Jack Dempsey was the most translatable old timey heavyweight

If the combination of "modern diet" and shorter fight distance (which also promotes heavier fighters) could get him to about 210, 215, I think he definitely had the right tools and fighting style to translate to the modern game.

The thought of a juiced up Dempsey is damn near sadistic

 

I disagree but for the sake of 4th of July ill agree that Dempsey was a monster and would do good in any era (even if I think Dempsey doesn't need that era's training and diet!)

I'm surprised you didn't include Louis as well

 

Dempsey clearly has raw athleticism and explosive aggression that you’re either born with or without.
You could do a lot with him with proper coaching and diets.

 

I think he's a tad underdone weight wise to really factor against the likes of bigger ATG's personally. He's under 190 at his best and like Marciano i think they are just giving up a bit too much.

 

I would be a lot more confident with Louis in the modern game.

 

I agree, he brought a new dimension into heavyweight boxing quick as a cat on his feet,his all out aggression and two handed power revolutionized the division.Langford had his power ,maybe more, but was more leisurely in his approach, possibly to give the White folks a run for their money ,especially against vanilla opponents.Dempsey is the poster boy for "the best defense is a great offense". Whatever the rights and wrongs of the Wills affair ,before he went Hollywood ,Dempsey was a tiger,a force of nature.
His ever forwards bob and weave all the while humming as he did so, looking to hook devastating short shots into body and head ,his full on unabashed viciousness electrified audiences.
His destruction of Willard was likened to," a half starved timber wolf savaging a sheep." There had been nothing like him among the big men before and wouldn't be again until the more methodical and emotionless young Joe Louis appeared on the scene.

 

Unlike Marciano who was perceived as a lesser version of Dempsey in the 50's, Jack had the speed and elusiveness to compete against the big guys, whether he would be as successful today is another matter.

 

Louis was better, but I do think Dempsey probably had the better style for larger heavyweights.

Though I'm confident both would do well.

 

Natural fighters like Dempsey would find success in any era.

He may not necessarily be a heavyweight today but he'd be a winner in whatever weight class or fighting discipline he competed in imo.

 

Both were very effective against larger heavyweights, but I think that Dempsey had to work to tighter margins of safety.

He had to really commit to getting inside, and slipping those punches by a fraction.

Louis could sit behind a fairly tight defense, while he was dismantling a much larger fighter, and looks like he could almost take a breather if he wanted too.

 

All great fighters just seem to have that extra time to do what they want to do. The perception of reading what’s coming, or being able to instigate what they can force the other man to do in order to meet the right punch at the right time that they want to throw. It’s all very subtle. It’s all very instinctive.

The fashion for gaining weight and developing strength has really only helped the biggest men to finally become relevant enough at championship level.

The regular sized heavyweights were doing fine. But the advances in “modern training” has also made the impression on bulking them up and extending their careers too.

 

Disagree. Dempsey was light ( Under 200 pounds ) , didn't focus on defense ( Was hit too easily ) , was down or shaken up too often when hit, and didn't beat enough quality opponents to say he would translate the best into the modern age.

I agree he had fast hands and could hit.

" A " level beard? He has a KO 1 loss, and was shaken up or floored a few times on film. You might want to revise that one. More like B level Beard.

 

I'll agree with most of this, however, it took Dempsey something like 99 power shots ( changed from hurt to Finish ) Willard, and foul play is suspected here.

Dempsey didn't fight Wills or Greb, and as champion, he could have fought anywhere in the world if NY State didn't want the fight. These two were his best possible opponents as Champion

The best two opponents he fought on film were Jack Shakey who was the better skilled and had Dempsey in some trouble until the low blow, sucker punch of a hook when Sharkey complained to the ref, and Tunney who easily won 19 of their 20 rounds, and was close to stopping the mauler. Had the fight been 12 rounds, Tunney might have stopped him, 15 for sure and Dempsey himself needed help to find Tunney in the ring to shake his hand after the final bell. Tunney offered Dempsey a third fight, Dempsey wisely declined.

Dempsey best opponent beaten could have been Miske and they drew when Billy wasn't sick / slowly dying. He struggled with Brennan on film, though he ended up coming on to stop him late. So his resume has holes in it.

 

Langford looks just as spectacular in 3 fights we have. Who is better is hard to decide, but I'm not sure that Dempsey is far from the rest of his contemporaries.