Gene Tunney v Joe Louis

[McGrain]

Tunney is going to give Louis fits, isn't he? He already has wins over a (faded) wrecking ball type fighter - can he get past the finishing post against Louis?

[janitor]

If I were managing Louis this is one fight I would steer him clear of. At his best he could track Tunney down and stop him but it would not be easy.

[groove]

i rate Tunney a better Heavyweight than Conn so this would be very interesting.

[mightyd40]

idk i think tunney head to head is one of the more difficult fighters to beat......i could see him outpointing louis bc of the conn fight, but i wouldnt be suprised over a late louis ko either


very tough fight

[Dempsey1238]

Not sure if Louis could ko Tunney, outside of Dempsey, Tunney has never been down. We are talking about a all time chin here, and if Tunney did get the lead like Conn did, I would expect Tunney to walk away with the win. Relly bad style match up for Louis imo. Unlike Conn, Tunney would stay with his hit and run game plan and not charge in.

[Duodenum]

Tunney very probably identified the same deficiencies of Louis that Schemling and Jack Johnson noticed prior to Louis's first defeat, also Joe's susceptibilty to feints which Pastor picked up on in their initial meeting. Tommy Farr demonstrated that Tunney could have outjabbed Louis. Joe was a textbook combination puncher, but he didn't have the mixture of one punch power and footspeed needed to send Gene to Spintown. Tunney wouldn't have considered trying to take Louis out as Conn did.

As fast as Carpentier was, what Tunney did to him could have served as the genesis of the phrase, "Boxed his ears off." Joe could have caught Gene with the same sort of counter Dempsey used to set up the Long Count KD. Like a past prime Mauler though, Joe lacked footspeed needed to finish the job, before Tunney could recover from any distress Louis managed to inflict.

Tunney W 15 Louis

[dmt]

Duodenum, i would pick Joe by late stoppage though a tunney win is possible, but i have to say all ur anylysis are ecellent and well thought

[janitor]

Originally Posted by Duodenum

Tunney very probably identified the same deficiencies of Louis that Schemling and Jack Johnson noticed prior to Louis's first defeat, also Joe's susceptibilty to feints which Pastor picked up on in their initial meeting. Tommy Farr demonstrated that Tunney could have outjabbed Louis. Joe was a textbook combination puncher, but he didn't have the mixture of one punch power and footspeed needed to send Gene to Spintown. Tunney wouldn't have considered trying to take Louis out as Conn did.

As fast as Carpentier was, what Tunney did to him could have served as the genesis of the phrase, "Boxed his ears off." Joe could have caught Gene with the same sort of counter Dempsey used to set up the Long Count KD. Like a past prime Mauler though, Joe lacked footspeed needed to finish the job, before Tunney could recover from any distress Louis managed to inflict.

Tunney W 15 Louis

You seem to be envisaging a scenario where Tunney fight's a perfect fight but Louis uses a strategy full of errors.

The only way that would happen is if Louis did not regard Tunney as a serious threat.

[Duodenum]

Originally Posted by dmt

Duodenum, i would pick Joe by late stoppage though a tunney win is possible, but i have to say all ur anylysis are ecellent and well thought

Appreciate the complement. I would never place a bet on the outcome, but definitely pay the price of admission (if I could afford it). We'd see more than 30 seconds of action, and having Joe in it would keep everybody on the edge of their seats throughout, for as long as it lasted. (What more could a paying fan ask for?)

[dmt]

Originally Posted by Duodenum

Appreciate the complement. I would never place a bet on the outcome, but definitely pay the price of admission (if I could afford it). We'd see more than 30 seconds of action, and having Joe in it would keep everybody on the edge of their seats throughout, for as long as it lasted. (What more could a paying fan ask for?)

i think since Tunney is about 20lb heavier then Conn, Louis would have a slightly easier though still tough timelanding on him although Gene's chin at heavy was not tested that much

[Duodenum]

Originally Posted by janitor

You seem to be envisaging a scenario where Tunney fight's a perfect fight but Louis uses a strategy full of errors.

The only way that would happen is if Louis did not regard Tunney as a serious threat.

It's a fair charge you've made. I'm going by Tunney's powers of analytical thinking, and the fact that Joe sometimes needed a rematch to truly decipher an opponent. (It would have been very interesting to see what would have happened if Farr had earned a rematch with Louis.) In a one time meeting, I think Tunney would have been more likely to produce an effective approach than Louis. Joe could be more patient than would be beneficial against Gene.

A huge factor could be how much Tunney can hurt Louis. To catch him off-balance for a KD is one thing, but if he isn't able to buckle Joe, then he might be in a world of trouble.

Gene would need to be very wary of Joe's defensive head movement and counterpunching ability. Louis's right hand was tight enough to slip inside Tunney's jab. Generally, Louis parried his opponent's jab, deflecting it downward. The best way to deter Tunney's jab would be to split Gene's defense, by slipping within it to counter with his cross. No HW Champ had a better executed right than Louis. If he leads with it, instead of starting his combinations with jabs, then he could surprise Tunney, messing him up. If I was Blackburn, I'd instruct Joe to feint the jab, using it primarily as a decoy. Try to catch Tunney circling left, coming towards his cross. Nail Gene with it, as he come in to jab. Louis should come up with his own jab as Tunney turns over to deliver his rights, ducking underneath as his jab strikes back at Gene.

[mcvey]

Originally Posted by McGrain

Tunney is going to give Louis fits, isn't he? He already has wins over a (faded) wrecking ball type fighter - can he get past the finishing post against Louis?

I think Tunney gives Louis fits he was a better boxer than Walcott and bigger than Conn,Conn let his heart rule his head ,with Tunney it was allways the head running the show,I can see him taking a split dec from the Bomber but he would be living dangerously the whole fight.

[McGrain]

Would anyone like to comment on Tunney's susceptability to the Louis body attack? I am bad for fixating on one thing when predicting fights but I think this would be the thing as far as this one goes - how much steam can Louis draw from the kettle with his bodywork.

[Duodenum]

Originally Posted by McGrain

Would anyone like to comment on Tunney's susceptability to the Louis body attack? I am bad for fixating on one thing when predicting fights but I think this would be the thing as far as this one goes - how much steam can Louis draw from the kettle with his bodywork.

I don't think this would have helped Joe too much, considering Gene's withstanding of Dempsey's more dedicated onslaught downstairs. Granted, Dempsey was shot, and their matches only went ten rounds apiece, but at the level of conditioning Tunney maintained, I doubt the less lethal Louis would have enjoyed more success than Jack did. It's a valid inquiry though, well worth asking.

[META5]

Originally Posted by Duodenum

I don't think this would have helped Joe too much, considering Gene's withstanding of Dempsey's more dedicated onslaught downstairs. Granted, Dempsey was shot, and their matches only went ten rounds apiece, but at the level of conditioning Tunney maintained, I doubt the less lethal Louis would have enjoyed more success than Jack did. It's a valid inquiry though, well worth asking.

Dempsey's was more dedicated, but a prime Louis' bodywork would've carried a lot more sting and a lot more accuracy than the faded or even "shot" version of Dempsey that Tunney faced.

Do you honestly doubt that a prime Joe Louis who realises that Tunney is fleet of foot, so concentrating on the body will kill the legs, would have less more success than the Dempsey that Tunney fought?