Two fighters who I feel have a handful of interesting similarities. I'm more interested in classics opinions as well. What advantages did each have over the other? What were they dead even in? Were they equally devastating punchers? Who had the better beard? Who was better defensively? Any and all thoughts and opinions are welcome.
Joe Louis is the consensus choice as the superior boxer but Dempsey was a MUCH faster starter and was a lot more elusive than Louis. Couple these items with Dempseys explosive power in both hands and I think he would take a h2h matchup.
Louis has the advantage in one punch power, late clutch power, handspeed, combination punching, accuracy, boxing skills, jab, ring savvy, and many more. Dead Even? Maybe Heart. Disagree. Louis is clearly the better fighter. hands down. Louis is the greatest heavyweight of all time. Dempsey is not close, imo. No. Louis knocked out much better fighters, more durable fighters. Dempsey never even fought the two best heavyweights of his era, so we can question what would have happened. Louis was the better all around puncher than dempsey. He had more tools, more variance, better accuracy and threw sharper combinations. I also think Louis was the harder hitter. Louis did not need 7-8 knockdowns over fighters before finally putting them away. When Louis put you down, the end was usually near. Louis also retained his power better late in the fight. Interesting. Louis with the slight edge. Dempsey did have an embarrasing loss to a 38 year old Journeyman where he was knocked out cold for 20 seconds. He also got floored 3 times, and needed to be helped back in the ring by a typewriter against Firpo. Louis did get floored quite a few times(braddock put him down), and put on rubber legs by 170lb conn. Then again, Dempsey was put on rubber legs by 170lb Carpentier. Louis knocked out loss to Schmeling was a sustained punishment. Louis was never blasted away early(even against Marciano he took some big licks) like dempsey was against a very old journeyman. Louis was very adapt at parrying jabs, and slipping in and out of range in the mid 1930s at his best. Dempsey was excellent with his bob and weave defense and utilizing his fantastic footwork to make himself unpredictable. I give jack the edge here. One thing..dempsey had putrid defense when he engaged toe to toe. He lost himself a lot. Lost his mind. That is why Firpo clocked him. Louis always stayed composed no matter what. This would be jack's downfall against Louis.
I think a 65 year old Dempsey KOs a 65 year old Louis in 1 round. Other than that, I like Louis. You have to take a great boxer/puncher against a swarmer all things being equal. To the extent that things aren't equal they favor Louis: better defense, fewer questions because of better quality of opposition.
Dempsey is better defensively and probably has the slightly better beard. Those who call it granite are a bit feeding a frenzied legend, but he had a solid beard. Goes that go forward and attack are moving into the power of others. I thought you should've given him those categories Suzie. And just to further play Devil's Advocate - Dempsey was much more savage, had a better and possible the strongest killer instinct. He smelled blood like a shark, and while Louis is the best finisher... Dempsey would sense your weariness and jump on like a tiger if he thought you were hesitant or weak in any instance. So offensive aggression has to go to Dempsey if an important category. And Dempsey was far more explosive. Got to count for something. The punches you get hit with when you don't notice are big. He was much more fleet-footed and really quick on his feet. Louis is just better all around pretty much except for the outlined stuff above. I would say that Louis punches better with every shot except the left hook. Dempsey had a nasty left hook.
Louis' performance against Carnera is as good as, or better than, any Jack Dempsey performance that I've seen.
AH, you have just proven my point .You have NEVER SEEN the Jack Dempsey that flattened 25 men in the first round...Never seen films of the young Jack Dempsey who kod Arthur Pelkey, Carl Morris, Fred Fulton,etc in one round...These fighters were the same size of Carnera, and Dempsey obliterated them in one round....He also truly kod Jess Willard in the first round [7 knockdowns ]..Those films you have NEVER seen, so you are basing your opinion on the Jack Dempsey past his peak!! One other point ...Joe Louis who I love as a fighter and a man,took SIX rounds to ko the lumbering Primo Carnera, and THIRTEEN rounds to ko easy to hit Abe Simon...Dempsey in his prime, would have most likely done the trick in a round or two.... Another thing-Jack Dempsey was not just a swarmer, he could circle his opponents, and his bobbing and weaving style made Dempsey , hard to tag cleanly on the chin...He also seldom was cut on the face... Young Dempsey had it all in his prime....
Sharkey said Dempsey hit harder with one punch and would've beaten Louis. He thought Dempsey could beat any man he could hit. Dempsey himself admitted though that he didn't usually knock over opponents with one punch.
Except we don't know how good he really is because he ducked 2 of the best heavyweights of his era, harry wills and harry greb.
Both of them could be hit. Dempsey was far more aggressive, and seemed to throw his defense out of the window every time he stepped in the prize ring in favour of brute aggression. Louis was stationary, but he did pick off jabs well while Dempsey was vulnerable to them, despite his bobbing & weaving, which wasn't as frequent as it should've been. To me Louis looks more impressive, but looks of course aren't everything. Dempsey could very well swarm Louis and catch him on the chin with a comparatively wild attack against the calm & composed Louis.
Dempsey sighned to fight Harry Wills but the fight did not come off because of financial reasons, and Dem0psey forfeiuted his deposit...SuzieQ, do you honestly believe that the Manassa Mauler feared any fighter in his prime? Demposey might have been outboxed and outrun ,but NEVER outpunched... As far as my alltime favorite fighter Harry Greb...He gave Dempsey hell in his sparring sessions, but in a regular fight Dempsey would have caught upo with Greb sooner or later [ as Greb was reputed to have said }and kod him...20-25 pounds to spot a tigerish Dempsey, too much for even Geeb to overcome, I believe...I have seen so many gym sessions where a preliminary fighter gives a lacing to a star main eventer..Means niothing!! Joe Louis ,never gave dangerous black contenders of his time such as Lee Q Murray, Jimmy Bivens, Curtis Sheppard, Harry Bobo etc, a shot at his title..They were better than most of all his victims for sure...Suzie Q, why not ? Was the great Brown Bomber afraid of them ? I think not... Why didn't Ray Robinson give Charley Burley,m Holman Williams, etc a title shot at his title ? Why coinstantly single out the long deceased Jack Dempsey, while ommiting other great fighters ? Not fair I say..Boxing after all is a business say I...b.b.
