Yeah I can't really see Greb beating Dempsey post-1923, isn't that when he started to slip? I believe he had a surgery in the summer of that year
Harry was special,but he never tackled Firpo,Fulton or Godfrey. A fast moving smaller man could give a heavyweight fits in sparring the question is ,could he do it for 15 rds without getting tagged?
Of course. Brennan could whack. Gibbons, also, could really hit. But none really rank with Dempsey. 15 rounds would have been too much to ask. But 10, Tunney's preferred distance, would have been interesting. I am still favoring Jack comfortably but...
I guess I've misinterpreted the thread then. The original post says, "Assuming Dempsey defends the title and fights more frequently how do you see his career panning out?" I presumed that to mean his whole reign starting from 1919 where he would make more than a single defence a year (or two in 1920), rather than focusing on his 3 year hiatus in particular. From 1919-23 though, I think Greb has a sizeable chance of beating Dempsey were he a more active champ and took the fight which neither him or Kearns seemed to want anything to do with.
Dempsey still gets beat by Tunney. More activity would've helped to point, but that still doesn't fix Dempsey's biggest problem post 1923, which was lack of motivation. Dempsey simply didn't have the same motivation he once had to fight, since by the mid 1920's he was able to make a ton of money outside the ring.
Dempsey is one of the great question marks in heavyweight championship history ... he certainly had the physical skills; very fast hands and feet, serious two handed power, a very good chin with exceptional recuperative powers, absurdly underrated stamina (by some) , monster killer instinct and fighting heart ... however , after winning the title he became a commodity and as such only fought five times in the following seven years with huge gaps of inactivity and some questionable opponent selections .. considering the way he was matched and promoted no one knows for sure ... all we do know is that if he continued to fight often and be trained by a DeForest consistently we certainly would have seen what he was capable of at the highest level ... I have written man times and stand the point that Dempsey, way past his prime matched against the best versions of an excellent Sharkey and Tunney , proved far more of what may have been than in most of his victories .. I think he had the goods but never developed them to the degree his biggest fans claim when supporting his legacy ... Still, he remains a fascinating legend of the sport.
