Compare Rocky Marciano and Jack Dempsey?

Hey Decker. Thank for the compliment. I have a question.How would you rank your heavyweight list? I am interested based on your critique.

Thanks.

 

:good

Exactly

 

I think Dempsey was more talented. Better handspeed, combination punching and I believe the Manassa Mauler hit harder than Rocky with either hand.

With that said Marciano got more out of his talent. He was more focused throughout his career and really didnt duck anyone during his reign.

I gotta say Rocky left the better legacy while I think at their respective peaks Dempsey wins by KO.

 

I'm quite interested in your analysis Burt, particularly the early KO prediction. Rocky was never KOed in his career. Is it because of the stylistic matchup of Dempsey in close with his speed advantage the reason for this prediction, or because Dempsey's power is significantly better than all of the Rock's opponents?

I have always thought Rocky's granite chin would get him through a lot of the matches people dream up, e.g. vs Mike Tyson, enabling to win by KO, but if you predict an early demise, I might have been wrong.

 

G, thanks, a check is in the mail for you.!
Let me first say, I have found mainly on ESB a distaste for the greatness of Jack Dempsey as a great offensive fighter. When I was growing up in the early 1940s, a mere 15-20 years since Dempsey was at his best, I would read and talk to boxing people who raved about the power and toughness of Jack Dempsey, and only a Joe Louis compared to him as an offensive heavyweight. These people and pollsters who voted for Dempsey as the greatest heavyweight they had ever seen ringside were a helluva lot closer to reality than naysayers 90 years after he fought....But today on mainly ESB ,Dempsey is considered no more highly as a fighter than a stiff when it comes to his skills H2H mano to mano, because he was too small, too crude, had no defense, etc, etc, etc. Tell that too the mass amount of his perrs, boxing writers, ex fighters as Ray Arcel, Sam Langford, Lou Stillman,
Damon Runyon, Jack Sharkey, Mickey Walker, Max Schmeling and multitudes of boxing experts who called him the greatest heavyweight ever...And Ray Arcel , Mickey Walker, Jack Sharkey, Max Schmeling saw all the great heavyweights up to Ali, Liston etc...Were all these people on Dempsey's payroll or were they much closer to the truth than some ESB ?
It is probably true that Ali had to fight a better crop of contenders than Dempsey or Joe Louis did. But no man can help to decide when they were born. Yes, Dempsey did not eventually fight Harry Wills, though they did sign for a bout. Yes Dempsey never fought my absolute idol the Pittsburgh Windmill Harry Greb who was a true middleweight...But I am convinced that if Dempsey fought these two fighters and beat them [and he would have been a heavy favorite], some on ESB would still berate his ability...
After Dempsey flattened big Carl Morris, Fred Fulton, Billy Miske
[in remission], Gunboat Smith, the previously undropped Jess Willard,
truly in one round, Luis Angel Firpo, Bill Brennan, Battling Levinsky, Georges Carpentier, decisioned a great defensive fighter Tommy Gibbons,
Jack Dempsey was held in such high esteem by his contemporaries and was
the greatest attraction in boxing history....For a very good reason. HE WAS THAT GOOD...Take care...

 

G,as I posted before ,I saw Marciano murder Carmine Vingo ringside, saw him train from the first row at Grossinger's and worshiped Rocky's power and stamina. BUT I saw how he MISSED half his punches ,and against a prime Jack Dempsey or Joe Louis who hit so fast and hard with accurate short punches, Marciano does not last long...And to repeat like Alka-Seltzer, in Marciano' title reign in the early 1950s, a boxing poll of veteran
writers were asked this question. "who would have won a fight between Jack Dempsey and Rocky Marciano in their primes "? By a vast majority these writers who saw both Dempsey and Marciano at their best chose Jack Dempsey because of speed, accuracy in close, and two handed punching.
And I concur...
Can you envision Don ****ell lasting 9 rounds with a prime Jack Dempsey ?
I CAN'T...cheers.

 

Both displayed top level whiteness.

 

seamus, vaudeville has been dead for a long time. Please get a new act.
P.S. I can be just as "witty" as you try to be, but I don't trifle with a subject that other's including myself , namely boxing history, take very seriously...
P.P.S. I can out "humor" you anytime, but some posters who post a thread as this deserve respect from other posters though they might not agree with their conclusions...:hi:
It is so easy to poke fun at " whitey " Seamus...You are adding grist to the mill....Political correctness run amok....cheers...

 

****el got murdered in that fight Burt but to his credit he showed valor in trying to survive, Dempsey also had stylistic problems with Willie Meehan sometimes the little fat guys can be tough

 

Thanks Burt. Objective as always and your first hand experience makes your posts a valuable commodity to this forum. All the best.

 

Dempsey for me, quicker more elusive , more agile, better boxer, harder to tag. Ring magazines from the 50's when Marciano was around called Rocky a pale imitation of Dempsey.

 

It would not be a whitewash either way. I respect what Burt says, it is true, people who saw both (boxing people) would take Dempsey and we cannot disregard that for this debate.

Heavyweights were a different athlete back then. They absolutely were not cruiserweights they were heavyweight athletes. Dempsey and Marciano were great examples of this.

If Dempsey deserves the edge in this I cant dscount Marciano's chances. How can you?

 

I dont discount Marciano's chances against the vast majority of heavyweight champions ,the fact that he was a bleeder makes me think Dempsey tko's him, but both might visit the canvas in a slug fest.

 

Methinks you a little too sensitive here, burt.

Nobody got insulted and a little levity is always a nice distraction, even during serious discussion.



Re: your point about the old-timers of the Marciano era rating Dempsey higher, might there not have been a little nostalgia and rose-tints at work there ?

Who among the old-timers of Holmes' day ranked him top five ?

And it was the same for Lennox.


Based on their respective levels of competition and how they fared, there's not too much doubt that Rocky was 'greater.'

As to how they would fare in a head-to-head, I suspect Rocky would be too durable for Jack. If Jack can't stop him early (unlikely), I think he's in for a long and disappointing night.

 

Methinks, you don't read boxing history C.
If you in your infinite wisdom casually disregard the opinions of a vast
majority of writers, trainers and ex fighters who saw both the prime Dempsey and Marciano [1954], who chose Jack Dempsey over the slower
and much less accurate punching Marciano, and think they know better , GOOD LUCK to you...
One more thing C. Do not tell me I am too "sensitive " when a poster
uses the term "whitey" from out of nowhere to deride my race and distill the serious posters who answer the thread...Would this poster ever use the term "blackie" in this thread to besmirch the black race ? Freakin NO !
And one more thing . I might have been around the block a few times and what I have seen in boxing lore you can't imagine. And I DON'T use
"rose colored glasses "...And I am NOT politically correct...Just a fellow who tries to treat every body on the up and up....cheers from ,{pardon the expression] an oldtimer....