Gene Tunney vs Joe Louis

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I can't help but think that at some point in the fight Tunney gets caught with something brutal by Louis and that's all she wrote. If Tunney can stay away while landing for the duration he could certainly win...but I'm not sure he would...ask me tomorrow.

 

I think that the type of pressure that Louis brought is different than Dempsey pressure. Not as fast, aggressive and in your face, but, I think, more relentless. I think that, on the surface, the Louis methodical style makes it seem like he would be relatively easy for a guy like Tunney (or Ali) to outbox, but Louis had a great, great jab.
I am a huge Tunney fan- he is probably my favorite fighter because I like his well thought out style in the ring and the way he conducted himself out of the ring. I love Joe Louis because I think he is the perfect punching machine; could ko you with any punch from any hand and he was a devastating combination puncher. Both had exemplary jabs, real punches, not pitty-pat nonsense. Tunney punched well to the body and, I think, probably hit much harder than most people give him credit for.
I think that Tunney could very well out point Louis, given his ability to stick to a plan and focus. I think that he hit hard enough to keep louis honest. I think that he could take a shot from Louis- Dempsey landed 7 to floor him, right? Of course, Louis was, in my mind, a harder puncher than dempsey, so who knows?

 

Tunney wins a comfortable decision in my view.

 

Never stopped, so very good chin.

 

Never fought big punchers either Except for a past-prime Dempsey.

Taking licks from washed-up middleweights and washed-up light-heavyweights who possess average power and taking it from the prime version of one of the hardest hitting heavyweights in history are two wildly different things, I'm sure you'll agree.

When a prime Louis hits Tunney on the chin-- and he WILL during a 15 round bout, make no mistake about it-- he will hurt him. And once he hurts him, he will stop him.

 

Id take Joe Louis by decision. He would score a knockdown of Tunney and take control of the second half of the fight. Louis had a nice, crisp Jab and Tunney wouldnt be able to avoid that totally even when he was moving.

Gene would just get worn down ove the championship distance.

 

I think Louis stops Tunney. His punch technique along with the power would be too much for Tunney. Tunney could dance but can he do that for 15 rounds? If Tunney gets hurt Joe executes him.

 

First off....no one is wearing down prime Tunney. probably the finest conditioned hwt we ever had. My dad watched Tunney train for one of his bouts with Dempsey. We all read the accounts of Tunney running miles backward training for these bouts and my dad actually watch Tunney do so running around Harveys lake in Pennsylvania. Gene would literally run miles backward. Tunney unlike Conn had a feared right hand. It was a terrific punch and Gene could hurt Louis with it no doubt. Either Tunney outboxed Joe for the decision win or Louis comes across with a ko punch/combo at some point in the fight. Certainly Louis could ko anyone he could hit. The pick here is Tunney boxing and moving befuddling Louis at the same time keeping him honest with a right hand here and there. Tunney W15 over Louis 9-6 in rounds.

 

Hi Houdini.

I gotta ask- feared by whom? Washed up middleweights and washed up light-heavies? It sure wasn't scaring any heavyweights. Or perhaps I'm missing the trail of supine heavyweight bodies on his ledger? I'm joking, but you get my point. Tunney was not "feared" by anyone for any reason. He wasn't the type of fighter whose power in either hand instilled fear.

Louis faced fighters with more similarities to Tunney than Tunney faced fighters with similarities to Joe. Gene never faced a class-A power puncher in any of the 3 weight classes he fought in. Unless we want to count a past prime Dempsey.

 

Maybe he APPEARED to be. But what heavyweights did he fight that truly tested his conditioning? He was never "worn down" because he never fought any heavyweights capable of wearing him down. I wondering what his stamina and conditioning would appear to be when Louis belts his body with a few of his famous rib-crackrs. I can guarantee you we would see a lot less spring in Tunney's legs after 6 or 7 rounds of those. Body shots of the type Louis delivered had a way of sapping one's vitality :smoke

 

Dempsey altered his style in fight 2 for the specific purpose of avoiding that right hand. Not saying Tunney was a sonny Liston. What I am saying is he could hit with his right strong enough to hurt Louis. He certainly hurt Dempsey in both fits with that punch. Dempsey is universally considered to have the better chin than Louis.

 

Sure. But I also see from the films that a prime Joe Louis was a lot harder to hit than a past prime Jack Dempsey. Tunney was able to hurt the aging Mauler because he was able to hit him with it constantly throughout the fight. He wouldn't be belting a prime Joe Louis with that kind of regularity.

I also don't think Tunney would have been so bold in throwing that right hand(and definitely wouldn't have had as much success landing it) if it were a prime Dempsey tearing after him on those nights

 

Prime Dempsey IMO would beat Tunney and certainly Louis could have also. Tunney is the pick for me since I see him outboxing Louis with a punch that could keep Joe at bey. Tunney was 10 times the fighter Conn was and would be trained to fight and not exhaust himself no matter the distance. also they don't come smarter than Gene and he would develop a perfect game plan to beat Louis. Louis had a great defense for a boxer/puncher but Tunneys was clearly superior. Pastor, Conn and Wallcott all did well against Louis .....at least during initial encounters. I see Tunney as a far more capable opponent than any of these three.