Name a fighter that would have beaten Joe Louis the night he rematched Max Schmeling

Any fighter in history

 

your saying there is no-one?

 

Great article. Was particularly interested in how you detail the subtleties in Louis' footwork.

 

I think whenever you factor a H2H matchup your figuring the best version of that fighter so this comes down to who thinks Louis was the all time best .. I think he was exceptional but I think he loses some match ups .. it's styles ..

 

but in this case, you also factor that your going against Louis' mentality that night. he had a lot of pressure on him and also wanted revenge.

 

It would be very hard to pick anybody over him.

You could speculate with some people, but would you honestly want money down?

He was just evil personified!

 

well i dunno i think a Muhammad Ali who fought williams vs a Joe Louis who fought Max would have been pretty epic.

 

That writ is for anyone who thinks idiots have been eradicated from this world.

 

The Dempsey of the Willard bout against the Louis of Schmelling 2 is a dream bout and I can't pick a winner.

 

Apparently Dempsey’s old sparring partner Panama Joe Gans was of the opinion Jack would beat Joe and that impresses the hell out of me.

 

I think all the greats had nights where everything clicked and they looked unbeatable. Dempsey against Willard as you say, Foreman against Frazier, Tyson vs Berbick for example. Louis was practically perfect against Schmelling, and would be a tough match for anyone, I don't care what they weighed!

 

Why is that impressive? People get their Egos tied in to picking those they worked & were competitive with + there is nostalgia; if we had no record of times, distances, weight lifted, then many would claim Jesse Owens, distance runners, Paul Anderson & other strong men were the best ever, instead of not being remotely competitive to world class modern athletes.

That being said, boxing has a certain limited amount new technology can help, some older guys were tougher & more savvy, & both of these guys were from long ago. Just the HWs are at a disadvantage since there is no ceiling on size.

But I cannot predict that Dempsey would take out Louis. Lewis was more skilled & exponentially more accurate. He dealt with big bombers & giants very well. Though he did not like swarmers, & reserved judgement on if he would beat Marciano. Given endurance & Dempsey's more checkered record, I would pick Louis.

"Looked" unbeatable is a key though. Willard hadvery few rounds in years & was 37, & Dempsey was breathing hard after his early assaults & may have been only 180 lbs.though not short. This has gotta make a difference in theoretcial matches against the best ever.

A thread where I argue that the Louis peak was likely in '46, feel free to join & comment:
http://www.ajdugger.com/forum.html#nabble-f3829183