[MeBig]

I just watched the dempsey-willard fight on youtube for the 50th time and considering willard's injuries(broken ribs, missing teeth, broken jaw, broken everything) i think it's safe to say he wasn't wearing a mouthpiece. Around what year were the first mouthguards used in boxing and when did they become mandatory. One of the old-timers here must know.

[Roid Monster]

"The first recorded use of a mouthguard was by boxers and in the 1920s professional boxing was the first sport to make mouthguards mandatory. In those days, the mouthguard or toothguard, as it was then called, was a preformed, thick semi circle of rubber, which was worn over the top teeth." - from the british orthodontic society website.

[MeBig]

how the hell did those guys fight for 80 rounds with 4 ounce gloves and not lose all their teeth? I've gotten a couple of mine loosened with a mouthpiece and 16ouncers when i first started. It seems that losing teeth was unavoidable in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

[Kid McCoy]

The very first attempt at a mouthpiece goes back to the 1790’s, to legendary bare knuckle champion “Gentleman” John Jackson, who used a device fashioned from pine sap gum resin that was imported from the Southeastern part of America (United States) and delivered directly to the society man champion’s door.

The darling of the aristocracy, Jackson wished to keep his smile strait.
The gum rubber however, would become soft and malleable and became an impediment to Jackson’s breathing, and it never really caught on as a ring accoutrement until over a century later.

In 1913, legendary Ted “Kid” Lewis, “The Aldgate Sphinx” (cool nickname) worked together with his dentist friend, the retired fighter Jack Marks to develop the modern mouthpiece much like those seen today.
He used it first in his fight against Alec Lambert for the British Featherweight Title.

Directly after, it became standard equipment for fighters, first mandated as such in 1918.

The unit is obviously going to protect your teeth, but is more a point of controversy regarding it’s contribution to getting KO’d.
One school suggests that a fixed bite-down lessens natural jaw movement, transferring more rotating shock to the brain, making it easier to get KO’d when using a mouthpiece.

Dental problems, however, were more than just an aesthetic issue before the days of effective sulfa drugs and modern antibiotics, and more than one fighter died of tooth infection caused by getting their teeth repeatedly knocked loose.

[mschatz]

As usual with Kid's posts, thread over.

[MeBig]

Originally Posted by Kid McCoy

Dental problems, however, were more than just an aesthetic issue before the days of effective sulfa drugs and modern antibiotics, and more than one fighter died of tooth infection caused by getting their teeth repeatedly knocked loose.

That's nuts man.

[Saku4me]

Originally Posted by MeBig

I just watched the dempsey-willard fight on youtube for the 50th time and considering willard's injuries(broken ribs, missing teeth, broken jaw, broken everything) i think it's safe to say he wasn't wearing a mouthpiece. Around what year were the first mouthguards used in boxing and when did they become mandatory. One of the old-timers here must know.

Dempsey was so small compared to Willard. Dempsey was like 6' 190lbs and Willard was like 6'7" and 245lbs or so. That was a beating though.

BTW, I could've sworn there was some controversy over Jack "Doc" Kearns saying he used plaster of paris to wrap the hands of Dempsey. Maybe I was just imagining things but I thought I heard this on ESPN Classic when this fight was shown 3 years ago.

[mschatz]

Originally Posted by Saku4me

Dempsey was so small compared to Willard. Dempsey was like 6' 190lbs and Willard was like 6'7" and 245lbs or so. That was a beating though.

BTW, I could've sworn there was some controversy over Jack "Doc" Kearns saying he used plaster of paris to wrap the hands of Dempsey. Maybe I was just imagining things but I thought I heard this on ESPN Classic when this fight was shown 3 years ago.

Theres reason to believe Doc Kearns was full of shit. Dempsey and Kearns had a hell of a falling out, and Kearns tried to get back at him in a couple different ways.

[Saku4me]

Originally Posted by mschatz

Theres reason to believe Doc Kearns was full of shit. Dempsey and Kearns had a hell of a falling out, and Kearns tried to get back at him in a couple different ways.

So Kearns did make those allegations...right? I just wanted to make sure I remember correctly.

[mschatz]

Yep