https://streamable.com/d6dd Dempsey uses his quick reflexes to try to bait Willard into an opening. Jack launches a hook, but Willard sticks out his jab while blocking the hook. Willard then leans back to dodge an overhand right, and counters with a straight. Jack tries boring in with body shots, but Willard stops him with a flurry of hooks to the head.
It looks to me like Dempsey catches him a glancing blow to the top of the head then closes in on him. Willard then gets in with some cuffing slaps, but what impresses me there is Dempsey's superior balance. With Willard at 245 pounds, Dempsey at about 185, even a cuffing slap from the bigger man would have knocked the smaller man off balance or spun him a bit if Dempsey's stance had been weak.
Willard was a slapper....had no legs behind his punches. All arm punches. That's what a lot of big guys do, especially in the school yard where they are bigger than anyone else.
Seemed to me that Willard avoided the blunt of the blow but a more skilled big man may have capitalized on Dempsey's telegraphed hook (and the followup right that missed by a few feet) with sharper counterpunching instead of Willard's awkward arm punches.
Dempsey was charging his body and was on the inside. He can't magically set up his distance and let loose with the perfect anchor punch. The fact that Willard connected with that many punches on the inside, considering his size, is pretty impressive. So is his blocking, parrying, and his counter jab.
Jess counters both blows. Sticks the jab out for the hook. And launches a straight right to counter Dempseys right. He then proceeds to walk backwards while Dempsey comes forwards, countering every body shot with a hook to the head.
Yeah what impresses me most about Jack here is his combination of balance and punching technique. The way he swings that right looks deadly.
Yeah, my point was that the counters looked pretty harmless; missed opportunities where a superior fighter might have made Dempsey pay more.
Yeah perhaps. But Willard countered all the punches, and tamed Dempseys rush. I think he did a great job in this exchange.
I think you're giving him too much credit. He looks uncomfortable and uncoordinated. The problem starts with his stance. He stands way too tall and leans in with his weight off balance with that weird left as Dempsey launches his attack, so once Dempsey goes after him it's impossible for him to get his weight under him. So he can't get any weight in his punches at all and he has a very hard time stopping the much, much smaller Dempsey from pushing forward. Not hard to see why he was such easy pickings for Dempsey and lost to some light heavyweight-sized guys.
At the end of the day it doesn’t matter how good Willard looks on film. He was a superheavyweight, who lost his title to a cruiserweight style heavyweight, effectively shattering the myth of the invincibility of superheavyweight boxers. That is what some people can never forgive him for.
:huh Wouldn't that myth have been shattered when Willard crawled out of the ring against the 2-3 Joe Cox 8 years before he fought Dempsey? Who in the world thought that Willard was "invincible" when he'd already lost to ordinary little guys? atsch
This seems to have been the norm whenever a super heavyweight meets with a fast skillful lighter guy. They no longer look like the incredible super athletes they're built up to be. A lot of people thought Willard was going to murder Dempsey.
But he'd already lost to several lesser, smaller fighters, right? How did any reasonable person think he was an incredible super athlete? Sincere questions-- what am I missing?
Willard doesn't have time to set up a big punch because Dempsey is on his stomach throwing punches. Notice how Willard walks backwards. He has to walk backwards because he can't stand still in front of Dempseys blows. You give Willard and Dempsey way too little credit. Dempsey is telegraphed, Willard is slow, etc etc etc When Willard uses his height, he stands too tall. When Willard fights from a crouch, he doesn't know how to use his height. When Willard stands still to throw a big punch, he's immobile. When he walks backwards to counter body shots, he's not taking enough time to set up punches with his weight behind them. etc etc etc