Even if you love Dempsey, it is time for a generation to accept -

I think Bowe had the potential to be as good as Lewis, but he remains a what might have been for me.

 

And for good reason. Half of the top heavyweights were lightheavies and the black fighters were banned from the top.

A good win, but Gibbons as a heavyweight is nothing special.

It IS a joke. Tell me how many important fights are over 6 rounds? And this probably is one of Dempsey's best wins.

Well he was a 10-1 underdog, which as i have mentioned earlier, is a HUGE underdog, especially if you consider that he basically went even with Dempsey a few years earlier. Can you show me another fighter who went even with another, but a few years later suddenly became a huge underdog with odds that basically had him chanceless?

More convincingly?

Wills beat him by crushing 3rd round knockout! Are you seriously gonna tell me that beating someone by first or third round knockout is a significant difference?

The winner was promised a shot at Dempsey's title, but of course when Wills won, a sick Miske was quickly pulled in.

Yes, but then again, Wills beat Langford something like 9 times while Dempsey went even with him over 10 and beat him over 6 rounds and another time when he was terminally ill, plus Langford is MUCH greater than Miske.

The only reason he was at top level is because back then heavyweights were so small. If you think he'd be anything today (when he'd be small himself), then you must be kidding yourself.

Again, what is the relevance of this? The reality is that Wills beat Langford a shitload of times, and unlike Dempsey didn't duck him.

Please, Willard was awful. He had no idea how to box, tie his man up, was old, inactive and never much to begin with. The only reason he got a shot at Johnson is because he was white, and the only reason he won is because Johnson was 37 years of partying old and the fight was over 40 rounds, which allowed him to win a marathon run. Under 15 round rules, Willard would've been a journeyman.

Even his best attribute, durability, is highly exxagerated. He was stopped by the two best and only punchers he faced and while he was old, he never showed to be able to survive a good hitter, either.

Wills performed better against Firpo, Meehan, Johnson and the Fulton fight were easy KO wins for both men. Dempsey did better against Sharkey, but struggled badly as well and had to win on a foul. So i don't really see how the "Dempsey performed better against them" argument works.

Also, Dempsey loses a lot of points for proudly producing the most blatant ducking job in the history of boxing before or after in any weight class, as well as avoiding Greb, who beat most of his lightheavyweight opponents.

 

I think the difference between Dempsey's stoppage of Fulton and Will's is that Dempsey knocked Fulton unconscious in 23 seconds with three punches ,and Fulton had to be dragged back to his corner. I beleive you will find Wills stopped Fulton with a body shot ,and he was conscious at the time of the stoppage.

 

Yeah, so what? Both beat him effortlessly. If Fulton had knocked Wills down and dragged him into a war to win a Foreman-Lyle like fight, then i would've agreed. But as far as i've read, it was an easy knockout win. Asif the difference between an extremely easy knockout win or an easy knockout win is significant.

 

didnt wills break fultons ribs??

 

I imagine it could be significant for your purpouses if the positions were reversed.

 

jack johnson was still fighting pretty good at an advanced age, did he ever challenge jack dempsey from 1917-1920??? that would have been a good name to have on dempseys resume

 

Yes.Dempsey didnt ,he ran out of time

 

You might very well say that , I couldnt possibly comment.

 

Most certainly.

 

Well you think Langford has a chance of beating Lennox Lewis so you can imagine a lot of things.

 

I think it is a far more absurd position to say that any world class fighter has litteraly no chance of beating another world class fighter than vice versa.

 

Willard made a comeback at 40 and was outpointing Firpo until his legs gave out ,he wasnt quite the oaf you make him out to be.

 

He also went on to beat Floyd Johnson who was a significant win at the time.

If you look at Willard in film that is time corected he dosnt look too bad. No worse than Vitally Klitschko really.

 

Which brings me back to my point how horrible Firpo was.

It does look bad. He's a farmboy with boxing gloves who was giving an opportunity because of the color of his skin and could capitalize on it because boxing back then was closer to a marathon run than something that requires skill or technique.