Why is Dempsey's stamina often (to me incorrectetly) viewed as limited ? He showed terrific stamina and late round KO power ve Brennan . After larger inactivity he showed great stamina vs Gibbons, fighting very strong till the final bell ... MY guess is a combo of almost punching himself out in Toledo and his much older performances vs Tunney .. still, in his prime , he seemed to have no issues.
I think his stamina was very good. I would place it one notch below Marciano and Frazier. So if Marciano and Frazier are 10's, Dempsey is a 9. 9 is still excellent though. Because Jack was so explosive, he was more likely to punch himself out a bit more than slower guys like Rocky. But he could and did score late round ko's and went 15 with Gibbons. Remember he fought outdoors in extreme heat. So that had a huge draining effect on him.
im w you but so many for so long define him as a guy that gassed out and in his prime it’s simply not true … Rocky was famous for going balls to the wall in the 15th vs Charles but Dempsey did the same vs Gibbons and gets little credit because Tommy went the distance.
I don’t know that he is called a guy with limited stamina much, is he? His endurance is not something people praise much or think of when he comes up, but they don’t usually identify it actively as a weakness, either. In my experience.
I think his stamina was quite good. Especially when considering his constant upper body/head movement and always punching explosively. That's a really tiring way to fight. Him still having power late in a fight is telling too.
Even if one had the potential for developing great stamina, Dempsey’s limited schedule fights and ability to end matters early wouldn’t have necessarily lent to that development. But, the two primary examples previously offered - KO 12 over Brennan and W UD over Gibbons (after 2 years inactivity and in the hot sun) uphold pretty good stamina and retention of power for the later rounds. Finally, of course stamina plays it part in driving the legs but there are features to a fighters legs that can deteriorate in their own right - and Dempsey suffered that also during his later career - which might’ve exaggerated the perception of his loss of stamina due to his being that much less mobile than he used to be. For guys like Ali and Dempsey, their legs were extremely important components to their game and likely required nothing less than peak stamina and leg health to maintain their prime mobility. Anything less than that - they stood to lose a lot more in their overall effectiveness as compared to other fighters. When properly conditioned, Ali’s second career stamina, though not quite as good as peak, was still very good - but it was no longer nearly enough to fuel the constant movement that advantaged him so well in his prime. So, for argument’s sake, a loss of 5% stamina for Ali might arguably have equated to an overall 25 % reduction in his effective mobility. I would guess that Dempsey’s stamina is underrated a bit but perhaps not acutely so.
