Evander Holyfield - Jack Dempsey

Anyone who traded with Jack ,eventually got kod.

 

So do I, but I dont think that Holyfield would have stopped him inside three rounds or inside ten for that matter.

I certainly dont think that Holyfield would have stopped Fred Fulton in 23 seconds.

 

deleted by poster

 

Not sure if Holyfield has a late work rate advantage over prime Dempsey, Jack was pretty active late against Gibbons and Brennan.

Time machined together, I might slightly favor Holyfield, guessing he might be strong enough to stiffle Jack inside. If this isn't the case, it's 50-50.

If they came along together and primed at the same time, I'd give Dempsey an edge, but with Holyfield still a very live opponent.

 

Guys are the same size , if they fought in 1919 or in 1996 .... Dempsey would take same juice ... Holyfield took an amazing punch and it would be a series that would go either way by decision many times ...

 

I agree that Tyson was lazy on the inside. But when Holyfield (or any skilled clincher) ties you up, you're tied up, end of. Tyson had seen better days, but he was still very good, and looked as good as he ever did against Bruno just three months before. Let's not rewrite history: Holyfield was 34 and perceived as washed up going in - not Tyson.


Holyfield is a lot more proven. He's beaten guys like Bowe and Tyson, both who are about as highly regarded or higher than Dempsey in a head-to-head sense.

Dempsey, on the other hand, never beat anyone remotely as good as Holyfield. The only one who comes close that he faced is Tunney, and the thrashed Dempsey twice. Sure, Dempsey was past it, but the fact that he couldn't manage to win a single round the first time and only one the second time doesn't exactly indicate that it would've been an easy win had he been younger.

Based on what? Bowe has never been stopped during his entire career, during which in general he faced much better opponents than Willard, and only been down three times.

And Lewis has only been down two times (one of which would've definitely been allowed to continue if he fought during Willard's sadistic time), while facing punchers LIGHT YEARS ahead of what Willard had to cope with. And the best two punchers that Willard faced, stopped him anyway. Age or not, he never proved to be able to go the distance with punchers of that calibre, even in a day when a talented 210+lbs puncher was rare; unlike the monsters that Bowe and Lewis had to deal with throughout their entire careers.

 

Pontius makes some good points. Holyfield's performance in the Tyson fight must give one pause before waving a flag for Dempsey.

Dempsey, however, should not be judged for his performances after 1923. For head-to-heads, I look at 2 films to get an idea of him at his best -the Willard fight and the sparring with Tate. The 1919 Dempsey was vicious. Interestingly, he had less trouble with giants than he did against boxers who were roughly his own size. You'd expect him to roll over smaller guys but he didn't. It was almost as if he was thinking too much about trying to solve them. BUT the more the opponent was aggressive, the better Jack was.

His style against aggressive guys was formidable to say the least. At his best, he's about the best offensive machine I've seen -he was very agile and elusive in his offense, and that elusivity was designed to maximize leverage in his shots.

Holyfield could box very well when he wanted to, but he was allured by the prospect of proving his power and so most often would go toe-to-toe. This would be a mistake with 1919 Dempsey -who's shots were not exactly easy to read because they looped very fast and came in combinations and at angles. Holyfield would get caught, often, if he decided to war with the smaller man.

Holyfield could clinch and maneuver Jack, but Jack knew how to relax at those times and regroup... it wouldn't necessarily be a problem and may in fact help him to conserve his energy for the next onslaught. But at long-range, Jack would bob and weave --and gallop in-- and I don't know how well Holyfield is going to deal with that kind of aggression besides trying to meet it and raise it.

Also, Holyfield had a speed advantage against every HW he faced until he aged... but that would not be the case here. Dempsey's faster. Evander's counterpunching worries me, but Dempsey presented a smaller target than anyone Holyfield ever faced -bending forward at the waist like he did and moving that head like a thrasher. The other thing is pace. I strongly suspect that Holyfield would set a serious pace and be very aggressive. Think Firpo. Aggressive guys brought out the best in Dempsey, and you can count on Evander being very aggressive in this one...

I have some hesitation, but I'd bet [Pontius'] car on Dempsey.

 

Dempsey draws the color line so...no winner.

In all seriousness, I think Dempsey would take it.

 

Dempsey TKO 7

Jack doesn't **** around.

 

holy had a pride thing on trading you had to be a fleet footed back peddler to beat a prime dempsey and holy would get dropped trading with jack,but it would be a get fightwith holys good chin

 

I think this would be a very, very entertaining fight. Dempsey by a come from behind TKO in round 9 after getting dropped in the 3rd with a right hand.

 

I think one reason for this is that Dempsey was very tall, especially for his time, for a swarmer. At 6'1, his bob and weave style worked much better against a big opponent than against a small one.


If this fight comes off, i wouldn't mind betting my car against yours.