Most talented heavyweight before Joe Louis?

Dempsey. He had incredible speed and power. His speed looks impressive even today.

His head movement, left hook, bobbing and weaving style directly influenced later fighters including Tyson.

 

If you threw any other heavyweight pre Louis in with the guys that Jeffries fought in his first dozen fights, they might have ended up in a body bag.

Johnson wouldn't have been able to do it, and neither would Dempsey.

 

This is my answer, but with respect to Baer, who never reached his potential due to guilt over killing a man in the ring.

 

Interesting.

Would you care to expand on that?

 

At his best Dempsey…after rewatching the Tunney 2 fight im convinced if he were prime he would have killed him.

 

Jeffries
Johnson
Fitzsimmons
Wills
Langford
Burns
Dempsey
Godfrey-Shadow
Schmeling
Corbett

 

I forgot about Choynski and feel dumb now.

It's Joe. Talent wise, Joe, or Sam, but Jeffries was the most brutal and dominant. So I guess what you call talent applies.

Maybe some of those little guys like Norfolk and McCoy, Barbados Walcott, etc. On the talent. They only had talent, especially Walcott. Wasn't he like 150?

 

I’d say Johnson and Dempsey as it was indicated by the OP that we’re just talking HWs.

Going P4P I would be nominating Langford and Fitz otherwise.

 

The colored heavyweight champion of the world. Also the #1 contender for the heavyweight crown as late as the mid 1920's. Probably peaked around 1917-20
Wills was good size for his era about 6-2 and 80+ inch reach. Unlike the other giants of that time Wills had coordination and good agility.
He fought Langford an Ungodly amount of times also McVey and Jeanette.

 

Jack...... Who?

 

I am going to go with Jack Dempsey, but I would not strongly argue with some others (such as Jack Johnson or Sam Langford).

 

Came here to say the same thing. Should have been world champion.

 

Dempsey