Gene Tunney tribute

A highlight of one of the true pioneers of boxing, Gene Tunney.
Re-upload.

[@FighterGlory]

Gene Tunney was among the greatest fighters of all time!

[@douglasroseveare7295]

Absolutely

[@ajaeultra]

Wow im reading these amazing comments and he is actually my great uncle it makes me proud

[@HagakureBushido1]

Excellent video, Gene Tunney was one of the greatest boxers ever. He was a great man in the ring and out of the ring.

[@chumpontu2285]

Tunney was a the very best boxer who had a very best tactics of all time !!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for posting ...........

[@toopkarcher4941]

He could fight like Ali, he had power, he threw hard body shots and had an excellent chin. What more could you ask for?

[@loughran03]

Possible the most underates fighter in history. He made the best of his talents with disipline. No fighter had his overall disipline, who carried his talents in the buisness world.A great reader who hung out with authors, which is why the writers in his day never gave him his due as an all time great despite two defences.Served the country in two world wars. His son Jay R Tunney has fantastic book which reveals the inner Tunney, I recommend it to all. Thanks for the vidio, well done.

[@manos3790]

A totally composed 1920's heavyweight fighting machine with an incredible arsenal of punches, even on the back-foot! Extremely unheralded as an all time great heavyweight, why?

[@goognamgoognw6637]

i was very surprised to read he is heavyweight his footwork and moves look like a welterweight even lightweight, amazing. I could tell that he is very intelligent.

[@1saxonwolf]

Corbett was almost 60 years old in that footage !! Tunney was so impressed he stated Corbett was better than Benny Leonard ! They lightly sparred 3 rounds for a sports documentary. Love to see the whole footage. The knowledgeable who witnessed Corbett fight say there was no better "scientific boxer" in HW history. Fleischer said Corbett was the "fastest" HW ever, including Ali.

[@johnbarker95]

One awesome fighter!!!! Rest In Peace, Gene Tunney.

[@baroh2413]

his face was not destroyed like most of his opponents faces. He knew how to protect himself

[@11Sourcherry]

Proud to be his great granddaughter, lots of lovely comments on here.

[@martinearly7965]

hi meghan,we are related to him aswell,my mum is Irish and her mum was a tunney before marriage.she told me that gene flew over to Ireland to meet the tunney family but most of them didn't bother with him because they didn't approve that his success was from fighting.i really want to find out more about the family link with this legend

[@11Sourcherry]

hi martin, thats great so i suppose we are related too. Do you have facebook or anything so we can speak?

[@martinearly7965]

meaghan, my daughter is called meghan she is 5. Anyway I'm on Facebook under lucyandmartinearly , hopefully speak to you soon.

[@buschovski1]

what a superb fighter. i have to remind myself this is in the 20's. he fights and moves about 30 or 40 years ahead of his time.

[@bradlee180]

This Boxing fan here thanks you for the Gene Tunney tribute, and for all the other classic fight films that you've uploaded. Tremendous amount of work, time, specialized skills, and of course talent to make a great compilation like this Tunney one.

[@jay1521000]

gene tunney is my great great great grandfathers cousin, buzzin!

[@aidenrhys2748]

We're related because he's my great grans uncle

[@buschovski1]

5:52 to 6:16. Look at those moves man. Beautiful.

[@goognamgoognw6637]

thanks for that time marker. beautiful.

[@xxdonaldqxxx]

Great footage of Gene Gene the fighting machine.

[@loucfur4843]

Agreed. Tunney had great eyes and vision (for lack of a better term) he would throw and be gone before you could react and "bam" you would get hit again. Excellent footwork and ring movement. Great defense too. Also he seemed to me to be very intelligent fighter. A chess master. And like Corbett and Dempsey lean and powerful. *Much Respect*

[@TheDarleyarabian]

gene tunney was an exceptional boxer had great movement and an awesome one two, for me hes one of the most underated boxers ever prob one of the best light heavys without doubt

[@raysgr]

can see the development of his body and technique through these clips, particularly the footwork. Its hard to tell who's who in the early footage. Great boxer one of my favorites, thanks for posting this.

[@underyourskins]

What Ali say at the end is perfect.. Tunney was great.

[@johnhenry267]

Roy Jones Sr. said that he based Jones Jr's fighting style off of Tunney in a interview. After watching this I can see alot of similarities.

[@phild9963]

Now I know who Ali got his hopping and jabbing style from

[@alidaygo619]

Phil D Yup and Ali admits it

[@Freestylssz]

great pioneer of the sport!

[@Jack-lz5gf]

Great fighter...often underrated imo...

[@buddyboy1220]

Proof that in boxing it's 90% mind and 10% physical.

[@kingshearer2]

+Buddy Boy12 As long as your fit then yes 90/10 with a bit luck thrown in.

[@1saxonwolf]

Thanks. Fast hands and a a lot of body work. Underrated inside fighting skills. The only way to handle Greb as told to him by the Great Benny Leonard. Bimstein said Tunney would have beat anyone after him. He was alive up to Marciano I believe. Two issues that r happening with these comments IMO. 1: Poor film quality. 2: People don't know what they r not seeing.

[@uncjim]

Great fighter..stick and move..stick and move!

[@BigDaddyHeavyweight]

At 0:40 Tunney sparred with old Corbett, who looked good and moved scientificly! That´s the Sweet science!

[@Ford_Raptor_R_720hp_V8]

*To all those that think Gene Tunney is an underrated Champ.* *He is not. He is ranked as one of the Greatest Boxers of all time.*

[@douglasroseveare7295]

Anyone who wins 60 plus fights and loses only one fight to a guy he beat multiple times is one of the greatest of all. Gene Tunney had an outstanding record compared to anyone, including Floyd Mayweather, Rocky Marciano, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali any other great boxer who will ever lace up the gloves. I never get tired of watching video from 100 years ago of a guy who could work shop on the division now.

[@nilo2604]

The most cerebral of the heavies!

[@andrewr62]

Interesting demonstrion between the old stylist James Corbett and Tunney, It is really a shame that so few films of Corbett exist. I can't believe his fights with Jeffries were not filmed.

[@markdavies2662]

Tunney was so accurate,

[@dempsey981]

i like tunneys ring generalship,his mobility,lots of side stepping charges,like his in your face hard steppin jab,like his real fast fast hands.i like his great conditioning,stamina,like his ability to get up after set back and keep his head.theres alot to like about this great fighter.oh and i love seein james j corbett in this film teaching tunney some hurt business.tunney seems to have gifted instincts defensively,i mean hes consistently not on the end shots.

[@robertbrown7896]

He had a educated jab smart ring general ship.i gotta see more of his fights .Great fighter.

[@jaszulni]

discussing all these fights, yall should be well above 100 now... thats the miracle of technology if you know what i mean...

[@Quicknsick]

Sick tribute to one of the godfathers of modern boxing. I think he more than Gentleman Jim was more technical. But I think Jack Dempsey had his number that second fight and it was that new neutral corner rule that screwed him from regaining his title during that LONG COUNT fight.

[@LorcanFilms]

I think Tunney along with Joe Louis were probably the greatest technical heavyweights of all time. Louis was the great offensive technician while Tunney the other, defensive side of the the sweet science. However, I think a prime Dempsey would have KO's both of them. Thank you for a great video, esp the Corbett footage!

[@samtotheg]

I respect your opinion Michael lol!

[@1LOCKNLOAD]

I agree. Guys like Dempsey, Tunney, Marciano, Louis, etc. were punching machines and they could do it for 15 rounds. They didn't give you a chance to take a breath and reset. They were on you like white on rice. I watched Marciano punching Charles in the 15th round non-stop.

[@goognamgoognw6637]

That would not work with tuney as Dempsey two losses proved. with Tuney's footwork and intelligence he seemed to always place his opponent one step off balance behind him and continuously punished their inferior boxing intelligence. This requires brain, hitting hard 15 round doesn't. Brain trumps mule power.

[@slide4180]

I like Tunney's style better than Dempsey's. Jack gets all the press, tho'

[@boxingfan009]

@TheGreatA where did you get the footage of tunney sparring corbett?

[@1saxonwolf]

@The GreatA At 5:51-6;13 is that Jimmy Delaney sparring with Tunney ?

[@HagakureBushido1]

Please can you tell me what's the name of the soundtrack?

[@AliRidah619]

tunney was a beast

[@baroh2413]

@CLEVELEFS The great philiosopher with the brilliant SAT score has spoken. I find it hard to believe that you are 50 years old

[@systemshq1]

Genius! Ali mark 1!

[@1saxonwolf]

@CLEVELEFS I understood clearly your statement. Your desire to elevate Ali concerning Tunney. LorcanFilms didn't mention Ali, you did. I understand your point if it's comparisons. You made it clear your a Tunney fan. I'm a fan of both boxers abilities in the ring. IMO, 1 is under appreciated, 1 is overrated. Both ATG's.

[@loucfur4843]

You need to take into account that these MEN at times would fight 30 or more rounds! They fought until one was knocked the FUCK out or quit. The gloves were lighter and had less protection. The rule was no biting and thats it! Most were about 6 - 6'3 and would train down to fight at 190. Why you ask? So they could fight Fast and quick and hit you until you gave up in the later rounds (after 20 or so). An amateur HW and even some HW pros today would lose badly when these rules are applied.

[@MrTCSimpson]

@CLEVELEFS Great post. Too much black vs white debate around. Im very hapy you acknowledged Tuney as a great. He was. Is. And always will be.

[@baroh2413]

@CLEVELEFS you called yourself an expert. Have you won any major titles or boxed against an elite boxer and won? have you trained any champs?

[@1saxonwolf]

@CLEVELEFS You need to flip your statement. Ali is like Tunney in style. Tunney came first. Ali admired Tunney's boxing. Tunney, one of the best.

[@shonrcross]

great videos. keep em comin. holmes, ezzard Charles, Griffith

[@scnarb]

These guys are not worse technically than todays top boxers they had a different style entirely for very different rules and gloves. Just like how you have to modify boxing a bit for mma you have to modify it for bare knuckle boxing or boxing with small gloves more rounds and more allowance of clenching. Mayweather and Pac man are among the best of all time but under old school rules a LOT of top boxers today would get owned. My own boxing coach says Joe Louis would annihilate the best of today.

[@orcosito7387]

Vertical Boxing

[@TheChoice264]

A lot of idiots here. 1.) To say Tunney was greater than Dempsey based on their two fights is irrelevant because Dempsey was well past his peak; Tunney was at his. Tunney is on record as saying "the 1919 version of Jack Dempsey is the greatest fighter I've ever seen before or since. I don't think I could've beaten that version of him.". This was from an interview in 1978 or so , shortly before he died. 2.) Those saying Tunney was "many years ahead of his time" because why? Because he would stick and move? MANY fighters fought like that from the time of Sullivan unto Tunney's day. It didn't start with Tunney or Ali or whomever else. How can you say Tunney was a forerunner to guys today when Tunney is still light years ahead of any fighter going today? ALL the top fighters in Tunney's day are superior to today's guys. The talent pool took a serious dive beginning in the mid '80's and just plummeted in the '90's to where it is today--rock bottom. Boxing today is a joke. The boxers aren't even fighters and the lack nearly every single fundamental skill both mentally and physically.

[@camplu29]

Weren't they like two years apart in age though? We're not talking about Ali vs Holmes here.

[@TruthLivesNow]

camplu29 lol! Both these two great boxers had enough brains to retire at 32 years old.

[@petebellini1511]

+camplu29 Yes two years apart for those who make excuses for Dempsey. He was 32. Oh so old. He got beat twice by a superior fighter. Period. He was not past his prime. And if he did not take the fight seriously or train hard enough or laid off too long or any other nonsense that Dempsey fans in denial want to claim is irrelevant. The preparation is part of the game. You win or lose without excuses. Dempsey lost without excuses and admitted Tunney was the better fighter. When will his fans wake up and do the same?

[@theonofswords3764]

I largely agree with your point except you don’t give Tunney enough credit in my opinion. There was less than 2 years of an age gap. Tunney dominated both fights with Dempsey. Tunney was a modest man and respected jack. Probably didn’t give himself enough credit. Both had their wars prior to their 2 fights. Tunney had fought Greb five times. That would’ve taken something from him too. It wasn’t just Dempsey who’d had wars.

[@KleePietro]

It is hard to compare fighters from different eras. To begin with the size of professional athletes have increased and boxers is no exception. Dempsey or Tunney would have been 20 pound heavier and 2 - 3 inches taller today. This due to better diet, drugs, scientific training among other factors. I use 5 criteria that are comparable regardless of the era. These are chin, punching power, killer instinct, heart and stamina. Many of today's big guys lack many of these 5 requirements to be great.

[@abudujana13]

THANX THEGREATA

[@manos3790]

Louis was trounced by Marciano when he was 36-7 yrs of age, not too old even by that era's standards, yes Louis would have fared better had he been the same age as Rocky? But, no one ever bested Rocky Marciano, 49&0(43KO's) it's not a fluke is it? His record is pluperfect.

[@1saxonwolf]

Boxing has evolved ! LMAO !

[@charronfamilyconnect]

I wonder if Muhammad Ali was influenced by Gene Tunney's lowered arms stance to conserve energy?

[@TruthLivesNow]

I was thinking the same thing at first. After thinking about it I realized that Muhammad Ali had not seen those film clips before, and that both boxers have the same instinctive style, a Gift from God.

[@bumblebeemoi]

Ali had stated that he was influenced by him.

[@charronfamilyconnect]

Truth Lives If you follow the UFC, we have another protégé with Stephen wonder boyThompson

[@sskspartan]

B Charron No, he is a karate guy

[@eslubin]

@conewells Funny I was thinking exactly that. That he looks just like Ali in this footage

[@baroh2413]

@CLEVELEFS Did i mention scientific racism? Who is my people? do you know my nationality and the colour of my skin? A person who is as intelligent as you claim to be, ought to be able to know the difference between "week" and "weak" and Klitschko and "Kilch". A boxer should try to be the best in his generation. So what do you want the Klitschkos to do? Travel back in time or challenge old men past their prime?

[@petebellini1511]

Dempsey was such a legend in his own time beyond proportions that many were blinded by his mystique. Analyst after analyst rank Dempsey far ahead of Tunney on all-time Heavyweight Champion lists. Yet, the facts are clear. Tunney beat Dempsey 20 out of 20 rounds. Tunney was clearly the better fighter.

[@toledojack88]

fans love a KO-minded fighter and they always overrate them...same reason why tyson keeps getting fantasy matched with ali. i still love jack though, hard as nails he was.

[@heath6809]

+Pete Bellini Did you even watch the fights? how can you say Tunney easily beat Dempsey when Dempsey knocked Gene Tunney out in the second fight and was robbed because the referee was incompetent? Tunney literally collapsed under himself and was limp.

[@petebellini1511]

+Herschel Waddington LOL. No, I never saw either fight before. I used the term "easily" as describing the overall results of the two fights. Tunney won 20 rounds to Dempsey's 0 rounds. They were not easy fights but the fights were not close 20-0. This is what I meant by easy. The ref did make a mistake and gave Tunney extra time but most experts agree that Tunney could have got up before as he tracked the count well before standing. The bottom line that you and many Dempsey enthusiasts cannot swallow are the facts. Tunney and Dempsey fought twice, and Tunney beat Dempsey twice. PERIOD. Dempsey lost twice to Tunney and never beat him once. You cannot argue with facts.

[@goognamgoognw6637]

Tuney beat Dempsey twice. in 1926 by unanimous decision. That says something. The second fight Tunney was again far ahead on the cards when Dempsey dropped him with a ferocious flurry in Round 7. The referree made no mistake, Dempsey did forget the new rule requiring fighters to withdraw to a neutral corner when an opponent was down. Tunney did not look like he needed the few extra seconds anyway,. Tunney survived the round and dropped Dempsey hard in the eighth with a beautiful short-right counter. He went on to win another unanimous decision to retain his title. Tuney 2, Dempsey 0.

[@tuxtucis]

See the way he ridiculizes Carpentier: the greatest light heavy of all times...

[@peterrichard2718]

ya know I watch this and its like they discovered that watching two guys that are just skinny twigs compared to two gorillas isn't entertaining enough because back then its stamina and just pure fuckin hard will call it heart and now its show of appearance and mental spychy plays so much more of a role as television progressed and I believe we have lost the gene tulley rocky marcianos and jack dempseys that would be great to see fight mayweather just because the majority are mentally tuned to stick around to see two gorillas go at it with awe because physical appearance has the mainstream crowd paying more attention to that than the non-physical man maid thought of hard will "heart" that isn't available to be pleasured by the eyes as easy and it just dumbs us down as evolving species and we allow this to just grow like a virus. shame on us

[@truthhitman7473]

Gene Tunney would have beat Rocky Marciano.

[@1saxonwolf]

Tunney would have beat Ali. More complete fighter. Taken advantage of Ali's technical flaws. Great chess match though. The idea that more weight would help is wrong. These guys trained down in weight for all the right reasons. a 190 lb trained fighter clipping you on the jaw is enough force to KO anyone. The ability to fight 3 full minutes at a fast pace is the advantage these champs have over todays plodders. "scientific footwork" LMAO.

[@manos3790]

That's an unhealthy amount of weight to lose in one month? Or unless you've an intense exercise regime going on? I'd be very wary.

[@MortalSyntax]

It´s not that he was faster,stronger or had any physical advantages. He was just better...

[@conewells]

Ok, so he was a white guy, but Tunney had moves like Muhammad Ali. That's how he got to beat Dempsey twice. And he could hit.

[@baroh2413]

@1899sharkey Don't feed the troll

[@TheExecutioner67]

man when i see boxing videos as old as this i can see how much boxing has progressed in terms of style, skills and technique. this guys box worst than today's top amateur boxers. lol

[@baroh2413]

@CLEVELEFS I bet the black hall of famers would be ashamed of you. Like I am. Why are you bringing a movie character into this discussion? The real Rocky is called Rocky Marciano, not Rocky Balboa.

[@TheExecutioner67]

The only thing that i need to take into account is that boxing has evolved. Any top boxer in today's era like mayweather or pacquiao represent the epitome of pure boxing. when it comes down to it. I'm a big BOXING fan which is why i never complain whether mayweather fights defensive for 12 rds or not. If i were more of a fan of pure fighting, i would've long ago jumped into the UFC bandwagon. respect to the real sweet science.

[@BrutalTruth1]

Tunney is probably the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. Even in these old choppy films, its easy to see that as a heavyweight he was faster, more agile, a better combination puncher and far more intelligent than Floyd Mayweather as a lightweight or welterweight. And, on top of Tunney's supreme ring intelligence, he had real punching power, even amongst heavyweights.

[@kingshearer2]

+BrutalTruth1 We'll never know because boxing morphed so much through the years, he was the greatest of his time though.

[@andresrojas22]

damn i still they still bareknuckled in the 20s but this looks quite scientific

[@baroh2413]

He is not underrated.

[@cainepittman2]

i dont think so would have been a good fight

[@cainepittman2]

Also Alis speed and size would be a problem

[@dempsey981]

Good comment,i do believe Ali would have been extremely challenged by Mr.Tunney.Love to see that fight,i'd put another say,10lbs of muscle on Gene for that bout..war!

[@UIHoosierFan]

I'm black-but didn't Ali get beat by two other marines-Spinks & Norton-he didn't want a third. Mike Weaver was a marine also

[@baroh2413]

@CLEVELEFS You keep mentioning people that nobody else brought up. Rocky Balboa, Britney Spears, Snooky, Larry Merchant etc as if you are having an argument with yourself. If you do not acknowledge the Klitschko brothers as champs right now, you are the one who is racially biased. You can disagree with me all you want and still be intelligent but using strawmen, profanity, agrressive language and racial bigotry, like you do are signs of insecurity and lack of intelligence

[@Soulblackman]

Would have been a great fight, but Ali, Ali, ALI!

[@sk8forlife90]

I think if jack dempsey was in his prime and fought gene tunney in his prime, dempsey would have beat gene tunney decisively within 2 to 3 rounds.

[@RRRRapify]

Tunney beating Ali? You're delusional. Tunney is great in his own right but c'mon, seriously, Ali? Don't forget that he had been badly beaten by a smaller Harry Greb, the outcome with an Ali match is not hard to picture.

[@cainepittman2]

he was a great fighter but no way he beats ali would have been a good fight

[@cainepittman2]

Ali would have beat Tunney by UD maybe even stop him. Tunney is a all time great but he is not beat Ali

[@KleePietro]

It is hard to compare fighters from different eras. To begin with the size of professional athletes have increased and boxers is no exception. Dempsey or Tunney would have been 20 pound heavier and 2 - 3 inches taller today. This due to better diet, drugs, scientific training among other factors. I use 5 criteria that are comparable regardless of the era. These are chin, punching power, killer instinct, heart and stamina. Many of today's big guys lack many of these 5 requirements to be great.