JOE FRAZIER -vs- JERRY QUARRY I (Complete Fight) Madison Square Garden, New York June 23, 1969
This
Collector’s Cut features the complete fight between Heavyweight
Champion Joe Frazier and challenger Jerry Quarry. This, the first of
their two fights, which took place at Madison Square Garden, New
York, on June 23, 1969, and was later recognized as the Ring Magazine
Fight of the Year. Parts of the original ABC-TV broadcast were lost
by the network. This was not unusual at the time. Video tapes,
expensive at the time, were often recycled for later broadcasts. Some
shows were archived and have since been preserved, but other
programs, perceived as less important, were discarded.
However,
ABC-TV was not alone in filming the fight. The venue, Madison Square
Garden, routinely shot films of major fights from a single in-house
camera. The events were captured from just one angle, but the
perspective and the quality were often very good. There was also a
documentary film crew on hand. The filmmakers used multiple cameras
to capture the fight, including ringside action and footage of the
fighters and corner men between rounds. A more complete copy of the
ABC broadcast came into circulation some years ago. The source of the
tape is somewhat mysterious, as VHS or BETA recorders were not
available until the 1970s. In any case, the recording is of marginal
quality but still very watchable.
Accessing all the available
footage, I re-cut and reassembled the entire event, along with bonus
material. Enjoy this classic fight.
Saturday, May 18, 2024
Anatomy of a Fight
Jack Dempsey -vs- Luis Angel Firpo The Polo Grounds, New York City September 14, 1923
Anatomy of a Fight - Jack
Dempsey -vs- Luis Angel Firpo, takes a deep dive into one of the
most famous fights, and fight films, in boxing history, the epic 1923
match between Heavyweight Champion Jack Dempsey and his challenger,
Luis Firpo of Argentina.
The Dempsey-Firpo fight was
photographed by a film crew hired by the fight promoters. The
finished movie had a very limited distribution in the US, due to
restrictive federal laws, but it was seen by audiences
internationally. In the months and years after the fight, as with
many early motion pictures, theatrical prints were lost or discarded
or fell into private hands.
Years later, the surviving
footage of this fight was pieced together into the a newsreel style
documentary which has been in circulation since the 1940s. I have
several print editions of the Dempsey-Firpo film and have assembled
as complete a version as I have of the fight. With the aid of high
definition scans, we can examine footage in fresh detail. I thought
a closer look at the film might address a few questions about this
controversial match.
Jack Dempsey, The Manassa
Mauler, emerged as a knockout artist and leading contender in
1918 with 15 wins. Dempsey at 6’1” and 187-pounds, challenged
and knocked out the 6’6.5” 245-pound champion Jess Willard in
Toledo, July 1919. From 1920 to 1923 Dempsey made four successful
title defenses. The first was Billy Miske, KOd in three, July 1920.
Bill Brenan stopped in 12 the following December, Georges Carpentier
finished in 4 rounds in boxing’s first million dollar gate, New
Jersey, July 1921. Only Tommy Gibbons went the distance, on July 4,
1923, losing to Dempsey in 15 rounds.
Firpo would be next.
Luis
Angel Firpo was the first boxer from Latin American to fight for the
heavyweight title. Firpo was nicknamed The
Wild Bull of the Pampas
for his strength, punching power and relentless aggressive style.
Arriving in the United States in 1922, the 6’2” 216-pound
heavyweight fought his way up the ranks. Within a year Firpo had won
twelve fights with eleven by knockout - including knockouts of Bill
Brenan in March 1923 and stopping former champion Jess Willard in
eight rounds the following July.
The showdown between Jack
Dempsey and Luis Firpo was finally set. The bout was held at The
Polo Grounds in New York City, on September 14, 1923 in front of
85,000 spectators.
At the bell Dempsey takes the
fight to Firpo and runs directly into the challenger’s best punch,
an overhand right that drops Dempsey to his knees. This fact has
been established, but not often seen, due to an edit in the film. As
Dempsey is falling, there’s a jump cut, and the action picks up a
moment later with the fighters in a clinch.
This is the first of well over a
dozen jump cuts I found in the footage, some creating noticeable gaps
in the action. While some of these breaks cuts appear random, others
appear intentional edits where the impact of punches have been
removed.
The fight continues. Firpo is
knocked down, gets up and is knocked down several times. The age of
the film and lack of clarity makes it difficult to gauge every punch,
particularly the impact of each. As powerful as he was, Firpo was an
awkward, and at times clumsy fighter. His lack of experience put him
at a disadvantage against a seasoned boxer like Dempsey. Yet, Firpo
rises each time and throws himself back into the action with
remarkable determination.
Despite having been off his feet
five times, Firpo had the strength and drive to knock Dempsey down a
second time, this time with Jack landing briefly on all fours.
Twice more Firpo goes down. Once
from a right hand and partial slip, and another from an uppercut.
Dempsey stands in the corner, just a few feet away, waiting for Firpo
to stand. According to the New York Times, the neutral corner rule
was in effect. Firpo was quote as, “surprised when Dempsey stood
directly over me when I was down.” But the State Athletic
Commission “took no action” regarding referee Johnny Gallagher
failure to enforce it on either Dempsey or Firpo.
Suddenly, Firpo finds his
footing. He drives Dempsey back to the ropes. He clubs and mauls as
Dempsey attempts to fend him off. Firpo holds Dempsey’s chin with
his left and follows through with a sweeping right that begins as a
punch . . . but ends as a shove. Dempsey falls back between the top
and middle strand, which acts like a giant rubber band, flipping
Dempsey’s legs up and briefly over his head. Dempsey’s rear end
bounces over the edge of the platform and allegedly on to the
typewriter of New York Tribune writer Jack Lawrence. In less than a
second, the film shows Dempsey lifting himself upright.
At this moment there’s another
cut in the film. The sequence goes from a medium to a long shot.
There’s long been a debate about how much time Dempsey was out of
the ring. Witnesses testimony ranged from four to fourteen seconds
until Dempsey climbed black inside the ropes.
The film and cut are keys to
determine the timeline. I zoomed in the long shot to compare with
the first camera view. There’s a very slight difference in the two
camera angles, but when comparing the positions of the referee,
Firpo, and the ringsiders, the cut is a match.
It turns out, there’s no time
gap between shots. The timeline is unbroken. Dempsey is seen
quickly scrambling back into the ring. He even had the presence of
mind to hold down the bottom strand while climbing back to his feet
as the referee counts four.
The entire knockdown sequence
lasted less than five seconds.
As Dempsey gets to his feet, it’s
now Firpo who stands close by. Launching another attack, Firpo
drives Dempsey back to the ropes, not once, but three more times.
Dempsey holds, parries and evades enough to survive. Finally
breaking lose, Dempsey turns Firpo around and slams home a counter
right to Firpo’s jaw. Firpo is hurt and his momentum is broken.
The challenger covers up in the final seconds of the round.
At the bell, the film cuts back
to the long shot. Dempsey tags Firpo with a left as they separate,
but the referee intervenes. Firpo stumbles to his corner, while
Dempsey strolls across the ring with his head down. Dempsey later
said, after Firpo knocked him down, “I saw eight million stars”
and claimed to be blacked out through much of the fight.
In the second round, Dempsey
lands a series of left hooks. The two wrestle in a clinch and Firpo
stumbles to the canvas, clearly not a knockdown, but the referee
counts anyway as Dempsey walk to the corner. Firpo gets up and
misses a long right. With Dempsey’s back to the camera there’s a
mix of grappling and swings on the inside. Firpo drops for the last
time and is counted out. As Dempsey and handlers lift Firpo to his
feet, the challenger looks over a Dempsey, perhaps unsure if the
fight is actually over.
As Dempsey’s arm is raised, he
has an expression of relief and exhaustion. The champion takes a
moment, then walks over to pay respect to his vanquished challenger.
Controversy swelled immediately
following the fight and continues to this day.
Many protested that the referee
did not enforce the neutral corner rule. Others contended that Firpo
shoved, rather than punched Dempsey out of the ring.
And, Firpo may have escaped being
counted out early in the first round. That, according to the United
Press Sports Editor Henry L. Farrell, who wrote that 10 seconds had
elapsed after the fourth knockdown, but the timekeeper hesitated, and
the referee lost track of the count, tolling nine rather than ten.
And finally, it’s unclear from
the film how much meaningful help Dempsey received from ring siders.
Dempsey was never completely off the ring apron. His descent was
likely halted by the typewriter table and at least the face and hands
of one journalist. But being in the path of a collision is not an
act of assistance. The ring siders were, according to author Frank
G. Menke, just trying to, “keep Dempsey from
breaking their necks”. The question is over a technicality. The
film suggests, that it was Dempsey who, in less than five seconds,
did most of the work to get himself back up into the ring.
In
the end, this epic match, played out through all its excitement and
drama just as it was meant to. As with many great sports events, it
was a roller-coaster ride of thrilling mayhem, of missed
opportunities, of rules cast aside, of raw athleticism where luck had
no favorites, where no human was really in control, and when time
itself seemed to go off the grid. And yet somehow, in the end, the
fight brought itself to a justified and thrilling conclusion.
Decades
later, in 1951, the Associated Press sports writers voted the
Dempsey Firpo fight as the “most dramatic sports event” of the
first half of the 20th Century. (http://www.perno.com/lists/MDM.html)
Friday, May 3, 2024
Ed "Gunboat" Smith
Profile and Rare Colorized Sparring Footage with Bob Armstrong 1914
Edward
"Gunboat" Smith was an Irish American boxer, a film actor
and a
boxing
referee who fought professionally from 1909 to 1921. During his
career, The Gunner fought twelve different Boxing Hall of Famers,
regardless
of race, including
work as a sparring partner for champion Jack Johnson. Among the
all-time greats he fought were Jack Dempsey, Harry Greb, and Georges
Carpentier. Smith’s most notable victories were wins by decision
over the great Sam Langford, and against future Heavyweight Champion
Jess Willard. Both fights in 1913.
In
1914, at the peak of his career, Smith traveled to England to fight
the European champion Georges Carpentier. The fight took place in
front of 10,000 spectators at the Olympia in London. Unfortunately,
the fight ended in controversy. In the sixth round, Carpentier
stumbled or was knocked down. Smith followed through with a punch
while Georges still on the canvas. Though the punch was
unintentional, the referee stopped the fight anyway and, despite
protests, Smith was disqualified.
Smith
retired in 1921. He went on to appear as an actor in movies through
the 1920s and 30s. Later, he became a ring official, as seen here
refereeing the 1931 fight between Jack Sharkey and Primo Carnera.
Smith died in 1974.
