Do You Think Jack Dempsey Is Overrated?

Overrated by those who rate him top5 and pick him to beat more advanced or physically bigger fighters like Foreman, Ali, Tyson. His resume is 1 of the weaker 1s but he was very dominant winning impressive against the contenders he faced, he is 1 of the most exciting champions to watch and a great story and a very likable character

BTW he personally didnt draw the colour line that was part of the politics of his time. He didnt prove himself better than the likes of Wills and didnt build a great resume because of this. If he did beat Prime Wills, Old Jack Johnson, Old Sam Langford and Greb his resume would look far better and the loss to Tunney wouldnt hurt him as much

 

I think he may have been overrated in earlier decades, but not so much today. He belongs on anyone's serious top 10 all-time heavyweights' list...in my opinion, of course.

 

He's a top ten cruiser for sure.

 

He got knocked out by Fireman Jim Flynn for ****s sake. Jesus Christ.

 

Great fighter, but yeah over-rated.

 

It went extinct to avoid Harry Greb and alowed a fair margin of error.

That aside, the comment was intended to describe what Dempsey was perceived as more than what he was.

 

I just woke up!

 

Love it.

 

I don't think Jack's really overrated anymore, probably because the generation that overrated him the most has been dying out (not to sound callous about that sort of thing).

Out of curiosity, do you share the same opinion of Jack Johnson being overrated? He also drew the color line once he was champ and had lackluster defenses.

 

Are we talking legacy or head to head? Legacy wise he may be somewhat overrated but head to head I don't think so. There have been a few champions that didn't have such a good resume as champion but were ATG's nonetheless. I always felt Larry Holmes had a mediocre reign and possibly ducked a few fighters but there's no doubt of his greatness as a boxer. Joe Louis made 25 title defenses but only 2 were against black fighters and very few would question his ability as a fighter which is why I tend to rate fighters on a head to head basis. HTH I feel Dempsey rates rather high. He is one of the old timers that would be trouble for any champion to come after him (At his best of course). If we are to drop Dempsey down a few pegs based on his reign as champion then let's face it, there's a few more ATG's that would have to follow him.