Dreamfight - Jack Dempsey (September 14,1923) vs. Rocky Marciano (September 23,1952)

:yep

 

Agree completely. Fans greatly underestimate Dempsey today. He was far better than any of the guys Marciano beat.

 

You can also say that the guys Marciano beat were far better than Firpo who knocked Dempsey out of the ring, or Fireman Jim Flynn, who KO´d him in the 1st round, etc...

 

I've written up a simple comparison between the two. I'll go ahead and leave it at this because if I get caught up in an argument it'll never end.


Raw Power
Marciano by a slight margin

Punching Technique
Dempsey

Accuracy
Dempsey

Hand Speed
Dempsey

Composite punching abilities
Dempsey

Foot Speed
Dempsey

Chin
Tough to decide. Dempsey fought bigger punchers and under harsher conditions (In his early career) and also had more fights overall than Marciano, but he did get wobbled and dropped more often. Marciano never fought someone with the sheer power of Firpo or Willard and he was decked by the two best punchers he did fight. Slight edge to Marciano

Toughness/Durability
Even. They both were able to take it as good as they could give it out.

Will to win
Even. They both fought on with harsh injuries (Broken ribs, cuts) and I doubt either ever contemplated giving up.

Defense
Dempsey.

Stamina
Even. In his prime Dempsey had stamina on par with Marciano’s

Dempsey was a faster starter, a better finisher, had a longer reach, was more cut resistant and, in his prime, more experianced than Marciano.
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What? Far better than Walcott, Charles, Louis? (old, I know but still fought a reasonable-ish fight against Rocky).

Dempsey is more "myth" over "substance" in terms of legacy He was a fine offensive force fair enough, but head-to-head is ridiculously overrated, especially against bigger, skilled and hard hitting Heavyweights. Alot of boxing people oldtimers especially over-romanticize when it comes to this guy.

Oh and he got decked in one by a Fireman named Flynn- what happened? Did Jack chuck the fight cause his corner said so? :roll: McCall and Rahman weren't absolute top class fighters, but they sure were a whole league above Flynn. :yep

 

Correct.

 

And stating Dempsey would "ruin" Marciano isn't underestimating the Rock?

 

Walcott and Charles style is nothing like Dempsey so that means jack ****. Marciano's style is perfect for Dempsey. It would be some war.

 

:yep

 

I honestly think that of all the historical match-ups this is the one that is literally a pick 'em choice, if they fought 10 times I reckon the score would be 5-5

 

You´re right, some also say Dempsey took a dive against Flynn, which could be true IMO. My point wasn´t also, that I rate his loss against the Fireman high, I just meant that when someone says "Dempsey is better than the opponents Marciano beat", we can bring some examples from Dempsey...

 

Agreed!

 

Can you explain these points?

Dempsey faded late in several fights (including both with Tunney - his best opponent), while Marciano hardly seemed to tire at all. Marciano, in fact, was known for increasing his punch numbers late in the fight, and has a few late-round knockouts of good opponents in his resume.

I think it's hard to debate that Dempsey was a better finisher than Marciano. Marciano never failed to finish an opponent that he had him hurt, and when you look at fights like Walcott I you can see that he almost always found a way to hurt them. Dempsey, on the other hand, failed to finish Tunney.