Jack Dempsey vs. Rocky Marciano

Rocky's traits

pros:

-power, very scary numbing clubbing power

-stamina, had the energy to throw lots of shots from rounds 1-15 without slowing down

-good chin (could take a hell of a beating)

-had a burning desire to win

-could crowd opponents and make them fight at his pace,

-awkward dipping and crouching maneuvers to make himself even smaller and generate power from his thick legs

-best punches: gazelle punch (leaping left uppercut) and suzie Q (a short compact devastating right hand down the middle)


cons:

-skin issues (suffered many bad cuts, swelling, etc)

-very short with short arms, needed to be close to be effective (not a huge factor in this fight)

-could get very wild and sloppy (sometimes punching so hard he threw himself off balance)

-not particularly fast of foot or hand and sometimes struggled with speed

-could get reckless on defense

-not a particularly fast starter and vulnerable early (but came on strong the more the fight progressed)



Dempsey traits:

pros:

-power: very explosive fighter, lunged like a cat

-hand speed: fast hands which boosted his power

-great head movement

-good at closing the distance (not very relevant for this matchup)

-decent counter puncher

-savage finisher who did not let up on hurt opponents

-good chin, took bombs from some good big hitters

-good combinations (could throw 3, 4, even 5 punch combinations)

-good body puncher

-very fast starter who came out swinging

-Best punches: a powerful left hook delivered after a weave, a "roll" (sequence of powerful left right punches to the head).


cons:

-average stamina. His ferocity tended to fade late, although he does have a small number of late stoppages/knockdowns

-could be a little too aggressive and walk into a bomb

-sometimes neglected the right side of his body

-had swelling problems in many fights

-was a little easier to handle if you turned it into a boxing match rather than a slugfest



I think Dempsey should be favored. He brings more pros than cons. Rocky doesn't have the style or tools to really exploit Dempsey's weaknesses but the opposite is true for Dempsey. Power+speed usually beats just Power, especially if the faster guy in this case is a fast starter and the slower guy could sometimes be vulnerable early. Both can take a punch and Dempsey was the slightly better fighter in terms of technique, so unless this goes past the 6th or he pulls off a 1 punch KO, I don't see Rocky winning. He would likely take far too much damage in the first few rounds for his superior stamina and work rate to be a factor. Dempsey is going to be firing on all cylinders from the start and Rocky wasn't a very explosive starter.

I would imagine it to be an incredibly brutal high paced match at ring center, both men covered in lumps. Blood and sweat would splatter across the canvas from wild hooks and right hands flying every second. I think Dempsey scores a knockdown in the 1st on a Rocky who hasn't warmed up and is caught off guard by Dempsey's sizzling hand speed. Round 2, They trade blows and batter each other. Round 3, Rocky lands a suzie Q and drops Dempsey who beats the count and goes into a frenzy landing all kinds of shots to the body and head before landing his dempsey roll and drops Rocky. Rocky just barely beats the count and survives the round. Round 4, Dempsey comes out at full throttle. He throws every punch in the book on a Rocky who is bleeding profusely with a shut eye and drops him. A determined Rocky defies all logic and gets up, exchanging furiously and rocking Dempsey badly. It looks like Rocky might start to make a comeback with his awkward leaning, crouching, and ugly mauling, but due to the difference in speed and technique Dempsey is still landing plenty. Dempsey meanwhile is exhausted and has almost completely emptied his gas tank so he fights at a slower pace and starts to cover up. But just about every time he lands, Rocky's cut gets worse and worse and the ref stops it just before the end of round 4. Dempsey by TKO.

 

I lean heavily towards Dempsey winning via cuts in the mid rounds but Rocky is always dangerous and a Dempsey knockdown wouldn't surprise me at all.

 

Excellent analysis! The pros and cons of both fighters are spot on and the fight scenario is totally plausible. I remember Nat Fleischer's comments on a Dempsey-Marciano fight prior to their computerized fight in the 1967 fantasy tournament, where he picked Dempsey largely based on Dempsey possessing "a fair degree of ring science which Marciano did not have." While I don't believe that Rocky was totally devoid of ring science, I don't think a lot of ring science would be on display in this fight. Like your description, I see it looking more like the Dempsey-Firpo brawl. I've always been a big fan of each of these men and would hate to see either lose. First impulse would favor Dempsey by a mid-round stoppage, but then again this is a fight where I would not be surprised at virtually any outcome. While both are devastating punchers, neither stopped every opponent they faced. It just could happen that both are tough enough to survive the early going and the bout could turn into a battle of attrition, which would work to Marciano's advantage. But as an earlier poster noted, the real winner would be the fans - there is no way this fight could fail to be a thriller from start to finish.

 

This is close. I give Jack Dempsey the edge because he is a little more multi-faceted. Dempsey can be sure he knows what Marciano is going to try to do at the start of every round. Marciano can only be somewhat sure of what Dempsey is going to try. I think in a fight this close in every other way, that spells the difference in the outcome.

 

I favour Marciano in this one and that's because he's better in the areas that this fight would go. I see it becoming a short range clubbing mauling kind of fight, and while Dempsey wasn't bad at that either, it's exactly Rocky's wheelhouse. Dempsey is objectively the better boxer and would be best advised to keep it at long range, using his superior speed and accuracy to pick his moments. But what I saw in the Firpo fight leads me to believe that Dempsey will try out-macho Marciano (and he possibly might do it, let's not underestimate Jacks speed and power here) which is the wrong strategy against a close up specialist and stamina monster like Rocky. I think after a very exciting start it becomes more and more Marciano.Rocky by UD or KO.

 

The fans win for sure!! (I picked Dempsey in a barnburner)

Greatest SuperFights of all time:
Dempsey-Marciano
Louis-Liston
Ali-Tyson
Frazier-Norton
Charles-Holyfield
Foreman-Holmes
Bowe-Lewis

 

Rocky's stamina is his only real advantage that would see use against Dempsey. Dempsey had a far better defense with the bob and weave and slip techniques that he developed and was much faster and more mobile both in attack and retreat. His punches were faster and he used more advanced and effective combos that were not telegraphed at the level of the Rock, and his left was certainly more powerful than Rocky's left. His stamina while not at Rocky's level was still high level and would see him through a 15 rounder. Dempsey is at a considerably higher level technique-wise and would win this, round 6-7 by KO, Rocky gets cut bad here.

 

5 punch combos? He often used 7-8 in some cases. Even as an aging giant in 27' he used a 7 punch combo to knock down Tunney.

 

This. This is why you were banned. I am sure of it. This part of this comment.

 

I don't think there was anything inferior or average about Dempsey's stamina.
He looked fine going 15 against Gibbons, in the sun, coming off a two-year lay-off.
He scored a 12th round KO of Brennan after absorbing some punishment, and possibility wasn't in his best shape for that one either.

 

I'd expect Dempsey to win because he was so fast and light on his feet. He could box going in all directions, despite his preference for attacking.

 

Based on that archival footage, either Dempsey crushes Marciano's skull, or Marciano embarrasses Dempsey.