Would Dempsey have gotten the same results against peak Willard?

For Jess to do better or perhaps even win, there’s no mistake that it would rely heavily on prime Willard’s attributes of durability and stamina with a lengthy pre scheduled limit in place in order to allow Jess to outlast his opponent.

Even an old, inactive and out of shape Johnson was a lot “better” than Jess per se, and he apparently would’ve got the decision if the limit had been 20 rounds - and on the available footage, we can see Johnson easily handling Jess in the early rounds.

If a 20 round limit was set in the first place, I don’t think that we would’ve simply seen a compression of the action and dynamic of their actual fight.

Jess really only had one speed - and the 45 round limit (vs Johnson) was absolutely set for Jess and his fortes of strength, stamina and durability.

Surprising that Johnson agreed to such an extensive limit - he must’ve thought he could get Jess out of there inside of 20 rounds.

I don’t think Johnson thought about Willard too much at all - upon meeting Jess for the first time, Johnson admitted that he didn’t realise just how big Willard actually was.

Even if Demspey didn’t stop Jess, the 12 round limit would’ve ultimately suited The Mauler far more than it did Willard. Like Johnson before him when he faced Willard, Jess must’ve figured that he would get his opponent out of there inside the pre schedule limit .

As @he grant already noted, it would’ve made somewhat of difference also if Dempsey wasn’t allowed to hover over Jess as he did, pouncing on Willard as soon as he arose (and in some cases, even when Jess had only partially arisen).

For all the battering Willard took in round 1, even accounting for the effort having depleted Dempsey somewhat, it’s very noteworthy that Jack couldn’t put Willard down again in rounds 2 and 3.

 

Excellent post Pugguy ... Keep in mind Willard actually nailed Jack a few times in rounds 2 and 3 ... prime for prime without hovering over knockdowns I like Jack by decision up all 12 ..... after that who knows ?

 

Willard was a physically gifted fighter who started very late, was in the game only for money, never came close to maximizing his potential and in spite of all of the above has become very underrated because of the Dempsey fight. Let’s keep in mind he was 37, inactive and met up with an all time street fighter in that killers prime under absurd rules.

 

I tend to agree. Maybe he would have lasted another round or two, but he would have been reduced to a bloody punching bag no less....