What if Jack dempsey after defending his title in 23 against Firpo he retired to the Hollywood life but then returned to the ring in say 1929. Would that lay off work for him to challenge a sharkey or a schmeling or would he be beat far worse than he was against tunney?
Worse,Dempsey relied on speed to get him into range speed to get his punches of and speed to evade incoming.His legs were not there against Tunney and a longer layoff would have seen a fairly pedestrian puncher who could not close the gap.imo
Fergy your hw division questions are always thought provoking !! I feel if JD did what GF did it would be different . JD before Hollywood was a savage beast who tore through his opponents without mercy. 6 years of HW would take this edge from JD. Fighters who take a long break are never the same. All fighters who lost time off during WW 2 were never the same like Joe Louis , Billy Conn , Tony Zale and Ali after Vietnam . Foreman was only able to compete because division was so weak.
This. And Dempsey didn't possess that long, thundering jab which allowed George to shut down the ring and minimize his need for excessive movement.
