BoxRec

I'll admit I don't know much at all about boxing from this era, so educate me. What's the deal with the knockdowns in this fight? I can see the ref issuing a count but a few of the times Willard is still doubled up or hanging off the ropes when the action resumes and Dempsey starts knocking him about again. Was this the case in all fights back in those days? I can't see a fight that one sided carrying on after the fourth first round knockdown these days. Was the ref particularly pro Willard and hoping he might get himself together and back in the fight if he could somehow survive the first?

clopixolacuphase wrote:I'll admit I don't know much at all about boxing from this era, so educate me. What's the deal with the knockdowns in this fight? I can see the ref issuing a count but a few of the times Willard is still doubled up or hanging off the ropes when the action resumes and Dempsey starts knocking him about again. Was this the case in all fights back in those days? I can't see a fight that one sided carrying on after the fourth first round knockdown these days. Was the ref particularly pro Willard and hoping he might get himself together and back in the fight if he could somehow survive the first?

There was no mandatory eight count or neutral corner rule when Dempsey fought Willard. What Dempsey did was perfectly within the rules.

In those days, referees were loathe to stop fights and generally did so only (a) if the corner threw in the towel, or (b) the fighter literally asked the referee to stop it. Willard's corner did not throw in the towel and Willard did not indicate he wanted to quit. So the fight went on.