To be honest i am not sure.. Dempsey was greater but h2h lyle was bigger,stronger and he did hit just as hard if not harder(lyle was mentioned in the same League of foreman in the power departament),dempsey was the better finisher but lyle was tested against bigger punchers than dempsey and he did not bad at all against them. Lyle was 30 pounds of muscle heavier it should be taking in count too.remember tha firpo did put dempsey out of the ring and lyle definitely was better than firpo . It would be a competitive fight
Some very good points. I'm picking Dempsey based on speed and getting right under Lyles punches and landing first. Two tough nasty men. Lyle bigger and stronger while Dempsey faster and the more natural fighter who gets his shots off first. Good fight
Could he have been a sparring partner like Bill Tate? 50/50. Dempsey had a speed edge and Lyle didn't take the best punch in the world.
Lyle never got rocked to his heels by a 172 pound fighter or knocked out in a round by a fat aging old journeyman. I wouldnt want to be comparing chins to Lyle if I was Dempsey. You couldnt drag Dempsey into the ring with Shavers much less Foreman so I think its funny trying to figure out how he would have fared with these guys. He had his hands full trying to figure out ways to duck scary black guys in his era, lets not kill the man with fright by throwing him into the far deeper 1970s. You might as well ask how 172 pound Carpentier would do against Frazier, or how the sickly charity case Miske would do against Foreman. No? Yeah. I thought not.
I'd say Dempsey in a tough fight. Lyle likely whacks him a time or two but I think Dempsey eventually stops him. Eventualy.
Making matchups from different era's always tough. Dempsey was fast & aggresive and Lyle was not a mover, he would go right to Jack . Thing is I have seen Dempsey go down vs Firpo and I seen Lyle get rocked and go into a shell vs Quarry. I seen Lyle land well and hurt Foreman several times and I seen him struggle to KO guys who were KO'd. Dempsey was the harder,faster puncher but Lyle would be durable & in condition. I rate Dempsey as the better fighter and would expect him to win but could be a war. Winner gets Tunney
Dempsey in a rough ,brawling match. Both men's Chin tested. The speed and power of Dempsey over comes Lyle in the end. Jack wins by 7 round stoppage.
I need clarification ...I have read in numerous books that Firpo pushed punched Dempsey. So was it a clean shot or a punch immediately followed by a push??