The lack of love for Michael Spinks here is concerning, thought for sure he'd be one of the first people mentioned.
Dempsey weighed a max of 187 vs. Willard. But what is meant by "modern LHW" is pretty basic: for decades now with day before weigh ins guys have been losing close to or over 10% of their body weight for the weigh in, & rehydrating for the fight so they can have as much lean muscle as possible & be in a lighter weight category. Thus so many LHWs have been heavier than Dempsey in the ring, somewhere in the 190's. It was a long time ago when an interviewer viewing footage of Dempsey remarked that he looked like a MW. In terms of amlunt of mucle per square inch, Dempsey was built like a modern MW.
175 Qawi fighting that lumbering oaf def. makes it into the top ten of "Competitive Boxing Scurrilites". Another one would be "Primo Carnera vs Albert Westphal."
Dempsey weighed 190 pounds. How is that a modern light heavyweight? You do realize the light heavyweight limit is 175 pounds? But anyway the skill level for fighters during this era was so pathetic that numerous 170 pound guys would beat Dempsey, Jack Johnson or Willard.
How many light heavyweights have beaten a world class superheavyweight? It is a short list. How many have demolished one? That is a very short list indeed!
I hope you aren’t implying Jess Willard was a world class super heavyweight, more like a big useless lump who fought like a giraffe on roller skates
I might get hated over this, but based on the footage I've seen of Willard, pretty much all the top contenders beat him.
