Does a prime Jack Dempsey beat the Joshua of today?

I wasn't implying you were,just making a comment on your opinion.

 

Perry, which heavyweights other than Wlad do you consider to be non-amateurish?

 

I go with Joshua.

Boxing like other sports evolves and athletes like Joshua just weren't around in Dempsey's day. Willard was about as big, but fat and stiff and slow compared to Joshua.

 

I have no doubt Joshua is a super heavyweight with skills, just like Bowe, Lewis, and the Klitschko brothers before him.

While he does not have a signature type of punch, he is very versatile in attack, can punch, and has good overall skills.

He proved four things vs. Wlad:

1 ) He can take a punch. Wlad right hand in round six likely finishes most heavyweights via ten counts or TKO in the same round. So his chin to me is at least solid.

2 ) He can get up and win. Many fighters can't. He has some heart.

3 ) Although I think he's a little too muscle-bound and needs to work on his stamina, he had enough stamina to go 11 rounds, some of which were tough later rounds for him.

4 ) He can be cagey and dirty if needed. He landed a low blow Hopkins style to the other side of the referee's vantage point, and spit out his mouth guard while hurt, giving himself an extra 12-20 second to fully recover without moving or being hit, thanks to the referee calling a halt to the action.

I think Wlad at 35 would have won, but he still had something left at age 41. Being that this is Joshua best win by far, you have to wait a bit, but at the same time, many of his questions were answered last weekend.

I'd lean toward him being the favorite over Dempsey.

 

It might have been illuminating to have seen Dempsey against Fulton.

 

Why Fulton had a glass jaw and the fight, which was filmed lasted but 18 seconds.

Dempsey was very hittable on film. Fripo who was wild and not very skilled floored him twice, and Carpentier, who was smaller landed his right hand rather easily until getting injured.

Dempsey also had a very tough fight vs. Bill Brennan, who would not likely be ranked in the top ten today, and pretty much lost or drew every time he fought a class fighter.

The above are filmed prime Jack Dempsey fights.

Jack Sharkey had his way until the foul, and Tunney won something like 18 or 19 out of 20 rounds.

 

Don't forget that Firpo went down 9 times. I'd bet my house that Joshua couldn't take Firpo or any hard hitting top contender to war without taking more than a few himself.

Where do you see Dempsey having a very tough fight?

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Dempsey had a tough fight vs Brennan who as an average type of contender.

Firpo was a wild swinger type. Joshua a controlled power hitter with better range, accuracy, length, punch selection, etc...

 

Doesn't answer my question. I'm asking to point out rds or specific parts where Dempsey is having problems with Brennan.

From what I can see Dempsey is constantly on the offensive and does well to minimize punches taken and maximize punches landed on Brennan.

You have double standards. Joshua struggles with a 41 year old past prime Wlad who hasn't been in the ring for 1.5 years. But Dempsey goes down twice and looks completely dominating throughout the other parts of the fight, knocking Firpo down 9x and its considered an L. All against a top contender who was considered to be stronger than Dempsey and hit harder than anyone Dempsey ever faced including Willard, Fulton, and Carl Morris.

 

Wilder is also considered not very skilled and he's knocking heads around.
Maybe Firpo had a killer punch, who knows?

I've see a clip of Firpo throwing punches for the camera, high quality, slow motion. His punching form was a bit awkward, but he had a really good shoulder snap.

Edit: Here it is

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The question really is, can Dempsey get ahead of Joshuas pace at the opening bell?

Because AJ, being insulted that he is fighting a much lighter guy, will rush in right away to assert his size difference.
Will he catch Dempsey off guard with his speed?
Or will Dempsey be able to read the rhythm, and take control of the pace and timing?

 

Firpo was a scrub as a boxer, the worst looking title challenger we have on film. Game and strong relative his era but a dime a dozen in today's game.

The Willard and Morris that Dempsey faced were at the nadir of their respective careers. Willard had essentially been out of the sport for 4 years and odds on Morris even making it to the fight were being set by local newspapers such was his commitment to the sport at the time.

 

Opinions based upon opinions.

Power is the last thing to go.

 

Always choose an elite ATG vs a fighter with 18 pro fights eons away from ATG status. Especially one who was blowing so hard after exerting himself he looked like he was having a heart attack.

 

Dempsey doesn't have wins over atg heavyweights on his resume but he does have wins over game challengers.

Its like baseball. You don't want a team full of guys who only hit homeruns, you want a balanced team with guys who can get on base.

 

Actually I think Dempsey might have the edge in that scenario. His entire career is practically based upon starting fast and getting the jump on opponents. He has the experience advantage in those types of situations.