The semifinals of The Roaring Twenties Heavyweight Extravaganza will take place on a single night at the Polo Grounds, the upper Manhattan landmark that hosted top seed Jack Dempsey's legendary second-round knockout of Luis Firpo in 1923.
Jack Dempsey (1) vs. Max Schmeling (4)
In the main event of the semifinal card, Dempsey looks to continue his knockout streak against Max Schmeling, who bears a much stronger physical than stylistic resemblance to the tournament's prohibitive favorite.
Schmeling's best hope is to box well enough to survive Dempsey's initial onslaught. None of the Manassa Mauler's first four foes lasted five complete rounds, with only Cinderella story Quintin Romero Rojas making it to the fifth. Dempsey's quarterfinal win over No. 9 Jack Sharkey might have been his most impressive outing, as he demolished the rugged Boston Gob inside two rounds with a furious two-fisted attack in the second frame.
While Schmeling looks to extend Dempsey into the later rounds, he showed sufficient early power of his own in the quarters, shocking No. 5 Harry Wills with a fifth-round KO.
Gene Tunney (2) vs. George Godfrey (11)
Tunney enjoys tremendous advantages in technique and quickness, but Godfrey has proven his power and size to be tremendous equalizers.
In the quarters, Jack Johnson thoroughly outboxed and outpunched The Leiperville Shadow for 11 rounds, but a devastating left hook early in the 12th round put Godfrey in the semis.
Meanwhile, Tunney advanced by coolly outboxing No. 7 Billy Miske, tattooing his foe with rhythmic left-right combos for the first 10 rounds, then retreating over the final two frames to settle for a close, but clear-cut, 12-round decision.