Jack reigned for six tumultuous years before yielding the title (under somewhat suspicious circumstances) to a giant from Kansas named Jess Willard.
Willard was a savage and artless brawler/puncher who once killed a man with a right uppercut and who was disqualified in his very first pro fight for grabbing his opponent, pounding him in the head after the referee called "break" and then slamming the man into the canvas.
Though he had lost several decisions in his career and quit one citing a lack of proper conditioning, Willard had never been stopped when he signed to fight Jack Dempsey in Toledo on July 4th, 1919. However, Willard had never seen fit to defend his title against any notable opposition and was considered a paper champion.
Dempsey, meanwhile, had come up as a traveling brawler fighting chain gang champions and coal miners while working as a bouncer in various pre-prohibition road houses around the country. Willard decided Dempsey was the perfect "bad guy" for the fight promotion, not realizing that it was Willard himself who had few friends in the boxing world.
On the night of the fight the notoriously cheap Willard arrived at the makeshift Bay View Park Arena with an inexperienced corner and no friendly faces at ringside. Dempsey, for his part, brought all his friends - con men, strikebreakers and mafiosos who made him a heel in the press but whose services were invaluable in the wild, lawless world of prohibition-era boxing.
Then, this happened.
As you'll notice, Dempsey puts Willard down with the first significant punch he throws, a left hook that given Willard's reaction probably broke the champion's jaw. Though Willard waits for the referee to order Dempsey to a neutral corner, he never does, so when Willard gets up, Dempsey just keeps pounding on him before he has a chance to raise his hands to defend himself.
This continues for an impossibly long time, until finally Willard is put down for what appears to be the final knockdown. He remains on the canvas for an extended period as Dempsey heads for the exits.
As it turns out, Dempsey is foolish to leave so soon, as the bell apparently rang just before Willard was counted out, ending the round and allowing the fight to continue.
By rule, Dempsey should have been disqualified for leaving the arena, but instead he was allowed to return and beat on the critically injured Willard for two more rounds before the fight was mercifully stopped.
Now I ask you, Dear Reader - in what depraved universe is this one of the greatest rounds of all time? It certainly tells you something about the nature of boxing. I just don't think it tells you anything all that great.
What round do we replace it with? How about Evander Holyfiend vs. Riddick Bowe, Round 10. Next we'll profile that round and see why it deserves to be called one of the greatest rounds of all time.
