So Dempsey is criticized, rightly so, for going Hollywood and being so inactive during his time as Champion along with Greb and Wills fights never having happened but i'v never seen anybody outright list what opponents his reign should have included aside from Greb and Wills. So the question is between 1919-1925 with 2-3 title defenses per year who should he have fought and who were the top 2 or 3 deserving HW's during each of those years. I know there are some people on here who can lay this out for me and i'd be interested in knowing. Norfolk, Tate, Langford? Loughran? What LHW's could have been deserving? 1 additional note : People often say that they think Tunney would have won even if Jack was at his peak and it got me thinking. Aside from Dempsey's age and inactivity the biggest factors to Tunney's win were: - Gene having studied Dempsey and his style for years, he himself said that he followed Jack all over the country and studied him endlessly. - The experience he gained by fighting Greb 5 times. So let's assume Dempsey is defending his title 2-3 times a year and is sharp. It's far more likely that him and Tunney would have met earlier so let's say it's 1923 and Tunney has just fought Greb for the second time and regained the American LHW title (in a fight that some observers felt Greb won) and earns a shot at Dempsey. I don't see Gene winning at that period of time.
Wills, Greb, and than God. If he gets past God, Tunney after that. I think he should have face Wills sometime round 1919-1925 would have been good. I perfer the bout to have taken place around 1921 though.
Of the people he did not fight: I would like to have seen him face Wills and Greb. I would have no desire whatsoever to see him beat up on the shell of Sam Langford. I would be intrigued to see him fight Godfrey, though there might have been more desrving challengers. Tate might actualy have had a fairly good case on paper. Norfolk and Weinert would both have made good challengers. Loughran hadn't realy manouvered himself into line to fight for the heavyweight title yet.
if i were Dempsey: 1920 After beating Tom Cowler and Captain Bob Roper, an old Jack Johnson would have created an absolutely mega dollar deal for Dempsey. Low Risk High Reward fight. - Johnson is the first defence. Follow this with Miske - We owed him one there and it shows the champion has a heart because he needed the money due to his condition. Another low risk fight but with medium reward. 1921 Carpentier - Big dollar fight and another Low risk High Reward. Sam Langford - he beat Bearcat Wright, George Godfrey and others as well as getting an ND with Harry Wills. Shame he is too old to win. Another Low Risk High Reward fight. 1922 I will fight the winner of the Tate- Wills eliminator. And because of Wills' complaints, i will give him a second chance to beat Tate and get the shot. Sadly, i will have to fight my sparring partner big Bill Tate. Thompson - Thompson did just beat Big Bill Tate. So i think i would give him a shot, because i know it would affect my legacy in 100 years if i dont fight black fighters. 1923 I will offer Greb a shot, provided he beats Tunney. Then, do stop his whinghing, i will give him a second chance, if he beats Loughran. Sadly, Greb wouldnt earn the shot. I am not sure that Tunney really deserves the chance because he is too small to win, but I will fight him now while in my peak, and before he has matured enough or had the chance to study. It is actually a danger fight, but if i win this, it makes the later Tunney losses explainable due to age. Firpo - A huge dollar fight against a built up challenger. High reward, low risk. Gibbons - Has an impressive KO streak to build up interest. But Greb could have first shot at title, provided he beats Tunney. 1924 Bartley Madden - I will take an easy fight, to try to build up a Dempsey Wills fight. And i will carry Bartley a few rounds, so that we can see Wills knock him out quicker than me and build up his chances against me. 1925 - While i am touring Germany, I might give one of their youngsters a chance. Maybe a Max Schmelling, just to prove i can do what Joe Louis couldnt. 1926 - After winning some short KOs I will give Harry Wills his chance. Hope people dont think i should fight the younger Jack Sharkey, but Harry is a good old fighter and did get two KOs in his last fight. I just hope he does better against me than he did against Sharkey at this time. I will follow this with a Sharkey defence, but i dont really think Tunney has earned a rematch yet, so i better retire since there are no more fighters around left to fight me.
December 1919 MSG 15 rounds to a decision -Harry Greb September 1920 New Orleans outdoor arena 20 rounds to a decision- Harry Wills July 1921 Jersey City, Boyles 30 acres 12 rds ND -Georges Carpentier December 1921, Madison Square Garden 15 rds to a decision -Kid Norfolk June 1922 outdoor ballpark 15 rounds to a decision -Tommy Gibbons December 1922 MSG 15 rounds to a decision -Bartley Madden (This is kind of a gimme but Bartley Madden was tough as hell and had a good right hand, he might make it interesting stylewise). July 1923 outdoor ballpark 15 rounds to a decision -Luis Firpo Let him take a year and a half off to make movies December 1925 outdoor ballpark 15 rds to a decision -George Godfrey July 1926 outdoor ballpark 15 rounds to a decision -Gene Tunney Now, thats an active, but not overly aggressive schedule, allowing plenty of time between fights, a year and a half layoff to cash in, and even a gimme (two or three if you include Carpentier and Firpo which i would) fight in there. If Dempsey makes it through each successive fight he would retire wealthier and far more loved/respected than he actually did which says something. In addition to that there would be no questions about his career decisions.
In all seriousness, i agree with all of this. If the Wills fight (when it was signed) had come off, i think it would have rounded out his reign nicely (assuming a win).
I dont agree he would be wealthier, but i think it would be an excellent schedule. Realistically, surely Wills (assuming the first was a close fight) would surely have earned a rematch in place of Madden wouldnt he?
So essentially as champion youve taken it upon yourself to dictate who gets a shot and the criteria etc. In addition to that you would not only spend the first three years of your reign not fighting a single worthy opponent but you wouldnt even fight Brennan who was the most dangerous of Dempsey's first three opponents as champ and first four years... Yeah, you have your arms firmly wrapped around Dempseys nuts in a loving embrace...
I think the more successful he gets the more in demand he will be (like Babe Ruth) and thus be able to draw greater crowds consistently while charging higher ticket rates. Just the greater activity alone would amount to more purses. In addition to that he could continue to do sponsorship deals and act, as well as invest his money on the side. Yeah, I think you could easily argue that he would make more money. The only argument against it is that by appearing more often he would water down the publics anticipation and therefore they wouldnt be as willing to run to his fights and shell out a lot of money. There is something to that argument but prior to the crash of 1929 sports was seeing a massive boom, particularly in the golden age of the 1920s. I think he could have easily continued to command $300,000 plus per purse after beating Wills.
Wills and Greb, both of whom I believe he would be victorious against but intriguing match-up. Had he beaten Wills and Greb, he would have been cemented as top tier 1-3 but then again others would say who did he beat
