Last month on October 9th, I published my article piece regarding the Jack Dempsey Museum – Memory.
I was actually amazed how it attracted many, sharing my wonderful experience traveling to Manassa, Colorado in August of 1975. I would like to take the opportunity to say thank you for those that responded to their liking.
For anyone that have might of missed it, and would like, the complete article and actual photos taken on that such memorable day 48 years ago, it can be viewed by clicking onto either Heavyweights or History in the Categories section on this website.
I’m delighted to also share a few more photos from my personal Jack Dempsey collection!
By Tom Donelsom / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)
Tyson Fury had his battle of the baddest against Francis Ngannou, former UFC champion who was doing his first boxing match at the age of thirty-seven. What should have been an easy match for Fury turned out to be battle of survival as he barely got by Ngannou and even hit the floor in the third round by a Ngannou left hook. This fight was close on the Compubox data as Fury landed seventy-one punches to fifty-nine, but Ngannou landed more power shots 37-32. Usually in these matchups, the boxer has the advantage since more Mixed Marital Arts are not allowed to kick or get their opponent to the ground. So, this is hands versus hands and the boxer has more experienced with just using hands. Ngannou has been at the top of the UFC heavyweight division, and he was taking on the baddest man in the boxing world.
I had Fury winning the first two rounds as he landed more punches and even in the second round turned southpaw, to confuse his opponent. In the third round, Ngannou stunned Fury with a left hook that sent boxing heavyweight champion to the canvas, and I had the third round as a the 10-8 round for Ngannou and after three rounds, it was 28-28. Fury acknowledges after the fight, “He’s a very awkward man and he’s a good puncher and I respect him a lot.”
The fourth round was a pick em which I gave to Fury, but it could easily have gone to Ngannou but the next two rounds, Fury landed some good shots and looked like he might be getting back in control of the fight. Near the end of the fifth round, Ngannou look tired. After six rounds, I had it 58-55 but it could easily have been 57-56. Ngannou had the better of the next two rounds as he landed some hard lefts and rights. After eight rounds I had it 76-75 and remember the fourth round was tight so it could be the opposite in favor of Ngannou.
By David Martinez / Boxing Historian / dmboxing.com
It was in August 1975, when traveling back to visit my relatives in various locations in the state of New Mexico, I ventured north for an unbelievable experience, a visit the birthplace of Jack Dempsey, Manassa, which is located in the southern part of Colorado, in the “San Luis” Valley.
Upon my arrival, I located a log cabin style house in the middle of town, that was actually moved to this city park location in July 1966, and was refurbished in honor of Jack Dempsey. The interior walls were lined with photos and mementos of Dempsey’s brilliant career.
The Curator there was so wonderfully nice and was amazed at my focus and interest, that he thinking I lived nearby, offered me a job there as a tour guide. Then he did something that was truly amazing, removing the actual gloves from a display case that Dempsey wore in the Luis Angel Firpo fight (September 14, 1923) so I could wear them while posing for a picture.
Unfortunately, I had a misfortune happen regarding these photos. In November 1983, while moving from my old house to my new house, it started to rain that day and the water got into the U-Haul trailer we
were towing and into my nicely framed photos. I cried and was so upset and disappointed beyond belief. The photo of me wearing those gloves was the one most damaged.
By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers of America(BWAA)
Joe Joyce got his second chance at Zhilei Zhang and hoped that he could reverse his previous knock out defeat. In their first match in April, Zhang dominated Joyce as he connected on 45 percent of his punches and Joyce simply couldn’t compete with Zhang power nor was, he accurate his punches.
The rematch started slowing as Joyce threw jabs and neither fighter did much and between the two, only five punches total landed, but the second round, Zhang did what he did the last time, landed accurate power shots as he landed 36 punches versus 12 punches for Joyce and most of those shots were power shots. Joyce was stopped in the third round, and he lasted only half as long as the first fight.
Joyce came in the fight 26 pounds heavier and if this was a strategy to add weight to be able to take Zhang power shots, it was a complete failure. He didn’t add any strength, and this was the heaviest he ever fought. Zhang was simply too strong for Joyce. The punches show the story as Zhang connected on more than double the punches and 77 percent of those punches were power shots.
By Tom Donelson (BWAA) Member Boxing Writers Association of America
Can Deontay Wilder win the heavyweight championship? The answer is yes but Wilder has fought but one round since his trilogy with Fury and that trilogy was a brutal affair for both men but in particular for Wilder who got the worse of it.
It is true that he sent Fury down and nearly ended their first fight in the final round when Fury went down face first to the canvas, but Fury somehow got up and survived the knockdown and ended up with a draw. Their third fight was an up and down affair as both men hit the canvas before Fury finally finished of Wilder in a brutal fight. His last opponent Helenius lasted one minute and that is all he has fought since his trilogy with Fury. Fury is the wild card as he goes from retiring to trying to decide to fight Usyk or not, which is the fight everyone wants to see.
As for Wilder, his options includes Anthony Joshua, Andy Ruiz and if he gets past one of them, Usyk is still there if Fury has yet to fight him.
Joshua is a more skilled boxer with good power and as he showed against Helenius, he can box while having enough power to end a fight. Until Helenius and after the first Ruiz fight in which he was stopped, Joshua was a more cautious fighter but against Helenius, he started to look like the pre-Andy Ruiz Joshua.
Andy Ruiz is one of the toughest fighters who will take your best to try to knock you out. Wilder’s power is legendary, and he could end the fight against either fighter with one shot. In the case of Ruiz, it will be which fighter who has the most power, but Joshua’s boxing skills will give Wilder trouble just as Fury’s boxing skills gave Wilder trouble.
Against Usyk, Wilder has his power, but Usyk is a slick boxer who will give Wilder plenty of trouble in avoiding that one big shot. Right now, the latest discussion is that he will fight Joshua and with the right opponent holding the belt, he can regain a title. If nothing else, Wilder is an exciting fighter who can end a fight with just one punch.
By Tom Donelson (BWAA) Member Boxing Writers of America
Boxing is a sport that differs from most since one punch can end a match despite who was winning. George Foreman was so far behind Mike Moorer and no chance of winning a decision for his right hand saved the day. In the tenth round, Mike Moorer was merely nine minutes of defending his championship but right hand by Foreman ended the fight. That is boxing.
In other sports, a bad call can determine a game, or it merely delays the inevitable. View it this way. Team one is dominating the game and winning by two touchdowns when a bad call deny Team two a touchdown. Team two is now down by a touchdown but unless they can get one more touchdown, they will lose the game, bad call, and all.
Danie Dubois was losing his championship bout with Olkesander Usyk and after the controversial knockout, he would be stopped but for a brief moment, Dubois landed a shot to midsection and Usyk went down. The referee viewed it as a low blow and not a knockout. This was a close call, and from first look, it looked low but on further examination, it could have been on the beltline as some have suggested but from my vantage point, I will say it was a low blow. If this was counted as knockout, it would be victory for Dubois and the heavyweight championship division would have been shaken up.
Usyk boxing skills carried him over the first four rounds and Dubois was down on my scorecard 4 rounds to zero before the fifth round came. After the fifth round, Usyk went to back to boxing, and he took control of the fight. Usyk ended the bout in the ninth round as he stopped Dubois with a right hand. Dubois had been moment like in the seventh round, he appeared to have Usyk in trouble, but it proved a delusion as the champion landed combinations and piled on the pressure on Dubois.
At the end of the eighth round, Usyk landed a double jab followed by a cross hook combination that forced Dubois to take a knee at the end of the round. Usyk landed 10 power shots in the ninth before the fight was stopped.
Usyk was winning the bout on my card but many of the rounds were close and while I had 7 to 1 in favor of Usyk going into the ninth round, most rounds were close, and Dubois put Up a good fight. Usyk wants to fight Fury to unite all the championship belts, but this version of Usyk would not beat Fury or the Fury that defeated Wilder twice.
By Tom Donelson (BWAA) Member Boxing Writers Association of America
Anthony Joshua fought Finnish fighter Robert Helenius whose last big fight was a one round knockout defeat at the hand of Deontay Wilder. Joshua last fight was a decision victory against Jermine Franklin, and it was hardly impressive even though he won an easy decision, but it was like he was satisfied to win by a decision. In this fight, he proved to be willing to finish his opponent. Originally scheduled to face Dillian Whyte who flunk a pre drug chase and then step in Helenius, who had fought and defeated follow Finnish fighter Mika Mielonen in three rounds, so Helenius was ready and in shape.
With the exception of the first round, Joshua out punched Helenius in every round and dominated much of the fight as he outpunched Helenius 74 punches to 48 punches and his jab was accurate as he landed his jab 35% of the fight. Both fighters landed similar number of combinations and Joshua landed 18 power shots to 12 power shots for Helenius, so the biggest difference was Joshua jab that set up his other shots.
Joshua’s victory keeps him in the discussion of a heavyweight champion and the big fight that people talk about is Wilder vs Joshua. This would be interesting but for a few things, Wilder has only one fight, a one round knockout of Helenius since his last defeat at the hands of Fury. Joshua has been active over the last few years and would have the advantage in the number of actual rounds fought. A few years ago, I would have favored Wilder but now the advantage lies with Joshua who is a better boxer and been staying active.
By David Martinez / Boxing Historian / dmboxing.com
This edition of “Pages From The Scrapbook” features my pre-fight article piece – dated October 2, 1980 – on the Larry Holmes vs. Muhammad Ali WBC Heavyweight Championship fight. It also includes a post-fight piece – dated October 5, 1980 – by Santa Barbara News Press Sports Editor Dave Kohl which refers to my mishap with a flat tire and fight prediction.
By David Martinez / Boxing Historian / dmboxing.com
Back in the mid-seventies, I met a wonderful older man, Emil DeLoreto, who at the time had been following my boxing articles when I was a boxing beat writer for my local newspaper, the Santa Barbara News Press. Emil was much older than I, born in 1910, and he witnessed some of the great boxers in his days and would tell me about many of the fights that he attended.
One fight in particular was on June 20, 1970, in Barcelona, Spain, between Jose Manuel Urtain and Jurgen Blin.
The bout was a scheduled 15 round European Boxing Union (EBU) heavyweight championship fight, with Urtain defending his title that he won in April 1970 by knocking out West Germany’s Peter Weiland. Coming into the fight, Urtain was undefeated with 28 straight wins and all 28 by knockout. Blin, however, would certainly be Urtain’s toughest opponent.
As Emil described the fight, Urtain started fast and took the early lead with a constant barrage of hard punches. Blin came into his own having a huge round 8, hurting Urtain and nearly knocking him out, as the German was looking strong.
Round 10 was exciting, as both fighters went down for counts of eight. Urtain went down first by a smashing right hand punch to the jaw. Then it was Blin that dropped to the canvas as Urtain delivered a left and then a right cross to the head.
They both fought hard, with blood streaming down their faces as the bout ended, going the full 15 round distance.
By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)
Jared Anderson faced his toughest test against former Heavyweight champion Charles Martin. 104 years ago, on July 4, 1919, Jack Dempsey defeated Jess Willard in Toledo and now the undefeated Jared Anderson wanted to make his statement in the heavyweight division in Toledo, and he certainly won the fight on the scorecard. The decision was unanimous 99-90, 99-90 and 98-91 and I had it 99-90, but the reality was that Anderson showed heart and guts but also showed his inexperience.
Jared began using his quickness to gain control of the bout over the first quarter as he landed fifteen punches on Martin four punches. He won the first four rounds and looked like he was in control but in the fifth round, Anderson faced the challenge of his young career. One weakness of Anderson nearly derailed his victory as he has a habit of moving straight back when avoiding punches and in the fifth round, Martin nailed him with a straight left halfway through the round. For the next ninety seconds, it was survival time as the inexperienced Anderson found himself trying to defend himself as Martin simply pounded him from one end of the ring to the other.
Survived he did and in round six, he came back out, connecting and out -landing by a two to one margin against Martin. The fifth round was the first round he lost in his career.
