Jack Dempsey v Muhammad ali

A lot of today's posters have no idea how great a fighter Dempsey was regarded from 1919-1923. They think that the people who saw the prime Dempsey raise havoc with his opponents know less about boxing and Dempsey than they do 90 years LATER...Yes Dempsey should have fought more often than he did from 1919-23. But he became rich,took care of his folks and family, lived the good life screwing silent film stars in Hollywood
and wasn't concerned how some ESB detractors of him thought so little of his considerable prowess almost a century later...At his best he was a powerful, lithe ,rough and tough sonofabitch,who would give Clay/Ali
absolute hell in a ring....Were Dempsey fighting today ,because of his
physique. powerful upper shoulders and long arms, he could have easily fought at 215 pounds if Jack Kearns thought it necessary...This B.S. that Ali was too strong for Dempsey is hogwash...Take a gander of Dempsey after koing some guys ,lifts the guys on their feet by putting his gloved hands under their armpits...He was a helluva fighter in his prime , whether some on ESB like it or not...cheers for the Manassa Mauler I say...

 

Dempsey has no excuse for not fighting harry greb or harry wills.

 

Seamus,

you rate dempsey awful high head to head for a fighter who didn't prove himself against the best of his own era

 

The difference is Dempsey could really fight and had the style to give Ali fits. The walking statue brothers no matter how much steroids they consume would still only be punching bags for ALI. This is boxing not football....size can be a huge disadvantage when fighting very quick highly skilled opposition.

 

And Ray Robinson ,to give a worthy Charley Burley, a Cocoa Kid, a Holman Williams, a chance to make some real dough ,NEVER gave these worthies
a money shot they truly deserved as they were so much better than some of the inferior fighters Robby fought. WHY ?
And Joe Louis HAD the opportunity to give a few great black punchers as Lem Franklin, Lee Q Murray, Jimmy Bivins, Curtis Sheppard, Elmer Ray [who I saw fight] ,Turkey Thomson,a shot to make some real money, but he tackled many, many inferior fighters instead...Why, why.?
Robinson and Louis are never held under the paranoid scrutiny that a Jack Dempsey is given today ONLY on ESB...Harry Greb my idol was truly a MW,and for Dempsey to fight Greb was a no-win situation...If Dempsey flattened the frenetic Greb,people would say "why doesn't Dempsey pick on fighters his own size "? If perchance Dempsey lost,there goes the meal ticket of Jack Kearns and Tex Rickard...
Harry Wills TRULY deserved a shot at Dempsey's title...Tex Rickard and the NY boxing commission would not SANCTION a bout between a white and
black heavyweight for FEAR of the horrendous racial riots following the
Jeffries-Johnson fight in Reno years before...Many people were killed after this bout,and imagine if Rickard did somehow sanction this fight and
riots occured ? He would have been excoriated for promoting this fight
to make money, whilst riots and deaths occured...
So, I too would have loved to see Dempsey at his best fight Greb and Harry Wills. yessiree...But I understand why these two bouts never came off.
That is why I defend the legacy of Jack Dempsey on a MAN to MAN basis,
the Manassa Mauler in his prime would be more than a handful against
anyone before or since...
P.S. Before Greb died on an operating table,I read an article where he said
to a boxing writer ,"after about 4-5 rounds, Jack would have killed me ".
For what it's worth....

 

i will not answer here because i have no problem with dempsey

 

Oddly enough, I think the older, post-exile Ali might actually fare better against Dempsey than the younger, pre-exile version. The older Ali may have been less mobile, but he was sturdier, more ring-wise, and had a better punch variety IMO. I think he'd find the punches needed to halt Dempsey's attack and do a better job of tying up/neutralizing him on the inside.

The younger Ali, while quicker and slicker, was less sturdy, less experienced, and hadn't fully perfected his technique (except perhaps a fight or two before the exile), which resulted in some struggles with lighter opponents who weren't simply overwhelmed by his speed. I think Dempsey would be a more dangerous fight for this version of Ali.

 

:huh So considering fights that possibly suggest a fighter's weaknesses is "wrong" in fantasy matchups? :huh

 

I agree with the spirit of this post. Dempsey was awesome.

 

The Dempsey who destroyed Willard would have to have a chance with Ali. His sheer aggression and intensity gives him a shot. People have it in their head that Ali was untouchable but he wasn't; he was a great fighter, but not unbeatable.

 

Was Dempsey really better than Chuvalo?