OCR Text |
Show f DEiVlPSEY ONCE HEARD COUNT OF REFEREE Although Jack Dempsey has lost to four different opponents, three of these defeats happened when the young challenger for the title was the raw- H i t II PI -s v' 11 I i. ' U Jack Dempsey. est kind of a novice. A one-rouna knockout by the veteran Jim Flynn is the only real black mark on Dempsey's record. The bout with Flynn took place at Salt Lake City in 1917. At that time Dempsey was unheard of in the East, and the result of the bout attracted no attention, although it was considered consid-ered rather strange that the ancient fireman could find anyone who could be stopped so quickly. Dempsey now denies that he was knocked cold. He says that he could have got on his feet before ten had been counted, but that his brother became be-came excited and threw in the towel. Dempsey declares that never again will he allow a member of his family to act as second for him. There is another explanation of this affair going the rounds that is decidedly de-cidedly less creditable to Dempsey. Whatever the truth of the matter is probably never will be known. One year later Dempsey faced Flynn again. Flynn was outclassed so badly that the match was little short of a crime, and the ancient fireman took the count in the first round. . Dempsey has been defeated only once smce he became a star performer: He met Willie Meehan, the California heavyweight, in an exhibition bout of four rounds and the referee awarded Meehan the decision. In 19 6 Dempsey was shaded in ten rounds by John Lester Johnson but instead of being a setback the result was a great boost for Dempsey, as John-Ion John-Ion was an experienced fighting man, while Dempsey was a mere novice. |