Dempsey vDon Co^kell?

Can anyone picture Don C..kell lasting 9 rounds with the Dempsey of Toledo, or of Firpo ???...Impossible to even imagine. Dempsey was a murderous and accurate hitter in his prime who stops the brave Co..ell in 2 rounds...

 

Why the Dempsey of Toledo?

Marciano was 4 months short of his 32nd birthday.

In fairness to Marciano, there is no reason to think he was in his prime,

and according to reports he had trouble focusing for this fight.

 

I dunno EM. whether he was in his "prime" or not but 4 months later Marciano looked great battering a much superior fighter than C..kell, when Rocky utterly destroyed Archie Moore...Remember also Marciano started late in boxing at age of 24, and only fought for 8 years....
Even the 32 year old Dempsey after a 3 year layoff from any fights in the ring kos the stationary and hittable Don C in a few rounds. I have posted this before Marciano who I saw ringside
fight truly missed half his punches, depending on great workrate and stamina...Dempsey was a much more faster puncher with great accuracy and needed but 6 inches space to ko an opponent...
Just look at the fast and powerful one-two combo that flattened
the 220 pound Firpo in the 2nd round. So damn fast you can hardly see it...

 

Dempsey is unable to finish off the modern sized HW Cokell, who's 20 lb weight advantage cushions the blows. Cokell comes on strong in the late rounds, putting his weight behind his punches, finishing Dempsey off.

Boxing is always advancing, in the 50s there was no color line and the big men like Cokell were more skilled than the crude brawlers of the early century.

 

Fair enough post.

Don C was probably Marciano's worst effort on film, although he still completely dominated the fight.

Dempsey's worst on film, in my judgment, is the 1920 Brennan fight.

*Marciano and Dempsey were the same age when they retired. Dempsey had been a fighter longer, but didn't fight three of those years. He also had more fights, but I think the tough fights the two had would be pretty close.

 

Picking Don C to compare with the man who was champion for most of the 1920's is stacking the deck a bit, isn't it?

Actually, watching Don C on film, he had more than a bit of skill.

 

I could not picture Willie Meehan lasting 4 rds with Marciano or Levi Billups (who got KO'd in 1 by Corrie Sanders going the full route with Lennox Lewis. I really dont think Marciano took Kockel seriously but Kockel took Marciano seriously and showed tremendous heart and will to do his best. This was Marciano's worst fight but was still a shut-out and a KO win. Its hard to get mentally and physically up for certain guys but sometimes they get up for the opposition and do their best. Hat off to Kockel but he was still dominated by Marciano on an off night. Can you imagine Wepner going the distance with Marciano or Dempsey...I seen Wepner fight live a few times... he would get murdered.

I can not see Gibbons last 10 rds with Marciano either, different styles

 

If the thread starter's point is to degrade Marciano ( again ) he should take note that Dempsey had his share of problems vs. fleshy fighters too. In fact he lost to one.

I could see a Cowboy Luttrell type of ending here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCQ0eqQTL74

 

If fights were 4 rounds many slick boxers would be hard to beat. This is why I don't degrade Dempseys standing at all because he lost to Meehan. In a longer bout my feeling is it would be a different story.

 

I see a prime Dempsey Ko Ing Don Co^kell in around the same time as Marcaino.

Don was a tough SOB, And had some skill. He was a tough nut to crack.