Dempsey and Tunney naming heavyweights who'd beat Jack Johnson

I think Dempsey was full of **** here. He almost certainly never even saw Fitz or Corbett fight.

 

Johnson has been rated as the greatest master of feinting and blocking in hwt boxing history. Add to this the best uppercut as well as the smartest boxer in terms of ring strategy.

 

I'm not sure if anybody could have beaten Johnson, even a busier boxer like Tunney....but who knows

 

What do you expect from a couple of bros who burned so many calories avoiding black fighters.

 

Or Kilrain and Jeffries.
Kilrain had his last fight in1899 when Dempsey was 4 years old. Jeffries had his disastrous comeback against Johnson in Reno 1910 when Dempsey was 15,in two autobiographies Dempsey never mentioned seeing Jeffries fight, I highly doubt he had the werewithal to trek across to Nevada from Colorado and pay for a ticket for what was then billed as the FOTC.

 

Its an interesting piece, but not one I give any special importance to.Tunney was always highly partial to Irish American boxers and he had a low opinion of Jeffries who ,I believe was of Dutch descent.

 

I was most interested in Bernard Gimbal's opinion.

But I wonder what Macy thought about this question? Not to mention J. C. Penney.

 

Thanks man. Great article. Thx for sharing. The kind of cool hard to find stuff looked for on Classic Forum

 

Fleisher sure thought alot of Johnson as did many others of his time. Jack's defense was great against the one punch at a time heavies of his day, would it have held up to Dempsey's two fisted assaults? He had disdain for Louis ability but he never met anyone who could put punches together like Joe, so maybe those two could have taken a win over Jack?

 

Johnson called Dempsey a great 4 round fighter,he said after that he became pretty ordinary.

 

The idea that in Johnsons day no one knew how to throw combinations but 5-10 years later combination punching was "discovered" is BS. Fighters all through history threw combinations.

 

Enjoyed the opinion of someone who saw or knew sullivan

 

And that would be?