He was very young and rising fast. I think the big question is if he just matured fast or was going to keep getting better. Perhaps a bit of both, but I suspect he was going to keep getting better, and I think he would've won the title.
A lot younger than Willard too, I wonder how Dempsey would have done if he had Luther to beat for the title instead of Willard. Could have ended up being a really good fight.
What if Luther McCarty didn't die?
Re: What if Luther McCarty didn't die?
Much round robin activity between Dempsey, Carl Morris, Fulton, Flynn, Pelkey, Moran, Willard, and Gunboat Smith to try to analysis. Had he survived It certainly looks as though he would have been in the mix, maybe even a shot at Johnson or Willard's title before Dempsey, seems a possibility.
1912/1913 he was on a championship run.
His Boxrec mug shot makes him look like a tough Celt; big man with a long reach.
His sudden demise followed by the arson all seems quite weird; maybe I got conspiracy on the mind, but I wonder how good they were at diagnosing intracerebral hemorrhages back then or if it was just a convenient conclusion. He pushed himself through three tough fights at the end; the 14 days between Flynn and Moran, followed by Pelkey 24 days later probably did him no favor. (With considerable travel mixed in; he was a road warrior.)
Boy Arthur Pelkey then went into a terrible slide after McCarty's death, I wonder if the emotional trauma affected his desire to fight. They always say that Emile Griffith lost something after Paret.
1912/1913 he was on a championship run.
His Boxrec mug shot makes him look like a tough Celt; big man with a long reach.
His sudden demise followed by the arson all seems quite weird; maybe I got conspiracy on the mind, but I wonder how good they were at diagnosing intracerebral hemorrhages back then or if it was just a convenient conclusion. He pushed himself through three tough fights at the end; the 14 days between Flynn and Moran, followed by Pelkey 24 days later probably did him no favor. (With considerable travel mixed in; he was a road warrior.)
Boy Arthur Pelkey then went into a terrible slide after McCarty's death, I wonder if the emotional trauma affected his desire to fight. They always say that Emile Griffith lost something after Paret.
Re: What if Luther McCarty didn't die?
I've heard people say it probably ruined Pelkey
I've heard it was an injury from horseriding. that killed him.