Bit unfair to compare the worst version we've seen of Wlad in some 9 years to the best version of Dempsey there ever was, imo. Wlad is usually better than he was in the Povetkin fight and Dempsey didn't often look as good as he did vs. Willard. It is equally feasible to claim a Wlad-Dempsey fight would look like Dempsey vs. Tunney as Gene's style was somewhat similar to Wlad's.
Going by the clips, Dempsey does look good -fast, good footwork and fluent headmovement. Willard, though, looks pretty raw - flat-footed, ragged with his punches, unable to set things up properly.
Interesting to note the non-stop clinching in the Willard footage however, guess it ain't just Wlad after all...
Willard has been underrated. The day he fought Johnson he was as fit as any man who ever fought for the hwt title. Good jab ko power in his right hand. He fought his fight plan perfectly against Johnson to win. Dempsey was very quick and one punch from him could end the fight against either brother. They don't make fighters like Dempsey any more. Product of a tough time and they came no tougher.
Uhm No. Fighters 100 years ago weren't stronger, tougher nor superior in any way than today's fighters. If anything, they were inferior to their modern day peers just like in *ANY OTHER SPORT*. Apart from that, Dempsey would compete at CW today and would give up 35-45 lbs when fighting any modern day SHW champ like Bowe, Lewis, Wlad or Vitali. It would be unfair, ridiculous mismatches.
how do you know this? Are you that old? Have you got a time machine? YOU don't know this, you cant prove this, yes you can make guesses and estimations and opinions but no don't make a habit of talking about things you cannot possibly know about as if they were facts.
Wouldn't surprise me from some people to start claiming that Sullivan would beat Klitschkos. Looks like the hatred knows no limits.
Wouldn't surprise me if KLittards cant come up with a single argument to support Wlad beating Jack and thus resorting to underhand irrelevant comments of no value to this discussion.
Wlad would beat Dempsey because he has a hell of a chin, a great uppercut, superb stamina, coupled with a tremendous inside game, and Dempsey's never beat a big man before. Oh wait...
It's funny how you call me that just because I think that this thread is laughable. Most of your comments are about bashing fighters without a single reasonable argument and with denial to accept the common sense when it gets brought to you. If you sit and watch 5 videos of Dempsey's fights, you'll notice that he's bad at cutting of the ring and just chases his opponents. He is good at hurting opponents once he gets to them, thus he focuses on inside game which based in rushing in. Did he display any skill? Yes, but that was fine for 90 years ago, not today. He doesn't have any decent defense, it's ridiculous to compare it to today's standards. How do you beat a little guy with limited defense who just keeps rushing in and has no other good gameplan? Well schooled boxers usually outbox the brawlers and frustrate them, but if you compare Wladimir Klitschko to someone like Dempsey, it's quite obvious that Wlad would KO him without much difficulties. Jack would be eating jabs and right hands all night if he stays outside. If he tries to rush in, which he obviously would, he would get hit, and considering his bad defense, he would get hit a lot. Can he withstand the punishment of a big man for long? No he can't. That's all you need to know about this. Now if you insist on your denial, I give it up, although we could debate this all night long. Dempsey was small and without amateur experience, with limited boxing skills and with one simple gameplan that only works for those who barely know how to defend themselves. That's my impression from what I've seen from his filmed fights. The point is you just don't compare the ancient past champs to present, because it's not fair. There you go. And although I like and respect them, I'm not a Klitschko fan so please exclude that from your future comments.
Dempsey does have the best chance of the pre-1950's heavyweights IMO, but I still wouldn't favor him.