How does Jack Dempsey do in the 70s?

He's either #4 or #3. His rumbles with the top guys of the time would be damn legendary.

Old white guys everywhere bring up Dempsey instead of Marciano as their heavyweight golden boy.

 

Dempsey in the 70's would start at heavy. He started as middle in his own era because he started as a teen who didn't have access to proper nutrition.

Dempsey was naturally bigger than Jerry Quarry for example. He was 6'1 185-190 lbs at his peak and would weigh similarly in the 70s.

Dempsey beats Quarry, Bonavena, old Patterson, Ellis, Bugner, Norton etc.

Shavers has a real punchers chance but given his own chin issues, Dempsey probably stops him.

Foreman mauls Dempsey. As great as Dempsey is, Foreman is too powerful.

Dempsey would be the underdog vs 70s Ali. Yes, Ali struggled somewhat with swarmers with big left hooks, but conversely Dempsey also struggled with fast mover types.

Frazier-Dempsey is 50-50.

Overall, it depends on whom he is matched against and when. If i was managing him, i would keep him away from Foreman and match him vs the likes of Bugner, Quarry, Bonavena etc. - winnable fights for him.

Wait until post Manilla to fight a worn out Ali.

 

He beats Quarry, Bonavena, Norton, Ellis, Young. Loses to 71-75 Muhammad Ali. Might beat Frazier, but then again, he may not. His rumbles with Shavers and Lyle would be legendary, but he stops both. George Foreman would slaughter him early. But, on the off chance that Dempsey makes it out of the early rounds, he could possibly KO Foreman late. He would lose to Holmes, who was a bigger, harder punching version of Tunney.

 

Hard to say exactly but I think he’d do reasonably well.

It would be interesting to see how well Jack’s style translated to the, then, relatively mod. era of the 1970s.

He appeared stylistically ahead of his time during his own era - enough to successfully carry him through forward some 40 years later?

I think he’d make for some exciting fights at the least and it would be fun to see how much his formidable P4P power might effect some well proven 70s chins like those of Bonavena, Quarry etc.

Dempsey’s true height is interesting.

In Adam’s first book on Jack, there are a few TOTPs that listed Dempsey at a fully matured 5’11 1/2” or so.

Tunney was generally listed as being 6’ 1/2” and Jack seemed a touch shorter than Gene. M

 

I do not think Jack Dempsey is good enough to beat Muhammad Ali or George Foreman in the 70's, unless he catches Muhammad Ali very late in that decade, like 1978. He certainly could do what Leon Spinks did at that time, grab the Lineal Heavyweight Title that way, and, unlike Leon, hold it in the rematch. I believe a prime Jack Dempsey could handle anyone else from that decade, if he stays focused, with no long layoffs.

 

He beats Quarry, Ellis, Lyle, Shavers, Bonavena, Chuvalo and even Frazier. He beats anyone they put in front of him possible exceptions of Ali and Foreman.

 

Reasonably well but he's not beating Foreman, Frazier, or Ali.

He's there with the second and third string, winning some and losing some to Norton, Quarry, Shavers, Lyle, Ellis, Bonevena, Young, Chavulo...

 

Dempsey could beat Frazier. Dempsey was most susceptible to a right cross not a left hook and he was the fastest starter in the history of the division. Comparatively Frazier was a slow starter, although these boards have debunked that somewhat, he would be a slow starter compared to Dempsey. If we take the 1969 fight of the year as a measuring stick for Frazier, I can see Dempsey doing far better than Quarry as he was a much stronger puncher and had endless stamina. Style wise it would be epic but it is a fight I can see Jack winning.
Norton folds to Jack’s punching. And while Jack could lose a couple surprise fights like most fighters in the 70s did I think he could easily be a major force to reckon with.

 

He definitely wouldn't become the #1 or #2 guy of that era. HW boxing was nearing its plateau in terms of elite skills, far above most of the boxers Dempsey rumbled with like Willard, Firpo, etc.

There's a few scenarios where Dempsey could become champ:

-The HW tournament. I can see him making it to the finals and beating either Quarry, Patterson, or Ellis that would no doubt be exhilarating matchups, but Dempsey should be favored.
-If the stars are aligned, perhaps he gets to Mathis first and wins the NY title, then unifies with the winner of the HW tournament
-Goes without saying he could potentially steal the title from the chubby, aging old Ali who went life and death with guys like Young and Spinx.
-If he got to Norton first before Holmes did, that's a fight I could see Dempsey winning with high to extreme difficulty. Although he wouldn't be able to keep his title long with so many so many tall, athletic, strong heavies on the rise in the 80's, not to mention Holmes himself likely boxes his head off.


But, that's about it. He has a puncher's chance against Frazier when Frazier has the title. Anything could happen as both men were ferocious, front footed pressure fighters with quick hands and dynamite in their fists (although Frazier had the more proven stamina and faced a wider variety of styles). That's a 60:40 fight in my opinion, leaning slightly towards Frazier.

I give him approximately 0% chance of beating early 70's Ali or Foreman.

Some winnable fights for Dempsey that would prove exciting:

Oscar
Shavers
Chuvalo
Lyle
Terrel
Old Liston
Wepner

Unsure if he could beat

Young
Bugner

 

You make some good points. Fair enough. But i think he would outgrow middleweight quite quickly.

Even if he started at middleweight, he would want to move up. I don't think he could stay less than 160 for very long. I suspect he could stay at 175 but even then, he was 192 lbs vs Fripo. And not a fat 192 but a lean and trim.

Some fighters don't physically mature until their mid 20's. I don't see 26-28 year old Dempsey fighting at light heavyweight. Dempsey was larger than the likes of Quarry and Ellis and if those guys chose to fight at heavyweight due to the money involved, so too would Dempsey.

 

So he was 21 at the time.

Its possible he wouldn't even turn pro till he was 21-22 years old and fight amateur instead.