What was Dempsey’s outstanding trait as a fighter, and would it be the right tool to beat Charles? Obviously his outstanding trait was that he was a finisher, one of the best of all time. This probably is an attribute that could deliver him victory against Charles.
I've been here before but not "run off"... What a ****y thing to say. McVey: They were the exact same size. This big man vs small man stuff is ridiculous. I'm not ruling out Dempsey grinding him down, but I simply see a better fighter. Dempsey isn't boxing with Charles, and it is easy for me to envision Charles fighting 15 rounds with Dempsey. I still cant understand why people always go on about Dempsey's chin... His most overrated attribute. Dempsey was very hittable, and if you think Charles can't put punches together on Dempsey and do some damage himself, you're the "ignorant" one...
Tunney felt Dempsey would ko Charles in two rounds. Prime Dempsey could ko anyone he could hit. Dempsey universally was though of as having an excellent chin and could recuperate from a heavy blow in seconds.
I never mentioned their respective sizes. Dempsey boxed successfully against Tommy Gibbons why couldn't he do so against Charles? Charles lost decisions to Layne and Ray ,were they better boxers than Dempsey? They"go on about ,"Dempsey's chin because in 69 fights he was only stopped once and that may well have been a fake.
I pick Dempsey. He proved successful against smaller men even when they were perceived to be the much better boxer. I think he successfully bullies Charles winning a fairly wide points decision.
i'm the only other person who picked charles over dempsey, and this makes no sense to me. dempsey is pretty clearly bigger, when one guy is a hw for his whole career and the other moves up the weights from 160 it is obvious who is bigger. dempsey was in the 180's at 21 and charles didn't weigh that until he was 28. if dempsey was both very hittable and has an overated chin he would have got stopped a lot. video shows dempsey to have pretty poor defense, he can slip a lead and roll with punches competently but that's about it. most of the kd's on film were the result of getting tagged while in all out offense mode and off balance. therefore the only conclusion i can reach is that he has a good chin.
http://youtu.be/uceYB5kfgPY This is a tribute to Dempsey. Great picture quality. Look at his tremendous in fighting that is often lost on old footage. Also pay attention to the reaction of his opponents when hit by left. It almost always moves them and then sends them into retreat. Murderous power. Closes the distance well too. Great fighter. This site has too many Dempsey haters. Yeah he should of fought Wills but don't let that obscure his talent.
Nat Fleischer and a group of sportswriters traveled to Buffalo in 1918 to see young Dempsey fight Gunboat Smith. They were curious to see if this young sensation could "take" a right hand wallop from Gunboat Smith,who had a great right hand. Well in the very 1st round Smith connected on Dempsey's chin and Dempsey shook it off and proceeded to flatten Gunboat Smith. Dempsey protected his jaw tucking it in his chest and as Tunney proclaimed he was very difficult to tag solidly. In the Firpo bout Dempsey threw caution to the winds by rushing out at the opening bell missed a right hand thrown at Firpo and stumbled into a clubbing right hand on his head rendering Dempsey in a dizzy state... He recovered sufficiently to drop Firpo 7 times and in the second round flattened Firpo with a one-two thrown so fast it can hardly be seen even in slow motion...Dempsey was briefly floored one other time when Tunney floored Dempsey, who bounced up very quickly. In 1927 he was a shell of himself but was one tough cuss STILL...
Charles was an excellent technician who had very good power. The Dempsey that lost to Tunney was not a prime version. That being said this is a serious fight and highly competitive but I think the difference would be Dempsey's fire power and speed but Charles was at least as good as Tunney and both men were highly skilled. I would lean towards Dempsey who may be one of the few that could stop Charles but a Charles win is a strong possibility
I don't think you should down play Walcott power Abe Simon who fought Louis and Walcott said Walcott hit harder and I think Rocky said Walcott was the hardest hitter he faced. He didn't always throw with the same conviction as the other two and wasn't as aggressive but he has serious power. I think Charles win a decision he survives the early onslaught might get knocked down but eventually starts to take over probably scores a knockdown of his own.
Charles does not rate with Jack Dempsey. Never has, never will. Walcott was a boxer with a sharp punch. Dempsey a ko hitter on par or better than Louis. Sharkey the only man who fought both Louis and Dempsey said Dempsey hit harder. That's VERY hard punching power.