I've heard a lot of people insist that Dempsey had faster hands. I've never quite agreed with that. The footage of Dempsey is so grainy. His hands looked fast when he first decked Willard with that devastating left-right-left combo, but his hands weren't as fast as Frazier's on the inside. In my opinion, Dempsey may have had the faster left hook leaping in, (sometimes) but Frazier had quicker hands on the inside. It reminds me Ali-Patterson. In my opinion, Ali had the quicker jab, but Patterson threw the quicker hooks. What do you guys think?
I just reviewed those Dempsey fights and I see what you mean. But I wish there was better fight footage of that era. Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey almost always look like they're boxing in a Charlie Chaplin film. I don't know how honest that film quality is. Everybody looks like they're on speed or something.
I'll say Dempsey. Look at the 5 punch combo he hiy Tunney with in thier 2nd fight that decked Gene. I've never seen Joe throw anythig like that.
Frazier's left hook was a thing of beauty, just so natural, and it had a good combination of speed and power even when he threw it long. I liked when Frazier said 'I know when to hit someone, where to hit them and how hard to hit them', he wasn't really about the speed, just throwing perfect left hooks. So he isn't that fast but I don't rate Dempsey's speed that highly, especially against Willard/Firpo who Valuev would look fast against, against other men he doesn't look quite as quick. Ofcourse how fast a fighters punches look is somewhat influenced by their comp, their footwork, compactness of their shots, defense and timing One problem we have is Dempsey's footage is maybe sped up
Unfortunately, projection speed of old silent films is often an issue in evaluating the fighters we see. Not really the films fault; back then, without the need to match image to sound, there was no real need to have a standardized film speed. Hopefully, the projection speed will be altered so that rounds are three minutes; often, though, this is not done.
Frazier said he could not fully extend his left arm at his side......it had a permanent "crook" in it. Joe said: "All I have to is just "turn it over".
