Watching a Fight

[joesteph]

A 1950 book by the great Jack Dempsey, Championship Fighting, has as its last chapter "How to Watch a Fight." I believe that what he observes in his book written decades ago can apply to a martial arts bout today. He says:

Note immediately their fighting styles. Are their styles similar or do they contrast sharply? . . .

Which one is pressing forward-forcing the fight? That's important; for in a close contest the aggressor usually is the winner. . . .

If neither principal is a knockout specialist, the one who is more effective with [strikes] probably will win.

Has each enough confidence in his own . . . ability and ruggedness to engage the other in toe-to-toe exchanges? Or, does the lighter [fighter] shrewdly avoid exchanges . . .

If both scrappers are willing to fight it out in exchanges, the bout should be thrilling. Watch the early exchanges closely; for what happens in them may indicate the ultimate winner. . . .

Does one appear to be hitting with more speed, accuracy and power in the exchanges than the other? Is he "rocking" his opponent, knocking him sideways or back onto his heels?

Is he hurting his opponent not only "upstairs" but also in the body?

Note carefully when either man is hit hard enough to be staggered. There's a big difference between being "rocked" and being "staggered." When a fighter is rocked, he is knocked violently off balance-backward or sideways; but he still has complete mental and physical control when he recovers his balance. When he's staggered, he loses temporary mental and physical control-in varying degrees. . . .

If a staggered and helpless fighter is being battered mercilessly by his opponent, the referee has complete authority to intervene and stop the bout . . .

That last sentence is sometimes the contentious one, with an MMA fighter protesting that s/he could have carried on, but that's one of the jobs of a referee, and I'll bet it's tough to have to decide instantly if a fighter is capable of carrying on, or nothing but injury will occur. The video replays at the end of such a bout are good indicators of what the referee saw, especially when different camera angles are used.

[KarateEd]

Sounds like an interesting book. I have heard that Bruce Lee was influenced by Jack Dempsey and his effective use of the jab/straight lead punch. I'll be on the lookout for that book.

[joesteph]

I'll be on the lookout for that book.

To obtain a copy of it online and free, Ed, go to the Scribd web site at:

http://www.scribd.com

Under Search (at the bottom of the page), put in Jack Dempsey. His book will come up for reading or downloading.

[KarateEd]

Thanks for giving me the heads up. I downloaded a copy.

[motionxl]

I remember some old clips of Jack Dempsey and his so called Dempsey Rolls. He was a small man that packed some combinations

[joesteph]

I remember some old clips of Jack Dempsey and his so called Dempsey Rolls. He was a small man that packed some combinations.

I didn't find Dempsey Rolls on the Internet, MotionXL. Does it refer to his bob and weave?

As for him being a smaller man, this comes from p. 2 in his book:

Cowboy Jess was heavyweight champion of the world, and he was a giant. Moreover, he was a perfectly proportioned giant. . . . He towered six feet, six inches and a quarter. He weighed 245 pounds. In comparison I shaped up like an infant or a dwarf although I nudged past six feet and scaled 180 pounds. . . .

Before I fought Willard, my manager-Jack (Doc) Kearns-already had nicknamed me "Jack the Giant-Killer" because I had belted out such big fellows as Carl Morris and Fred Fulton. They were big men all right, but neither had appeared such an awesome giant as Willard did that sweltering afternoon. . . .

Since this is not a story of my life, I'll refrain from boring you with details of the fight. I'll wrap it up in a hurry; I'll merely recall that I sent Jess crashing to the canvas six or seven times in the first round and gave him such a battering in the third session that Jess was unable to come out for the fourth round. As Willard sat helplessly on his stool in the corner, his handlers threw in the towel just after the bell had rung to start the fourth. I won the world heavyweight championship on a technical knockout.