Jacks Dempsey ranking - arguments

A few places outside of the top 10, just behind Foreman (who also doesn't make my 10).

 

i'm not a fan of dempsey at all and don't understand how you could expect a 188lb fighter from 80 odd years ago to compete with a modern heavy at 230lb.he once called joe louis glass chinned , but spent as much time on his arse as joe did

 

If you want to learn about Dempsey read Randy Roberts book, Dempsey's autobiography ,written with his wife is good too.
This is the same Randy Roberts whose book Papa Jack ,about Jack Johnson was the basis for 90% of Unforgiveable Blackness, the documentary you tried to lecture me on ,some time ago.Where you ended up calling me the forums' whatever, you remember Charley.


"It was you Charley ,it was allways you ,you was my brother Charley,you should have looked out for me a little bit".

PS How's the sports shop going Charley?

 

marciano and lewis is ahead of him..but he ranks higher that holyfield, holmes and foreman

 

While it’s true Dempsey lacks a win over another all time great heavyweight, and he has some shady outcomes in some of his most famous matches, I believe he has done enough to rank as a top all time 10 heavyweights.

Here’s why I beleive Dempsey should be highly rated:

*Power. Dempsey was a true two fisted puncher, with knockout power in both the cross and the hook. Many punchers only have fight ending power in one hand. With Dempsey, once he landed his best, the other guy often went down quickly, and shortly after that was O-U-T. Dempsey was not an attrition type of puncher like Marciano or Frazier was in most cases. Dempsey carried his power well into the later rounds too.

*Size and Style. Dempsey was an aggressive swarmer / stalker type who excelled as both an out fighter, and an in-fighter. He worked the head and the body equally well and could string together combinations. At 6’1 1/2”, and 77” of reach, Dempsey was by no means a short or limited reach type of fighter. While a prime Dempsey weighed about 188 pounds in the 1920’s, he had no trouble knocking out modern sized heavyweights, and some of them had top chins. Dempsey had the frame to properly carry about 205-210 pounds.

*Speed, reflexes, and agility. Dempsey had excellent hand speed, good reflexes, and unusually quick feet in comparison to all great heavyweights. He could move forward, backwards, or in a circular motion to get angles on others fighter. Most punchers just aren’t this fast with their hands or their feet, nor can they circle or get angles then attack the way Dempsey could. Dempsey has a speed advantage over most sluggers, a reach and height advantage over most swarmers, and the footwork speed to catch up to the deluxe boxer types. When you combine this with his power and aggressive nature, you have a unique type of fighter.

*Chin. Dempsey has one KO loss in 83 fights. This is very good. Dempsey fought a few good punchers. He survived a chin checking shot vs Fripo, and a pasting from Jack Sharkey. Dempsey was not a chinny puncher at all.

*Heart and will to win. Dempsey proved he had a ton of heart in the Fripo match, and would do what it took to win. The hardest place fight is in the clinches. In the clinches, Dempsey was at home. In fact he was pure hell.

* Stamina. A prime Dempsey had true 15 round stamina.

* Defense. Dempsey had a very good slip and duck type of defense, which can be seen on film. Most swarmer types who prefer to attack do not have this good of a defense.

* Ring record. 66-6-11 at Box rec. The losses to Tunney were vs another all time great when Dempsey was past his best. One of those losses to Tunney is marred by “ the long count “, which might have been a KO win for Dempsey if there was no problem with the count. Besides the Tunney losses, Dempsey lost to Flynn. The Flynn loss was avenged via KO. Dempsey never lost a match scheduled for 6 rounds or more. Had the Meehan fights been 10 round affairs, Dempsey likely wins via TKO late. Meehan was a cheese type of fighter who moved, covered up and came back with slapping type of punches.

* Quality wins. Dempsey holds wins over Fripo, Willard, J. Sharkey, Gibbons, Carpentier, Brennan, Miske, Gunboat Smith, Morris, Levinsky, Fulton, and Pelky. Dempsey owns a KO win over all these ranked fighters, except for Gibbons who ran for 15 rounds.

*Historical opinions. Dempsey is a highly rated fighter to this day. Boxing historians, mangers, referees, promoters, fighters, and fans who saw Dempsey rated him in the top 3 in the 1940’s, 1950’s, and 1960’s and 1970’s. In 2007 the IBRO, a group of boxing historians gave Dempsey their #4 spot in the top 20 among heavyweights. While I think these rating might be a trifle high, they do speak volumes about opinions on Dempsey in multiple decades.

*Film. There is no doubt Dempsey had some speical performances on film in the ring, and in sparring session that live up to his legendary status. Not all old timers perform on film as good as their legend suggests they should have. While the film quality on Dempsey isn’t smooth or crystal clear, we can get a good feel for what he was about.

I have Dempsey around #7-#9.

 

Look my Hibernian friend, I'm not going to convince you ,and you are not going to convert me, but, you are a great poster who deserves respect so I will give you a name. JOE LOUIS,DEMPSEY KNOCKS OUT LOUIS INSIDE 2 ROUNDS.

 

Dempsey is my favourite ,despite what Mendoza thinks, so I'm probably guilty of some wishful fancies regarding his head to head success. I think Jack would overwhelm Louis ,who is technically the superior fighter,and the longer the fight went the greater would be Joe's chances imo.
Dream slug out? DEMPSEY V MARCIANO.

 

Not a pass, but just recognising the situation he created.

 

dempsey beats foreman does he,whats he armed with?
louis would KO dempsey,he's bigger ,hits harder , better jab ,faster.
other heavies who would beat dempsey are
ali,foreman,frazier,holmes,liston,lennox lewis and i'd give charles and walcott an even chance.

 

michael spinks and billy conn would give dempsey good fights too.