Originally posted by QueensburyRules
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The genius of Tunney
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Originally posted by billeau2 View Post
No... Tunney was giving Corbett the role of a mentor. Yes, the sparring was not on an equal footing. When I am teaching a student, the Ginsburgh shuffle, at 60 years old, the students interest is not in going hammer and tongs, they are learning. Tunney was obviously giving Corbett that space.
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It was probably a treat for Corbett. He was being redeemed.
When Corbett dominated Sullivan it was thought by the boxing world that boxing would, without question, now dominate over brawling and shear strength. A new era had arrived.
But then the next champions (Fitzsimmons, Jeffries, Burns, Wiilard, Dempsey) were all better known for their power and tenacity than for their skills.
Between Corbett and Tunney the only "scientific boxer" champion (to use a clich?of the day) was Jack Johnson.
But Corbett seems to have been a serious racist and would never have embraced Johnson.
So in a sense, it takes Tunney beating Dempsey to finally redeem Corbett's style; Corbett finally had a champion where he could see a mirror image of himself.
It was probably Corbett's last day in the sun and he probably enjoyed the attention; the redemption.
The boxer was once again on the top, not the big punch guy.Last edited by Willie Pep 229; 07-15-2023, 03:17 PM.
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Originally posted by QueensburyRules View Post
- - Promo...Tunney had nothing of significance to learn from Corbett then.
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Originally posted by billeau2 View Post
How could you possibly know that? Some people are always willing to learn from others and Tunney, as an irishman had a lot of respect for Corbett. I mean LOOK at the film! Its obvious Tunney has that type of respect for Corbett... By contrast look at when Corbett and Sullivan get together... they obviously hated each other and had to keep from coming to blows.billeau2 likes this.
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Originally posted by QueensburyRules View Post
- - Tunney already had respect for Corbett. It was just a publicity stunt to promote new fangled cinematography and of course Corbett was always a publicity hog, a true diva who renounced his heavy title before the turn of the century.
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Originally posted by Slugfester View PostI have heard but never been able to verify that Gene spent some time with or studied the craft with the Gibbons brothers in Minnesota I think it was. But you hear a lot of things you don't know the veracity of.
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Originally posted by ShoulderRoll View Post
Tunney was a big admirer of Mike Gibbons and patterned his style after him.Last edited by Slugfester; 07-17-2023, 10:54 PM.
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Originally posted by Slugfester View Post
Fantastic! Do you have any more information on this, and sources? Maybe just something you heard once upon a time. Speak, oracle.
-George A. Barton. My Lifetime In Sports. Minneapolis: The Olympic Press, 1957
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Originally posted by ShoulderRoll View Post
“Gene Tunney called Gibbons 'the perfect boxer.' Gene said he learned more about the technique of boxing and punching from watching Mike training in New York gymnasiums and in actual fights in Gotham than he learned from any other individual associated with the fistic sport. Moreover, Tunney has told me it was Gibbons' clean-cut victory over Jack Dillon, the mighty light heavyweight from Indianapolis, that inspired in him the belief he could whip Jack Dempsey."
-George A. Barton. My Lifetime In Sports. Minneapolis: The Olympic Press, 1957
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