They aren't physically equal, though. In shape Tyson was about 25lb of muscle heavier. Not saying that he would therefore beat Dempsey but you can't say two men are physically equal with that kind of weight disparity.
I don't think Tyson would have been unnerved, Reinhardt. If we're talking 1919 Jack then he wouldn't have that legend behind him; Tyson wouldn't have had to be starstruck. If anything, it goes the other way imo. Tyson would have seen plenty of 6'1" 190lbers. Did Dempsey ever see a 5'10" 220lb block of muscle? Also, I don't want to play the race card but that's more slightly uncharted waters for Dempsey, notwithstanding sparring with George Godfrey, whereas his being white may well have bolstered Tyson's confidence. In 1988 he would have seen how black fighters had pretty much dominated the heavyweight division since not long after Dempsey's reign and the colour bar was lifted.
It's a certainty. Two of the most exciting, hard hitting heavyweight s to walk the earth, trying to crush each other skulls..
Na i like to look at the whole picture in total. . size does matter but its not everything. Sometimes your opponent has certain skills , grit or engine to offset those size advantages For example. Marcianos is smaller than AJ. At 5'10 .190 pounds. He isn't a big heavyweight. AJ is 6'6 240 around there . bigger guy and maybe the bigger puncher. However i know he can hurt the rock and drop the rock . the question is how long can AJ continue his attack. Can he stop the rock ? If he dosent we know that the rocks power and pressure plus his 10/10 engine can wear out joshua who tires out. Thus i could see a KO for Marciano late. I like to look At the whole picture
Dempsey squared up and was wide open...............and what highly skilled 220-240 pound 6'2 to 6'5 Heavy did he ever beat.....was Tyson ever knocked out of the Ring.......did Tyson ever struggle with sub 200 pound Skinnies.........did Tyson ever pull the race card.......do you want me to go on..... Dempsey looks fast and powerful against the oafs of his time in sped up black and white.....was he a tough SOB...sure, but the quality of fighters he faced and defended against including said super skinnies would not even be ranked at Heavy in Tysons time. Fact. There is absolute nothing Dempsey brings to the table what Tyson had not seen before and he would play right into Tyson hands while Dempsey going toe to toe and bringing the fight to him because that what Dempsey did, he overpowered/overwhelmed his opponents while going Blitzkrieg. The problem is that Tyson was a even better Blitzkrieg fighter who up to the Buster fight was hit maybe with 4 clean hard shots thru his enitre career up to then.......it was extremely difficult to get a clean hit on him and he fired right back. Dempsey, straight out of a time machine has never ever seen a fighter like Tyson...text book skill, speed of hand and foot ,size,plus foot work dynamite in both fists with punches in bunches and a granite chin.........he is simply too open in his rushes and lunging in ...getting timed, countered and counted out he will be........it could be very quick....1-2 rounds max. dempsey is taking the nap, same with Johnson or marciano.
Strength isn't inherent to just weight, Dempsey was a strong guy by all accounts and he's shown it on multiple occasions. I favor Tyson in power by a slight margin, but I highly doubt the physical difference is that big.
I don't think there's much room for doubt regarding the physical difference, though. That's based on tale of the tape records which are (supposedly) matters of fact. It's who had more power that would be subjective and harder to put an actual measure on.