Well, Dempsey did what he did against a vastly inferior opposition to Mike, but if we were to consider all things equal, Jack's inside fighting was far better than Mike's.
Inside fighting is the main thing Mike just never did enough on the inside, plus Dempsey had better stamina.
No he didn't. Dempsey was a four round fighter. And he never had to prove his stamina against gifted giants like Tucker, Ruddock, Smith, Bruno, etc.
Dempsey fought to survive...Tough times make tough men...Dempsey wasn't a quitter...the 1919 Toledo Dempsey was a killer...Tyson wasn't...he was a quitter...
Dempsey was far mentally tougher than Tyson. He could turn a fight around, he would never throw the towel in.
Is there optical evidence to support this theory? Guys were terrified of Tyson and spoiled repeatably to avoid the slaughter. Ferguson DQd for excessive holding. Bruno warned repeatedly. Tucker chose to run away. Bonecrusher fought the squid game. etc etc All of these tactics were used to stifle Tysons inside attack. Did Mateen make James Tony look like a lacklustre insider or was it due to spoiling tactics? Was Lennox Lewis a useless inside fighter because of Henry Akinwande? Put Tyson up against Jacks opponents and he blitz's through them within rounds if not minutes. If Mike Tyson was allowed to stand over Jess Willard and ponce on him as he stood up , he'd have him laid out cold in the first round. A fight between Mike and Jack would go the same way as Spinks. Jacks inside swinging combined with porous defence gives Mike every opportunity for a 90 second blowout.
Hmm. I too would like that form of evidence before making my mind up on this. Thank you for mentioning that.
The best part is that Tyson had over 50 fights. He surrendered—perhaps because it's not obvious—in one. In the rematch with Holyfield... in a fight where he was already a mental wreck, undergoing psychiatric treatment and psychotropic medication. Where he wasn't hit hard, tired, or injured, but he was frustrated. Perhaps the bite was a submission, just as breaking Botha's arm, headbutting Golota, and beating Savarese and Norris after the bell were submissions. But that's a pretty flimsy theory. I think Dempsey might have been mentally superior to Tyson after 1995. Damn, even Peter McNeeley was stronger in that regard. But I'd have to watch a fight where Jack is completely out of shape, gets beaten for eight rounds, and then throws his opponent to the ground for over 10 seconds. A rematch with Tunney?
Dempsey went 10 and 15 with Miske and Gibbons. Miske isn't a giant but he knocked out Fred Fulton something semi prime Langford a P4P GOAT candidate could not do.
