Dempsey 1919 vs Tyson 1989: What would happen?

Good assessment.

 

Shortening your punches = speed.

Dempsey would have slower hands but his blows might well land first.

 

That's not necessarily true. Dempsey was a far, far better in-fighter. I think he had better/quicker feet and better head movement. He was also taller and had a longer reach. Also, I don't think it's possible to argue that Tyson has anything approaching Dempsey's mental fortitude. I doubt there has ever been a fighter more willful and determined than Dempsey.

 

Good point, which is why it would be important for Dempsey to stay close. If he could consistently keep at close/long range I think he could control the fight more than Tyson. Inside with his in-fighting savvy and outside with his unpredictable head-movement, quicker feet and longer arms. If they ever did start to slug at mid-range, though, I think Dempsey gets stopped.

 

i am not disputing that dempsey is the better in fighter, i was restating all of tommy v's praise for dempsey. i also dont think tyson has the mental toughness of dempsey. but i think tysons late career toughness is played to heavily on especially when your talking about a prime 1989 tyson. :good

 

Tyson would kill Demsey in 1-2 rounds. People need to stop making this silly match ups. It's like saying Jesse Owens could out run Usain Bolt. Sports DEVELOP over time. FFS a top 10 LHW of today would beat Demsey.

 

Make an Adrian Diaconu v Jack Dempsey thread then and we'll see who agrees, shall we?

 

I think Tyson wins prime for prime.

I can make a genuine, thought out stylistic analysis but am close to a whitey (which hasn't happened in years) and off to bed :rasta

 

You say all this as if you could kick the **** out of Dempsey.

 

My money would be on Dempsey.

 

I think Dempsey had the faster feet. As quick as Tyson is with his footwork, I can't see him ever bouncing around on his toes like Dempsey did in some of the filmed fights/sparring sessions I've seen of him. In Tyson's defense, he had close to 30 pounds on Dempsey and was still very explosive and quick with his movements.

Some training footage of Dempsey:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o7tNlOC7Gk[/ame]

2:00

Late rounds against Bill Brennan:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFxcNfXMA60[/ame]

6:40

 

To some who say foolish things such as Dempsey "had slower hands"...Please watch a segment of film of Dempsey vs Firpo, where Dempsey and Firpo ,are locked in a clinch,but Dempsey frees his left hand,and shoots,powerful left uppercuts,and shortleft hooks,so FAST, and with virtually no punching room, it still awes me...Another clip is equally impressive...In the 2nd Dempsey/Tunney long count,in Philly,1927, the 32year old past prime Dempsey in the seventh round ,catches Tunney with a six punch barrage,so fast were these left and rights right on the button,dropping Gene for a 15 second long count....Fast these punches were and the amazing thing about this fast flurry was,IT IS IN SLOW MOTION....Pretty good for a 32 year boxer after a three year layoff....How can any well informed boxing fan miss this?.

 

What time into Dempsey-Firpo does this combination occur?

 

I lost interest when I saw Dempsey's first move was backwards

Prime for Prime, IMO this fight is likely to end with Dempsey stoppage in the middle rounds, maybe even earlier. Two similar fighters but Dempsey is more open to be hit, smaller, slower hands, lighter-punching, much worse chin, and was proven as vulnerable to aggressive big hitters. Mike has all the advantages, and the defence and durability to survive long enough to take the win.

 

Tyson early.