Who wins prime for prime Jack Dempsey or Gene Tunney? Once and for all, who comes out on top? 15 rounds.
Imo, it's Jack. Maybe I'm biased cos I love Dempsey but I absolutely think he gets a decision. Tunney never fought for absolute prime Dempsey of 1919 . Also Tunney disliked sustained body pressure, something Jack was a beast at. Jack aggression could cause Gene into survival mode before he establishs any type of rhythm .
People often say ‘Jack Dempsey was past his best and dropped him, imagine what he’d have done in his prime?’ People forget that’s the only bit of success he had in the whole fight, Tunney completely outboxed him outside of that. It’s like people saying ‘Shavers was 35 when he dropped a peak Larry Holmes, imagine what Shavers would have done in his prime?’ Infact, Shavers actually had more overall success in that fight than Dempsey had against Tunney. Dempsey might get closer more often and land more, but I still see Tunney riding them, staying away and outboxing him and making Dempsey miss.
Tunney pretty much won 19 out of the 20 rounds they fought. There's nothing to suggest in those fights that Dempsey would suddenly be an overwhelming favourite even in his prime. Tunney still has alot of stylistic issues for Dempsey to overcome. I'd still pick Tunney on points.
A tough one to call,Fergy. Tunney could outbox Dempsey over the distance,albeit by a slimmer margin than their real 1926 and 1927 fights. It's equally feasible that Jack catches up with Gene and stops him late.
