Throughout his career, would he have had a much more explosive style? And if Tyson were fighting 20 round fights, would he be fighting less explosive? It may be a seemingly simple question, but it tells a lot, no?
I would say so; the length of the fight has everything to do with how you'll train for it, and without some good chemical help in the form of PED's, it's impossible to measurably increase one without detracting from the other once your body's in peak fitness because being explosive takes up more energy.
No, not in my opinion, explosivity isn't created by the length of the fight you are in. Using this logic, you would see far more explosive performances in 6 and 8 rounders than 12 rounders and that just isn't the case.
How many bouts did Dempsey ever fight scheduled for more than 15 rounds ? His championship fights were scheduled for 12, 15 and 10 rounds. I think only one of his bouts was scheduled for 20 rounds, a non-title go with Carl Morris. It lasted a few seconds. Many of his non-title fights were 4-rounders, due to Californian law at the time. Others were scheduled for 6, 10, a few for 15.
No Dempsey didn't fight any fights over 15rounds and he rarely fought 15rounders. Also Jack Johnson described him as 'a 4 round fighter' meaning hes a front runner, much like Tyson, after the early rounds both mens offensive arsenal goes down significantly
Johnson said that, but ... It doesn't look that way in the Tommy Gibbons fight. Dempsey seems to get more busy and active as the fight progresses, his work rate never ebbs, and he's fresh and fast and on his toes in the 15th round.
Yes but from what I can remember of that fight it was more a lie on the chest of your opponent and work the body at close quarters, so quite different from the bobbing and weaving left hook lead high speed brawling
Well, it was much faster-paced and less static than a Jack Johnson fight. The complete fight is on youtube. To me it looks very much a fast-paced fight with a lot of chasing, and some close quarters work too. Dempsey's doing what he always did. It's as busy as a Frazier 15-rounder, I believe. Rounds 10 - 15 : [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9Af2Brx8VI[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0g0tQpVii4&feature=related[/ame] Jack Johnson had a far less impressive workrate over 15 rounds.
If Dempsey fought 15 rounds both of his Tunney losses would have likely been stoppages along the line of Sanchez over Lopez and this would have greatly impacted his legend ...
Otto Flotto of the "Denver Evening Post" was the only writer who witnessed both Sullivan-Kilraine and, 34 years later, Dempsey-Gibbons. He wrote that one of the misconceptions debunked in Shelby "was the cry that Dempsey is a short round fighter, and anyone sticking with him five to six rounds has a chance to beat him. He was stronger at the finish than he was at the start. And he was faster in the closing rounds than at the beginning. He was hitting with more accuracy, was gaining momentum, and was outboxing the clever Gibbons from every angle." Another reporter, Damon Runyon, described it as "the fastest paced heavyweight bout" he ever saw. Most ringside observers gave Tommy only rounds five and nine. The temperature at the opening bell was 95 degrees Fahrenheit, and rising. The notion that Jack was strictly a four to six round fighter should have been detonated in his previous win, when he hammered Brennan down for the count with those body shots in round 12. Foreman and Tyson never stopped an opponent beyond round ten. During his prime, there was nothing wrong with either Dempsey's stamina or capacity to explode late. He tested the chin of Gibbons early, and when Tommy withstood it, adjusted for the long haul.
