Q: How can Don Dunphy claim Louis & Marciano were better than Ali??

Great description Bill, *****-slap Tunney. Hell Tunney joined the fighting Marines in World War 1. What did your brave ***** slapper do ?
Conscientious objector, my foot.
P.S. A conscientious objector was a man like the actor Lew Ayres who
declined to serve for ":moral" reasons ,but requested to drive an ambulance
in the thick of Europe's battles in WW 2. that WAS A CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR.....Know the difference Mr Bill...

 

Could Louis have beaten McCall , Tua , Valuev (I forgot it's u , u will say yes in this 1) , Vitali , Tyson or Foreman ? many here will even consider Liston a favorite over Louis , and y not really (both r overrated) ?

 

I remember watching a special on Jack Dempsey that was recordrd back in the 70's or maybe 80's. In it Barry Thompkins asks Ray Arcel whether or not Dempsey would be competitive if he were fighting today. Arcel looked at Thompkins and said " Competitive? My God he'd have a picnic". He then adds "These fellows today are good performers but they can't compare to the great Dempsey". I couldn't believe my ears. This was coming from one of the most knowledgeable veterans of the fight game so it made me think. If Arcel believes this maybe I need to rethink my "modern is better" philosophy. After pouring over as many clips of the old timers as I could I began to rechange my attitudes somewhat regarding the old timers. Those guys could fight! Now I'm not saying that Dempsey or Louis or Marciano would definitely beat someone like Ali but they wouldn't fold like an accordion either. I think Marciano would have the toughest assignment vs Ali due to the discrepancies in size and speed. Those very short arms and lack of mobility..at least compared to Ali would be a big handicap for Rocky to overcome...but he'd still be a tough night for Ali. Louis and Dempsey would be different animals altogether. More range and more speed...Louis in hand speed and Dempsey in hand and foot speed not to forget 2 fisted power in both. It's funny but when u compare other sports from the past to the modern era, the modern era comes out on top and deservedly so. But boxing is different. Fighting is fighting. How fast you can run or how high you can jump or how much weight you can lift doesn't really matter in boxing like it does in other sports. Can you fight? Can you take a punch? Are you mentally tough? Those attributes matter more in the fight game than just size. For the record I would favor Ali over these 3 men but I wouldn't be shocked if he lost to any one of them either.

 

I might be an "old timer", but I am not devoid of boxing history...You imply for your own bias that a Gene Tunney at 6ft1",and 192 pounds would be
"***** slapped " [Lord I hate those words] by your omnipotent idol, Ali/Clay
who was able to BEAT a slew of boxers who were heavier than he, but
in Tunney, Dempsey's, Louis's,cases, this difference in weight ,somehow
doesn't apply. Somehow Mr Bill, I detect a little hypocracy there,wouldn't you think ? Why does this weight difference apply only to your
omnipotent idol Ali, and NOT to others ??? Why can't a prime Gene Tunney at 192 pounds who was a MASTER offensive boxer, a more punishing puncher than Ali, who seldom cut and never made unecessary moves as Ali scooting around the ring for many seconds without throwing a punch at all. Tunney was very sturdy at 192 ,was all business, and in his last fight put away a strong "hard rock from down under "Tom Heeney,who was probably as tough as a Chuvalo. So Mr Bill, I am not saying Tunney beats an Ali, both in their primes. I give it even odds, but the outcome of that bout would be decided by SKILL and POINTS, and not by WEIGHT. Good day :hi:

 

It's all a matter of opinion, but Don Dunphy has seen a lot of fights and a lot of fighters.
I heard in a interview once where he said Ali was the fastest heavyweight he's ever seen and Frazier was one of the toughest fighters he's ever seen.

Nat Fleischer said Jack Johnson was the greatest heavyweight fighter, far and above Louis, Marciano, Dempsey and Ali.

 

Prime Ali weighs anywhere from 188 to 214.5, usually in the 190s to low 200s depending on how he trained.Tunney weighed from 180 to 192. It is unlikely that there would be more than 10-12 pounds between the two, is there

 

Mr Bill, somehow I detect the "real" Mr Bill . Bleeding hearts have ruined our society,and if you cannot confront them in their ruination of personal responsibility, you or i don't have to contribute to such verbal garbage...
Let us agree to disagree, wouldn't you say ?:good

 

Bourbon is good, but I just discovered a strong Indian drink.
One shot and POW :happy