Dempsey's Last Fight isn't listed on his boxrec.com record

[boxingfan2004]

Dempsey's last fight was against King Levinsky - not Gene Tunney according to the book, "Blood, Sweat, and Jack Dempsey."

http://www.genetunney.org/blood2.html

Blood, Sweat, and Jack Dempsey

by Wilfrid Diamond - 1953

Chapter Seven - Au Revoir But Not Good-Bye


"Jack had done so well with his exhibitions that he knew his drawing power was still there, and pressure was constantly being put on him. Finally he succumbed to the temptation to stage a come-back. On paper, and perhaps in his mind, it didn't look too hard. He would first fight King Levinsky and defeat him--that would not have been hard in the old days. Then Max Schmeling--Jack Sharkey again--and then the championship. The dream never dies. This would have been wonderful indeed if he could have done it, but he learned his mistake when he hit the first hurdle, King Levinsky.

"To begin with, Levinsky was fifteen years younger, and that is giving away far too much. Outside of this handicap, King had none too many qualifications as a fighter, he had shown little if any boxing skill, and was merely a wild puncher. He looked like easy meat, but he gave Dempsey a horrible mauling before twenty-three thousand spectators.

"Levinsky was confident of victory; he knew the ex-champion was not what he used to be--could not possibly be. It became evident right in the first round that unless Jack could land a killer, a finishing blow, Levinsky was going to emerge from the contest the winner.

"Dempsey's famous co-ordination was not there any more. The familiar weaving of his body that used to help provide the power of his punch had become a mere shuffle. And without that Dempsey punch, he was no Jack Dempsey--he was just another fighter.

"On the other hand, Levinsky, who had never been a boxer, was now boxing surprisingly well. He definitely out-boxed Dempsey. He sent in repeated rights and lefts that kept Jack at bay, forced the fight from beginning to end, and out-punched what was left of one of the hardest punchers of all time.

"And then--the unkindest cut of all--he challenged Dempsey to "come out and fight"!

"This to Jack Dempsey, the giant-killer, the mauler, the tiger--the man who had pounded to a jelly such fistic giants as Fred Fulton, Jess Willard, Luis Firpo, and Georges Carpentier, and anyone who happened to come along! Worse yet, Levinsky was deliberately using the words Jack used to taunt Gene Tunney.

"Maybe Levinsky was trying to do what Jack wanted to do to Gene, and maybe King was merely being clever. But he did bring out the old fighting spirit in Dempsey. That insult was simply not to be swallowed, and Jack went after him. He went after him hard, trying to get close enough to deliver a knock-out. The spirit was willing all right--there was never any doubt about that--but by now the flesh was weak. Jack just didn't have it in him any more.

"Levinsky had, but he didn't know where to put it. If he had known where and how to hit, he might possibly have knocked Dempsey out.

"It was hard, but age had to give way to youth; that is the way of the world; and the edge is a good deal sharper in the ring.

"That convinced Jack. If he couldn't beat Levinsky, that sent all dreams of taking Schmeling, Sharkey, and Tunney vanishing into thin air. And so Jack did what he should have done before the fight: hung up his gloves for keeps and rested on his laurels.

"It is an interesting sidelight on Jack's popularity that very few fans even remember the Levinsky fight. Many think the fight with Tunney was Dempsey's last fight. All of us are rather good at forgetting what we want to forget and remembering what we like to remember, and that is one more tribute to the way the Manassa Mauler did things."

[wouter]

The Levinsky fight was an exhibition and therefore not listed on his record

[boxingfan2004]

The Levinsky fight was an exhibition and therefore not listed on his record

It certainly doesn't sound like 'an exhibition' according to this author - who wrote an entire biography about Dempsey. How many rounds did it last?

This author specifically describes Dempsey's exhibition fights and differentiates them from this fight.

This author certainly makes it sound as though it's 'black and white' - no grey area at all.

Are you sure that it's not 'revisionist' history to call it an 'exhibition' because Dempsey did so poorly?

[wouter]

It was a four round exhibition, held Feb 18 1932 in Chicago. Reportedly Dempsey toyed with the idea of a comeback, but gave it up after Levinsky had all the best of him in that fight. No case of revisionist history.

[Ric]

The New York Times covered this fight quite well. Its Feb 19 edition had both a long column describing it, as well as a "Fight by Rounds" article.

Dempsey "dropped an unofficial decision," the first article reported; the bout was specifically "billed as a four-round exhibition." That article continued: "As the bout was an exhibition, with no official decision, a poll of the newspaper experts was necessary to determine the winner. They voted in favor of Levinsky, and the crowd, too, thought the former fish peddler was the victor, judging from the ovation he received when he left the ring."

The Feb 20 NYT had this follow-up newspaper headline:
DEMPSEY SURE HE CAN COME BACK; FAITH UNSHAKEN BY LEVINSKY BOUT
Seeks Return Match of Ten Rounds With Six-Ounce Gloves to Prove He Still Has Punch--He Receives $28,909--Kentucky Senate Wants Ex-Champion to Box Before General Assembly
(Actually, Dempsey got $28,909.35, while Levinsky earned $9,686.45. Pretty good money for an exhibition, huh?)

[Matt]

When Dempsey did his exhibition tour throught the Northwest during the summer of 1931, Nate Druxman, who arranged the tour for Dempsey, agreed to pay Dempsey $5000 an appearance for six scheduled appearances up front for a total of $30,000.

Even though that seems like a lot of money for exhibitons, Dempsey's exhibition tour, was a box-office success. He drew a gate of close to $29,000 for his Portland appearance, which would have been a huge profit.

[lamphey]

The April 1932 issue of The Ring reports it as an exhibition also.