Jack Dempsey vs Joe Louis in Punching Power

How do you figure that? He hit guys like Simon and the Baer brothers with far more punches and still had to work a lot more to put them away.

 

Louis was a more concise finisher, but I believe he punched harder, too, if only slightly. The only punches Dempsey threw that might have been harder are those winging shots from the Willard fight, where he threw technique out of the window and lobbed his whole weight behind each one.

Louis knocked out too many durable men for me to rate him below Dempsey in any category of punching.

 

Dempsey was 32-0 from 1917 to 1923, with 28 wins via KO and of those 17 coming in the 1st round.

He Ko'd giants like Fred Fulton (17 seconds) and Morris (240 lbs) both in the 1st round prior to destroying 250 pound Willard actually in one (1) round though officially in 3 rounds.

Joe had a great punch but he fought a bunch of bums. Dempsey would have ko'd Louis in my opinion.

Jack

 

The gloves in the Dempsey/Willard fight were 5 oz.

Jack

 

S,Dempsey truly kod Willard in one round by modern standards.Willard was down SEVEN times. Today the bout would have been stopped after 3-4 knockdowns. Whatever U think of big Jess Willard ,until he met Dempse, .big Jess was NEVER ON THE FLOOR. NEVER...
Aside- In 1941,it took Joe Louis THIRTEEN rds. to stop the lumbering Abe Simon. THIRTEEN rds. Louis hit Simon with dozens of powerful punches,until the bout was stopped in the 13th rd. There is no way that Abe Simon with a minimal defense would have lasted a couple of rds with the murderous attack of the PRIME Jack Dempsey. Jack Dempsey thrived on big slower men as Carl Morris, Fred Fulton, Jess Willard, Luis Angel Firpo.
Dempsey and Louis ,i believe were both devastating punchers with blazing handspeed.Dempsey had a better left-hook and Louis hit more accurately
with his right hand. In close quarters, Dempsey was much rougher than
Louis was. My two favorite heavyweights...Cheers...

 

Aye Burt, we know the script by now mate

 

Dempsey had the better hook. Louis had the better right hand. I think Louis might have hit just a little harder when he had his feet set, but Dempsey was far better at producing pressure, using angles and mobility, and quickly closing the distance to deliver his bombs.

 

Yes M,"And the trueth shall set you free". AMEN !
Aside- if I extoll the virtues of Jack Dempsey,than to your holy thoughts,I am reciting "script". But when you in your infinite wisdom deny my high opinion of Jack Dempsey ad infinitum, that is fine in your eyes. hmmmm ?
Well M, I will still "defend" the reputation of a man who was once voted the greatest heavyweight of them all by hundreds of boxing experts who SAW HIM at his best. I think I am on safe ground...Cheers...

 

You most definitely seem like a really nice chap, but you're extremely headstrong, and stubborn (and slightly condescending) on this forum. I'll take a primary source over a secondary source. My eyes tell me that Dempsey doesn't have the fight record or the ability in the footage there is of him to back up these lofty rankings that were bestowed upon him 50 odd years ago.

 

M, I am a nice chap and intry not to be "condescending", as U put it.One of us is right, and one of us is incorrect, on our evaluation of Jack Dempsey.
You want a PRIMARY source to evaluate the greatness of Jack Dempsey. Well I can give you a few who were Primary sources [of course NOT as ptimary as you M].A few who saw the primary Jack Dempsey,who you stubbornly refuse to achnowledge, the Dempsey of 1919-1923, who tore through the division wrecking havoc never seen before. These primary
OBSERVERS were, to name a few,Sam Langford, Hype Igoe, Damon Runyon, Gene Tunney, Jack Sharkey, Max Schmeling,[read what Max Schmeling say's about Dempsey in Max's autobiography],to name a few PRIMARY observers
who saw the Manassa Mauler ringside 1919-23, and NOT the shell of his
prime who YOU see on film after his 3 year layoff against the razor sharp Gene Tunney. So M, which is more the PRIMARY source,these men above who SAW or FOUGHT Jack Dempsey, or are YOU the more Primary [your words] source, who 80 or so years later, see a clip of the shell of Jack Dempsey after his 3 year layoff,without his manager, without a tune-up fight an-alltime great Gene Tunney. M, I'll leave this question up to the
JURY. Cheers,M:hi:

 

Mc, I never start a thread on the merits of Jack Dempsey versus Joe Louis. NEVER. It is futile for me to compare my two favorite heavyweights. So Mc, what would U do if you are on the ESB forum and someone posts that
he is a BETTER PRIMARY source, [as he puts it] than the men I HAVE TO CITE, to make my case credible. Wouldn't you who I respect, agree on
this?. If someone, to use an analogy, posts that the world is flat, 100 times,and reluctantly to keep my sanity, I have to state my case that the world is not flat,tiresome as it is for me,to regurgitate the experts, I cite above. Remember Mc, it is POSSIBLE that MY high opinion of Jack Dempsey
along with the names I dare not cite again above, is correct! Well Mc,as long as I can still type, I will defend my KNOWLEDGE of JD, against the modern naysayers who demean the memory of the Manassa Mauler and of course
my alltime favorite heavyweight and being, Joe Louis. Yes, Mc, tiresome as it may seem, I will repeat the names of the boxing experts of the past who saw Jack Dempsey fight 1919-23. I could do no less.! Take care Mc.:good

 

Yeah? And they were awesome? What's your point?

 

Mc,what distinguishes Dempsey from ANY HEAVYWEIGHT Champion was the TWO polls of boxing experts still living 1950s and 1960s,who voted Dempsey as the best heavyweight they had ever SEEN. THIS M is what seperates Dempsey from [any heavyweight of note].When this distinction is not acknowledged by any thoughtful poster I bring up the names above, ad nausia. Tell me Mc, 50 years from now,if by chance ESB is still around, wouldn't you DEFEND young naysayers,who demean Ali,by whatever
credible means you have, to tell them of his greatness ? If these people 50 years from now, spout untruths 100 times about Ali's true fighting abilities, wouldn't you debate the issue, 100 times also if necessary. ? Would you
just acquiesce to their repeated demeaning of Ali's true worth, and throw in the towel, so to speak ? I think not Mc.... And so with me. :hi: