big sparring partners marciano and dempsey used?

[BrocktonBlockbuster49]

do u know who they were and how big they were?


i know dempsey used godfrey, and 6'7 230lb big bill tate. i believe dempsey once sparred wit a 7'2 man and dempsey cracked his ribs. forget the name. i think dempsey used to knock tate and godfrey out and manhandle them during sparring sessions


marciano constantley sparred with this one guy, ill check the name out. he was a 6'3 215lb and hit like a truck despite being a total bum.

perhaps u guys know some other big sparring partners they faced?




marciano did spar with 6'4 hurricane jackson and marciano hit him with a hook to the body and jackson froze and then leaned over and puked all over the ring.

marciano actually sparred with big nino valdes, a man who almost fought marciano for the title. poster john garfield who saw it first hand, told me nino looked mentally and physically shot when he got out of the ring with marciano.


rocky used keene simmons alot. dont know how tall he was, but he was over 200lb.


i wonder who rocky sparred with when he trained for the louis fight because louis was 215lb and im guessing marciano used a partner around louis size.

[BrocktonBlockbuster49]

Sparring doesn't mean shit. One of the guys is invariably in bad shape, like when Kid Diamond broke Floyd Mayweather's ribs in sparring.

thank you for answering the question of this thread

[Sherlock]

Sparring doesn't mean shit. One of the guys is invariably in bad shape, like when Kid Diamond broke Floyd Mayweather's ribs in sparring.

Sparring is an integral part of the game. Boxers choose fighters who resemble or can mimic their opponents style to prepare for a fight. It's as important as watching film of your opponent. Without this preparation how many fighters have lost when they could have and should have won. When top fighters lose to lesser fighters it is rarely they are out of shape, but were overconfident and didn't spar or watch film. To say sparring is shit is ridiculous. Look at the most successful fighters and take a look at their sparring partners. Many were great fighters themselves at the time or in the near future, for example Holmes worked with Ali for a long period. Tell Ali Holmes was worthless to him. I'd bet he'd disagree with you. Tell Foreman sparring with Liston didn't help him as a fighter. And Walcott was supposed to work as a sparring partner for Joe Louis, but didn't make the trip. To say sparring is shit is plain uneducated and not supported by any fact I've seen.

But you go find me an article written, or an interview, where an accomplished trainer agrees with your assumption and I may possibly be swayed to your agrument. Until then, none of your response means a damn thing.

[UpWithEvil]

believe dempsey once sparred wit a 7'2 man and dempsey cracked his ribs. forget the name.

His name was Ben Wray. For some fool reason the big goof from Oklahoma actually mouthed off before he stepped in the ring with Dempsey. About 90 seconds in to the first round Jack popped him good with a right hand and broke his jaw.

[evndrbsn]

Sparring doesn't mean shit. One of the guys is invariably in bad shape, like when Kid Diamond broke Floyd Mayweather's ribs in sparring.

Sparring is an integral part of the game. Boxers choose fighters who resemble or can mimic their opponents style to prepare for a fight. It's as important as watching film of your opponent. Without this preparation how many fighters have lost when they could have and should have won. When top fighters lose to lesser fighters it is rarely they are out of shape, but were overconfident and didn't spar or watch film. To say sparring is shit is ridiculous. Look at the most successful fighters and take a look at their sparring partners. Many were great fighters themselves at the time or in the near future, for example Holmes worked with Ali for a long period. Tell Ali Holmes was worthless to him. I'd bet he'd disagree with you. Tell Foreman sparring with Liston didn't help him as a fighter. And Walcott was supposed to work as a sparring partner for Joe Louis, but didn't make the trip. To say sparring is shit is plain uneducated and not supported by any fact I've seen.

But you go find me an article written, or an interview, where an accomplished trainer agrees with your assumption and I may possibly be swayed to your agrument. Until then, none of your response means a damn thing.

Who wins and loses in sparring doesn't mean shit. That's what I meant.

I agree That is something most boxing fans don't understand.

[Controversial]

I agree..sparring isn't a good way a judging anyones ability and size of sparring partners means very little. I once read that former heavyweight Elijah Tillery (of Riddick Bowe kicking match fame) was generally regarded as one of the best fighters in the world when he was sparring but couldn't do the same in a real fight.

Many fighters get decked or outboxed when sparring but that doesn't mean they wouldn't wipe the floor with the sparring partner in a real fight.

Ex Brit cruiserweight champ Glenn McCrory was Tysons main sparring partner for many years, held his own and was never floored by Tyson (a claim he frequently talks about). He sparred hundreds of rounds with Mike. Would this be the case if they fought for real?...............I don't think so!!!

[Expug]

I have seen alot of guys in the gym who looked great sparring thats for sure. But when they found theselves in a real fight they completely froze. The problem was they couldnt handle fighting in front of a crowd buddies , family , girlfreinds etc. However this is most common in a guy just starting out. Cus Damato worked well with guys who faced this problem.

[Jan]

what about tyson?

I know he sparred with Corey Sanders ( 6`6 and very heavy) and Derrick Jefferson ( 6`6) for example.

[Ezzard]

Sparring is an integral part of the game. Boxers choose fighters who resemble or can mimic their opponents style to prepare for a fight. It's as important as watching film of your opponent. Without this preparation how many fighters have lost when they could have and should have won. When top fighters lose to lesser fighters it is rarely they are out of shape, but were overconfident and didn't spar or watch film. To say sparring is shit is ridiculous. Look at the most successful fighters and take a look at their sparring partners. Many were great fighters themselves at the time or in the near future, for example Holmes worked with Ali for a long period. Tell Ali Holmes was worthless to him. I'd bet he'd disagree with you. Tell Foreman sparring with Liston didn't help him as a fighter. And Walcott was supposed to work as a sparring partner for Joe Louis, but didn't make the trip. To say sparring is shit is plain uneducated and not supported by any fact I've seen.

But you go find me an article written, or an interview, where an accomplished trainer agrees with your assumption and I may possibly be swayed to your agrument. Until then, none of your response means a damn thing.

Who wins and loses in sparring doesn't mean shit. That's what I meant.

I agree That is something most boxing fans don't understand.

Sparring is by no means conclusive of anything BUT at the same time it does mean something otherwise why would anyone bother??? I think both sides have a good point here. Bettering someone in sparring doesn't mean you'll beat them in a fight but it is a gauge (however inaccurate) of how things might be. It also has a psychological effect on fighters. Again this effect might work in a logical way or it might work in reverse but it's there nonetheless.

[dempseyfire]

do u know who they were and how big they were?


i know dempsey used godfrey, and 6'7 230lb big bill tate. i believe dempsey once sparred wit a 7'2 man and dempsey cracked his ribs. forget the name. i think dempsey used to knock tate and godfrey out and manhandle them during sparring sessions


marciano constantley sparred with this one guy, ill check the name out. he was a 6'3 215lb and hit like a truck despite being a total bum.

perhaps u guys know some other big sparring partners they faced?




marciano did spar with 6'4 hurricane jackson and marciano hit him with a hook to the body and jackson froze and then leaned over and puked all over the ring.

marciano actually sparred with big nino valdes, a man who almost fought marciano for the title. poster john garfield who saw it first hand, told me nino looked mentally and physically shot when he got out of the ring with marciano.


rocky used keene simmons alot. dont know how tall he was, but he was over 200lb.


i wonder who rocky sparred with when he trained for the louis fight because louis was 215lb and im guessing marciano used a partner around louis size.

Dempsey never knocked out Godfrey. They sparred for one training camp, George got the better of it and was asked to leave, and then Kearns made up a story about how George beat Jack the first day but the 2nd day Dempsey broke his ribs, which is a myth.

[BrocktonBlockbuster49]

so ur saying godfrey got the better of dempsey? im suprised at this.

[BrocktonBlockbuster49]

i looked up on marciano reading some articles and i found he sparred a lot with 6'3 215lb jo weiden a hard hitting heavyweight who would become european champ. marciano also sparred with big cuban nino valdes and 6'4 220lb club fighter mike fischer.


marcianos main sparring partner was 6'3 200lb cesar brion a respectable heavyweight contender

[barry]

>>>Dempsey never knocked out Godfrey. They sparred for one training camp, George got the better of it and was asked to leave, and then Kearns made up a story about how George beat Jack the first day but the 2nd day Dempsey broke his ribs, which is a myth.<<<

Godfrey was sparring partner to Dempsey quite a bit...it wasn't just once. Godfrey became a good friend of Dempsey and if I am not mistaken Dempsey helped pay for his funeral...In think, but not sure. I do know that Dempsey really liked Godfrey a lot. Bill Tate and Godfrey were Dempsey's favorite sparring partneers because both could take it. Dempsey ran through sparring partners probably as fast as any one in history as he often dealt too much punishment on them in the first sparring session after which they most of the time quit, but Tate and Godfrey could take it.

Tate was very fast for such a big man. During one sparring camp tate had set pok-a-dots up all over the ring of which he did to help Dempsey with speed, but story goes that Dempsey had much difficulty landing anything solid so he told Tate to wait until he landed a punch on each dot before moving, apparently he was having a hard time hitting Tate when he was moving freely through the dots without staying still. As to Kearns, he made up all kinds of crap after he and Dempsey split.

[dempseyfire]

>>>Dempsey never knocked out Godfrey. They sparred for one training camp, George got the better of it and was asked to leave, and then Kearns made up a story about how George beat Jack the first day but the 2nd day Dempsey broke his ribs, which is a myth.<<<

Godfrey was sparring partner to Dempsey quite a bit...it wasn't just once. Godfrey became a good friend of Dempsey and if I am not mistaken Dempsey helped pay for his funeral...In think, but not sure. I do know that Dempsey really liked Godfrey a lot. Bill Tate and Godfrey were Dempsey's favorite sparring partneers because both could take it. Dempsey ran through sparring partners probably as fast as any one in history as he often dealt too much punishment on them in the first sparring session after which they most of the time quit, but Tate and Godfrey could take it.

Tate was very fast for such a big man. During one sparring camp tate had set pok-a-dots up all over the ring of which he did to help Dempsey with speed, but story goes that Dempsey had much difficulty landing anything solid so he told Tate to wait until he landed a punch on each dot before moving, apparently he was having a hard time hitting Tate when he was moving freely through the dots without staying still. As to Kearns, he made up all kinds of crap after he and Dempsey split.

You're right they did spar more then once, but from what I've read Dempsey far from dominated George and the Godfrey gave Jack lots of trouble. Later on Dempsey predicted Godfrey to win the HW title I'm pretty sure.

[barry]

I don't think Dempsey tried to dominte Godfrey as he really did like him, I don't think he could have dominated him, beat him yes, but not in brutal, quick fashion...but Godfrey was there to try to look good himself. I recall reading where Dempsey said he thought Godfrey would be champion. I found out a tid-bit about Dempsey a while back that kind of surprised me. His mother's father had a grocery store he where I live in Tazewell. I wonder if his mother was orginally from Tazewell, but I haven't been able to find that out yet!

[Cojimar 1945]

Based on newspaper reports it appears that Dempsey often beat on Godfrey heavily. Dempsey seemed to have the advantage in sessions I have read about.

[barry]

Dempsey was hell on sparring partners. I had read someone who stated that he felt that if Dempsey had ever pulled his punches any during sparring it was against Godfrey, but I would say that Dempsey tore into him with a vengeance as he had someone who could and would take it, so no doubt Dempsey was tickled to know that he had a big target to land his brutal shots on.

[Jaclem]

..walcott may actually have "made the trip" and sparred with louis....in the bomber's early title days. jersey joe always said he did, and was tossed out of camp because he made joe look bad and even dropped him once. he was saying this before their first title fight. louis never denied it....just said he "didn't remember". sports writers as a group snickered when, in interviews before that first fight, the man from jersey said "I'll make him remember me."...so confident was this derided underdog.


brockton boy..the fighter you're thinking of is Jo Widen..just one of the spellings he used to americanize his name, i think. he was backed by dempsey when he came over from europe. i saw him fight walter hafer in cincinnati...and he was a stiff...and though he was plodding along and sligthly ahead he lost on a tko to hafer because of a cut eye. the winner was to meet ezzard charles...pre title days...and it was supposed to be a big match for widen. instead, hafer got the match and after a few rounds with ezzard probably wished he hadn't cut that guys eyes. ezzard kayoed kayoed the much bigger hafer.

a footnote...dempsey was at ringside for the widen/hafer fight and was so disgusted with his european find he got up and left after a few rounds.

at this time dempsey was openly and actively looking for a "white hope" heavyweight.....a but of history that has been quietly dropped from the manassa mauler's lifge stories.

[Randineous]

Marciano also had some spirited sparring sessions with Gene Gosney and while I don't know Gosney's exact size (his record does list him as a 200+ pounder, though), Skeehan's book on Marciano describes him as being a "huge and powerful heavyweight".

[BrocktonBlockbuster49]

Marciano also had some spirited sparring sessions with Gene Gosney and while I don't know Gosney's exact size (his record does list him as a 200+ pounder, though), Skeehan's book on Marciano describes him as being a "huge and powerful heavyweight".

Well, that was an era of small heavyweights. I don't think a "huge" heavyweight in 1954 means the same as a "huge" heavyweight today.

gosney was like 6'3 210lb, not big today. but big back then.

[zojo]

Sparring doesn't mean shit. One of the guys is invariably in bad shape, like when Kid Diamond broke Floyd Mayweather's ribs in sparring.

Sparring is an integral part of the game. Boxers choose fighters who resemble or can mimic their opponents style to prepare for a fight. It's as important as watching film of your opponent. Without this preparation how many fighters have lost when they could have and should have won. When top fighters lose to lesser fighters it is rarely they are out of shape, but were overconfident and didn't spar or watch film. To say sparring is shit is ridiculous. Look at the most successful fighters and take a look at their sparring partners. Many were great fighters themselves at the time or in the near future, for example Holmes worked with Ali for a long period. Tell Ali Holmes was worthless to him. I'd bet he'd disagree with you. Tell Foreman sparring with Liston didn't help him as a fighter. And Walcott was supposed to work as a sparring partner for Joe Louis, but didn't make the trip. To say sparring is shit is plain uneducated and not supported by any fact I've seen.

But you go find me an article written, or an interview, where an accomplished trainer agrees with your assumption and I may possibly be swayed to your agrument. Until then, none of your response means a damn thing.

Ditto!

I always wonder who the top fighters are sparing in the gym I truly believe you are not going to get better in whatever your sport is unless you are constantly being pushed and challenged. If you only practice with bums, you soon will become one.