Muhammad Ali gives a very interesting analysis on Jack Dempsey

Ali being his usual conceded full of hisself dickheadedness.

 

delete

 

I'd say that's just Ali trash talking.

There's a good reason why you are judge amongst your peers. You're greatness depends on what you do in your own era. Comparing past fighters with the present is a delicate exercise.

Imo, I agree with your teacher. The average boxer of today will beat the average boxer of the past. But nothing to take away from the legends since again what matters is what they did in their time.

 

I agree 100% with Ali here. Absolutely...just watch 'em go at it...just about as skilled looking as some talentless street brawler IMO. Exactly what Ali says..."no jab, no footwork nothing" just crude as it comes fighting. Absolutely about as WIDE OPEN (defensively speaking) as you can get!! Can you imagine Dempsey fighting like that against even the shower of $hit that is todays heavyweight division? He'd not even be a journeyman Bum IMO.

Now Ali would have taken him apart with ease in a few rounds. Against a young Tyson Dempsey would have been KO'd inside 30 seconds.

 

dempsey was great for his time, but ali was on a different level in his time. ali would of smashed him to bits, so i'm not surprised ali doesn't rate him highly. me on the other hand rate dempsey highly for his time, but head to head against other greats i don't think he would fare well.

 

Well Willard was a pretty good fighter but Dempsey ****ed him up in the first few seconds and never let up. Ali is dead on about how raw Dempsey is though, but most heavyweight fighters of that time were pretty raw anyways. They either fought like that or had the bareknuckle style. Heavyweigthts didn't become skilled in the sense we know it today until Tunney came along. Even Johnson's style was fairly primitive and outdated he was just the best at executing it. But Dempsey had all the tools though, bone crushing power and good handspeed along with a killer instinct. Had he fought a generation later when boxing wasn't so primitive his style would have probably been a little more controlled and he would have had better footwork and utilized a jab more.

 

I do wonder were all boxers back in those days that raw and crude? If so boxing has come a LONG WAY. I always thought boxing was the art of hitting and not getting hit..and watching Dempsey I'm lead to think there was no such defensive skills other than attack is the best form of defense. Surely there were some skilled boxers then if even in other weight divisions?

 

not all boxers were crude. you had tunney, jack johnson who were scientific boxers that would turn defense into offense. you got to remember though, these boxers when they're young couldn't put on a tape and learn from greats, that wasn't possible at that time. when considering how much of an advantage heavyweights have today over those from the past, we've actually gone downhill.

 

I'm not gonna get into it, but any boxing fan with half a brain could see that Ali would whipe the floor with Dempsey

 

Willard may have been a joke but Dempsey thrashed him like the joke that he was. That was as brutal of a beating as there has been in a Heavyweight Championship fight.

Put Dempsey on steroids and give him the current nutrition and training programs and he would be a 6'1" 220 pound Heavyweight with movement and unreal speed and power.

Jack Dempsey could fight.

 

Fight maybe...but he couldn't box though!

 

One name


Gene Tunney.

 

boxing has evolved a long way from marquess of queensbury days. You had the basic rules,yes,but mostly it was who can out thrash the other dandy in the corner. In time,people learned and evolved their techniques. There's so many different styles because of it. Boxing became an art,it didn't start as one. Along with styles,you got conditioning and training techniques that have evolved,people who have learned about nutrition,everything.Today's fighters are better trained,stronger from lifting weights instead of being yard workers or things of the sort.They probably could take the heads off the old timers.

 

Exactly. Jack Dempsey is grossly underrated today. I happen to agree with Ali that he would have beaten him, but it wouldn't have been as easy as Muhammad makes out. Dempsey could dish it out and take it and if Dempsey were around in the 60s and 70s he would have given Ali some Frazier style wars. As you say, Jack Dempsey could fight.