Who else could have finished Willard like Dempsey ?

Obviously none of you learned anything from my Willard is Fast! thread :bart

 

According to boxrec, the number 30 fighter in the world is Deontay the Bronze Bull Wilder.

A modern sized Superheavyweight with modern sized skills and undefeated to beat. His size is similar to that of Jess Willard. And here is a video from one of his last fights that earned him this top 30 fight. It was a two round demolition against Damon McCreary who is a skilled super middleweight (like many who Willard faced) but who was able to use modern supplements to bulk up to heavyweight.
This gives a good idea of what some of Willards opponents could have done and looked like with theaid of modern nutrition and training. Being fare though, i think Willard might have still been able to beat this guy and sneak into the top 30.

All jokes aside, Wilder actually looks pretty good, i might look a bit more into him. But one has to wonder whether McCreary would even be a professional fighter at this stage of his career, in Willards time. Unbelievable to consider that he is described in this video as being a promising Supermiddleweight. I would bet serious money on John L Sullivan (who by the way should definitely be in the argument in this thread and is probably the best proven and outside of possibly Tyson and Foreman, quite comfortably the best chance of turning the trick) to demolish McCreary in 1 round.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF9OuVDyyq8

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4tvd6iZSC4

and here is Deontay Wilder against Damon Reed which is another demolition within 4 rounds.

Reed had just been the distance with Toney and lasted more than 4 rounds with Rahman, in his last two fights. He had been previously stopped within 4 rounds by Monte barrett and Herbie hide. This seems to be the type of guy that modern world class opponents who are big hitters are capable of stopping (50-50 or less).

Interestingly, he fought in one heavyweight vs light heavyweight fight against throwback fighter Reggie strickland. The light heavyweight Reggie lasted the six round journey but lost a decision.

Call me crazy, but i think Willard looks better than Reed, and i think it fair to say that there is no way that Willard would be stopped in the same manner as Reed was.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxmuZMSF0Po

For those, (if any) interested there is deontay against a former light heavyweight WBO challenger and again he has the quick KO win. He is really clowning around. but other than that he seems to paw with the jab quite a bit, like Willard. Outside of Willards proven chin and ability against actual top level and world class opponents, there are some pretty decent comparisons. Though i dare say, if Deontay proves his chin to be like willards and can beat the level of guys willard does, he will be rated no 1 as opposed to number 30.

And again, for what it is worth, Deontay seemed to think he went pretty good in his "exhibition fight" (sparring) with Wladimir Klitchsko and does seem like he might become a shot at Klitchsko. I wonder whether Willard would be similarly confident and be able to take Wlad's punches like Deontay sounds like he did?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dUkNAXBR_I

 

Mike Tyson, George Foreman, and Sonny Liston come to mind. Possibly Joe Frazier or Joe Louis of the champions. Of the non-champions, the ones I would guess could seal the deal in under 3 rounds would be Max Baer, Buddy Baer, Earnie Shavers, and possibly David Tua based on their punching power and record of early round knockouts.

 

I can see the Robinson O'Hallaran comparison.

They both were unstoppable forces, impervious to punishment, with just the one weakness which lead ultimately to the their KO downfall against their biggest challengers. Robinson had the heat against Maxim and O Halloran had the Kriptonite against Superman. We all know that Muhammed Ali holds a recorded victory over Superman.

And when he won the world title, Jess Willard was considered a super man of his own sorts. I think Jess Manages to beat both Sugar Ray Robinson and O Hallaran. Given that it is very unusual for the copy to beat its predecessor (ie Sugar Ray Leonard will never beat Sugar Ray Robinson etc) I think Willard is a safe bet against superman but falls short against Ali.

Jack Dempsey on the other hand we all know from Reading the Dempsey Chronicles, was turned into a robot from the future and ended up beating the invincible robots and winning the world title. He might just best Superman and Muhammed Ali, for all we know.

 

Only Mike Tyson. Foreman just doesn't have that ferocity in him.