! -J
Tunney is floored! But he will get 18 seconds to recover-decisive moments for him and Dempsey.
The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me by Jack Dempsey
Gene Tunney sprawled
on the canvas, stunned;
then came the historic "long count"
which cost the author
the championship but won
. him a lifetime off fame
Jack was schooled to stand over opponent, as here with
Firpo. Habit took seconds to break but cost him a title.
WW
The world has been good to me so I'm a little
surprised when some well-wisher in my
Broadway restaurant reminisces and says, "You
really got a tough break on that 'long count'."
What long count? What bad break?
I know what they're talking about the best
thing that ever happened to me! The best thing.
On Sept. 22, 192732 years ago next week, by
the waya young boxing stylist named Gene
Tunney stopped me from becoming the first
fighter in history to regain the heavyweight title.
It was a famous fight because sports writers
claimed Tunney was favored by a "long count"
after I knocked him down in the seventh round.
So these well-wishers offer sympathy year after
year and lament about "what might have been."
Well, I know "what might have been" and it
isn't all what they see in their rose-colored mir
rors reflecting the past. I didn't lose the fight be
cause of a "freak"; Gene Tunney whipped me.
What happened was this: a new rule had been
passed which stated that after a knockdown the
referee would not start the count until the stand
ing fighter was in a neutral corner. Previously
we had stood over a fallen opponent waiting for
him to rise so we could batter him again.
A fighter is conditioned to fight on instincts that
he develops over the years. I delayed the count by
standing near my opponent.
Losing the heavyweight championship of the
world, especially after being champ for seven
years, wasn't easy to take. But, in retrospect I've
got good reason for calling that moment the best
thing that ever happened to me.
At best I didn't have long to go when I fought
Tunney. I don't say this to take anything away
from Gene; his record as ah undefeated heavy
weight champion speaks for itself. What's more I
cant honestly say I would have whipped him' if
we had fought when I was in my prime it would
have been a great fight, though!
This much I do know for certain: even if I
had regained my tide that night, some other
youngster would have come along soon to lift it
After all, Gene had done it in our first bout when
I was a year younger and without benefit of a
controversial "long count."
Now I'm in business where small things often
make the difference between success and failure.
People like to remember me as the guy who
"knocked out" the champ and lost.
If I had defeated Tunney and he had then beat
me in the inevitable rubber bout a likely pos
sibility considering my aging legs I would have
been just another champ who lost his title to a
better man. There would have been no drama
and, conceivably, fewer satisfactions for me after
ward. People come to see me because that "long
count" made me more famous than I ever would
have been if the record books simply read: Demp
sey over Tunney by KO. -
Oome guests ask me about the night Luis Fir-V-Jpo's
flailing right hand catapulted me through
the ropes and right out of the ring. Others ask if I
really broke Jess Willard's jaw with my first
punch and three of his ribs with my second. But
most of them want to know about that "thing
with Tunney." They want to know everything
about it; whether he was really "out" or just tak
ing advantage of the extra time, why I didn't nail
him in the next round, etc. I tell them what I'm
telling you. That was probably the last solid hay
maker I connected with. I could feel the familiar
electric jolt right up to my shoulder as my gloved
fist made contact with bone. After that the cup
board was bare, and I knew it.
All of us like to be remembered, and I'm no ex
ception. Yes, people would have remembered me
even without the "long count" but not as part of
an American legend.
So that's the real story. We live a lifetime, not
a single episode. It would have been great to win
my title back that night.
Instead I had to learn to be a loser. It was quite
a lesson, too. It taught me that defeat and dis
appointment can be blessings in disguise.
Family Weekly, September 13. 1959