I honestly think there are some decent dudes coming up though. It's a shame for Wlad because the next gen might be ok (or not).
He would lose to every single one of them. He wouldn't big enough or skilled enough to compete with the CW's much less be able to handle the HW's. Edit: Wlad could easily beat and finish off Jack by just throwing his jab 95% of the time. Hell, Jack couldn't compete with the LHW's either.
Put Dempsey on the same training regime, diet and "supplements" that the K's have used and I could see Jack weighing as much as Tyson. At that weight with modern boxing technique I could see Dempsey bashing a lot of heads ala Tyson. As a former competitive bodybuilder I'm pretty cynical about the prevalence of "performance enchancers" in all sport including boxing.
Dempsey is gonna need Ariza & his magic box of drugs Pacquiao takes, otherwise he couldn't compete as a Heavyweight today.
Is Dempsey supposed to be the 47th or 48th of the "Once in a Century Talents" who could do what now man since has been able to do and who existed between 1890 and 1930? I'm having a hard time keeping track anymore.
Dempsey would be a small cruiserweight or large light heavyweight today. The only way he sniffs heavyweight is if he bulks up about thirty pounds, and even then he'd only be about the weight of Eddie Chambers who's considered a tiny heavyweight today. Not to mention he'd be fighting with gloves that for him would be like pillows, and a ruleset that would be very alien to him (neutral corner upon knockdown, no hitting an opponent rising from the canvas etc). Are we to assume that none of this will impair him in any way? I think that's a huge assumption. But even if you consider none of this relevant, there's still the fact that Dempsey is stylistically very crude even by today's slobby standards. He was wide open to jabs and right hands, couldn't fight effectively going backwards, wound up his power shots and against Willard threw some of the most ridiculous looking combinations I've ever seen from a HOFer in a world title fight. How exactly is he supposed to win against Wlad fighting like that? He goes forward he gets clinched up and worn out. He keeps his distance and tries to evade Wlad's jab he never gets a punch of consequence in. He tries to box Wlad on the backfoot he looses a wide decision at the very best. This is of course assuming he doesn't get knocked cold by the first punch of consequence than Wlad throws. Against the rest of the field who knows? Most of the top ten outside the Klits sucks at the moment.
Does Demps have the frame to bulk up thirty pounds of LMM? I see him looking a bit like Adamek, muscle bound and slowed rather than Tyson esque. He's certainly more physically comparable than Tyson at any rate.
dempsey was ****ing mean, besides having ton of talent. He knew how to box too, and was type of guy you had to kill to beat. I don't see anyone today killing him.
No, there are loads of fighters post-1930 who would clean up or almost clean up in today's heavyweight division.
I think Wlad's beaten some pretty good fighters, just through sheer number of fights he's had. Larry Holmes had the same "problem" as Wlad with the generation of 'weak opposition', but it doesn't really ruin his reputation at all. No one holds it against him too much. Maybe there are decent dudes coming through. I haven't seen them yet.
