Dempsey's Power

dempsey's strength was his aggression: he was able to overwhelm his opponents with volume but his punches weren't that powerful individually, only in bunches. dempsey caught opponents with the number of punches he threw at one time, his ferocity, but not the heaviness or pop of each punch. i think he gets overrated in his power based on two fights but overall, he's not an all time great puncher

 

Jack Dempsey, interviewed in the 1953 fall edition of Fight magazine said, "What everyone forgets is that Marciano can punch harder with a right hand than any modern-day heavyweight. In his first fight with Walcott, Rocky needed only one blow to win the title. The power in his right scrambled Jersey Joe's brains at Chicago."

"I've scored my share of knockouts along the way, but more often than not my opponents got up after being knocked down and had to be knocked down repeatedly. The same is true of Joe Louis. But Marciano needs only one solid smash and it's all over.

That's why I say Rocky Marciano is the hardest-hitting heavyweight champion I have seen."

 

very good post my friend and from a reliable source:good dempsey was a pressure fighter and a determined fighter who overwhelmed opponents who knocked them out cold. marciano was a whole different breed (though, so was louis)

 

no, he was a faster puncher but frazier hit much harder and heavier. neither was a sharp, crisp earnie shavers type of puncher. frazier knocked peoples heads off with a single hook, dempsey did it with 20 punches

 

Those guys were relatively big guys compared to him, though. It figures that a natural 180-pounder like Dempsey would have at least some trouble keeping them down, even if he did hit hard for his size.

He's on film flattening guys like Sharkey and Brennan with one or two punches each, and they stayed down, plus he reportedly had some fights on the way to the title in which he flattened some opponents easily as well.

 

he was certainly a great puncher but i think it's overrated in the grand scheme of things. for his size: he was quite good. but overall, not in the top 10 heavyweight punchers, especially considering his VERY limited opposition. his best opposition was tunney and he could barely hurt him except for the knock down

 

I think that counts as barely hurting him, Tunney was damn near knocked out with one punch and a follow-up combination from a past prime Dempsey.

Fulton, a big heavyweight for his era, was flattened in 20 seconds by Dempsey.

I'd say that the man could certainly punch, even if he was not the biggest puncher of all time. I'd rate his punching power about the same as Frazier's and Frazier had 15 lbs on Dempsey.

 

Dempsey was a great puncher, in more ways than one.

First, he knew how to punch and could break down what he did. His book is very instructive. His explosive style was founded on applied body weight and concentrated energy on point of impact. It incorporated not merely brute strength, but leverage and speed as well, thus paving the way for an admirer named Mike Tyson.

The hook he scored his first knockdown of Willard with was about as explosive a punch as I've seen in the ring, enough to bring down a very durable 245-pound champ. Amazing feat by a 187 pounder! The subsequent protracted pounding was quite natural with two men of this weight difference: an executioner who weighs 58 pounds less than his victim, and then the victim is in pure defensive mode.

In contrast, sure, David Tua knocked Ruiz cold in 19 seconds with his hook. But he also outweighed The Quiet Man 225 to 219.

The much lauded George Foreman was notorious for having to score several knockdowns himself. Was he featherfisted? Of course not. Simply his power was a heavy, crushing type, albeit telegraphed. Pure power is not the whole name of the game.

It is said the punch that knocks you out is the one you don't see and thus brace for. This requires not only power, but also speed and sharpness. Young Mike Tyson was a great example with his record of 10-count knockouts, not only of trial horses coming up, but at the highest levels: Berbick, Thomas, Holmes, Spinks, Tubbs, Biggs, to name some.

Normally, IMO you may see your opponent getting up from a knockdown if he has a chin and your weights are comparable. So I don't penalize Dempsey for Willard's or Firpo's getting up.

Pound for pound, I think Jack Dempsey is one of the best punchers of all time, Number 7, in fact, among history's greatest, according to Ring Magazine.

 

I think you guys are way off. Dempsey was an exceptional puncher and hit as hard as anyone under 200 that ever fought .... nice statement (above) no doubt. Ever wonder the motivation ? Anything from being a nice guy to being on Weils payroll to build hype ... who knows ? He was not gonna praise Rocky for speed, size, defense or boxing ability.

No doubt Marciano was a big puncher, however let's get real. He stop's a 38 year old Walcott with a huge right in the 13th round of a war, correct? What about the 70 other power shots Marciano landed before that one ? Are we to believe that was the only right hand Marciano landed the whole bout? The film's prove otherwise.

Charles went 15 with Marciano the first time taking his best shots. He went eight the second and it took an accumulation of shots to finally take him out. The same with LaStarza. I won't even mention the Cockell bout but the often KO'ed Moore , a light heavy, took dozens of his best shots till finally going out.

Here's the book on Rocky's power: Rocky went for the KO with almost every punch. That was his style. He has a few nice couple of punch KO's but for the most part he wore down a fighters with an accumulation, especially quality fighters ... look at his title defenses throwing aside the very questionable Walcott rematch ...

LaStarza went 11
Charles went 15
Charles went 8
Cockell goes 9
Moore goes 9

Each fight was an accumulation of endless hard punching pressure.

Dempsey's list of KO's speaks for itself. In addition, I definately believe Dempsey's one punch KO over a young, prime Sharkey, who took five knock downs against a prime Louis, is even more impressive than Rocky's KO over an old Walcott.

 

The interview with Dempsey was before any of those fights happened though.

Rocky had first dispatched the man Dempsey thought very highly of, Rex Layne with a single overhand right which crumbled Layne.

KO'd an old Louis, sending him through the ropes with a right hand.

Knocked out 'Kid' Matthews with two powerful left hooks.

Brutally knocked out the champion Walcott, and then repeated the feat in one round.

At this point Marciano's reputation as a one punch KO artist was at its highest. In subsequent fights, Marciano no longer scored knockouts like he had in these fights. It may have been because he changed his style from a wide-swinging slugger to a more consistent pressure fighter, or maybe his power was "exposed" a little.

 

Good points ... I was just putting Marciano in perspective, something extremely difficult to do here at times ...

 

I dont think its fair to compare Dempsey or Marciano powerwise because of guys like Charles or Walcott going 15 or 13 rounds.

Dempsey didnt face any one like them in his championship prime rein, and when he did onces, Tommy Gibbions, he got taking the full 15 rounds.

I more impress with Marciano battling a points win over Charles than I am with Dempsey blasting Firpo or Willard out in a few rounds. Marciano had a higher comp of foes in his title rein.

 

Dempsey caught his opponents fresh in the early rounds, they had more energy to get up from knock-downs in the 1st, 3rd, or 4th rounds than others had after taking a battering for eight or ten rounds. Dempsey came out knocked his man down early and put him down over and over until he stayed down, Marciano came out and tried to put his man down from his first punch before knocking him out with one or two punches late in the fight.