Jack Dempsey 1919

[klompton]

Why does Jack Dempsey's exhibition tour of early 1919 appear on his official record. It seems many of the Dempsey's exhibitions seem to a find a way onto his record.

[delisa]

The bouts in the record were barnstorming bouts where Dempsey took on all challenges -- true, for the most part they took place in theaters, but can be considered official bouts as they were not "exhibitions" in the sense that Dempsey opponents at least theoretically were trying to win, as was Dempsey. If any of the fighters had lasted 3 rounds, Dempsey was offering $1000, a massive sum for the time.

They are listed as "barnstorming" bouts.

[klompton]

But they were exhibitions. They were advertised as such. I dont agree that whether an opponent is trying to win or not dictates that it was an exhibition. Have you ever seen any of the exhibition tours Louis was on? Those were as close to real fights as exhibitions get but we dont include those in his record. Those guys were trying to show Louis up and Louis paid them back by knocking them dead many times.