Jess Willard vs. Jack Dempsey

Following the match Dempsey said "I told you I would knock him out in the first round and to all intent and purpose that is what I did. He took a lot of punishment in the next two rounds but was so feeble that I hated to have to hit him." The former champion was quoted as saying, "Dempsey is a remarkable hitter. It was the first time that I had ever been knocked off my feet. I have sent many birds home in the same bruised condition that I am in, and now I know how they felt. I sincerely wish Dempsey all the luck possible and hope that he garnishes all the riches that comes with the championship. I have had my fling with the title. I was champion for four years and I assure you that they'll never have to give a benefit for me. I have invested the money I have made".^[10]

There were conflicting reports of the extent of the injuries suffered by Willard during the bout with some claiming he suffered a broken jaw, cheekbone, and ribs, as well as losing several teeth while others claimed that he only suffered a deep cut over the eye and a badly cut mouth.^[11]

Dempsey would announce the following day that he would only defend his title against white heavyweights, drawing a colour line to exclude all black challengers, including Harry Wills, regarded as the World "Colored" Heavyweight Champion.^[12]

In the January 20, 1964 issue of Sports Illustrated, Dempsey's former manager Jack Kearns (whom he had fired in 1923), claimed that he had informed Dempsey he had wagered his share of the purse favouring a Dempsey win with a first-round knockout. Kearns (who had died the previous July) further stated he had applied plaster of Paris to the wrappings on the fighter's hands. Dempsey would subsequently sue publishers Time Inc. for $3 million, setting out of court. Kearns' story was at odds with the other witnesses to Dempsey's hands being wrapped and Boxing Illustrated would later show that the plaster would crack the first time that it hit someone, casing serious doubt on the theory.^[13]

When interviewed by Harry Carpenter in the 1960s, Willard told him, "I'll show you, how I was beaten." He then drew a metal bolt from a box, saying that Dempsey held the bolt in his hand, not within the glove but at the palm of it, attached to the thumb sideways, and used the bolt rather for cutting-and-slicing-like moves to inflict blood-spilling cuts and pain, relinquishing it just as the bout was stopped, and according to Willard, the bolt was found on the floor of the ring at the end of the fight and he kept it. Mike Tyson, who studied the case in-depth and very thoroughly, later joined Carpenter to discuss the subject. Tyson, a great admirer of Dempsey's, admitted that "he just did whatever Jack Kearns told him to do" and "in those days anything could have happened", for that there was no agency or other legal authority at the time that was officially empowered to oversee and protect fighters from violations of such kind. However, footage before the fight shows Dempsey putting on his gloves with no additional objects and in full view of Willard, his team and the crowd.^[14] Also Dempsey can be seen at various times during the fight pushing and holding with Willard with the palm of the glove in question and holding on to the ropes with both hands, making it next to impossible that he had any foreign object embedded in his glove.

Confirmed bouts:^[15]