1930, Gene Tunney doesn't retire, Can he turn back the challenge of young contender Max Schmeling, of Germany? 15 Rounds.
In short, Tunney was great on the front foot... picking up point. This become Louis's downfall against Schmeling, as he droppedd the left after a jab... Schmeling would deal with the lighter Tunney with the same effectiveness, and quicker.
I like Tunney to beat Max decisively on points ,the way Sharkey was doing ,before he went "south of the border".He had the skills, the speed ,the chin , and importantly in this fight ,the fast feet to keep one step ahead of the German.
Tunney was a superior boxer than either Sharkey or Schmeling and would have decisively defeated either one of them had he decided to not retire and defend against them. Both fights would have resulted in 15 round decisions for Tunney and neither fight would have been close. Tunney had the focus, chin, skill and sufficient power to make both men respect him. If he got hurt against Schmeling, he would have reacted far differently than Louis did in his first bout with thw German, and wouldn't have fought emotionally like Sharkey would have.
I would pick Tunney prime for prime but I suspect that a young hungry Schmeling would have caught Gene on the slide.
I completely agree with this. Gene was still improving at the time of his retirement. A late bloomer, we can never know when he might have begun sliding. He was insanely self disciplined, and a very aggressive boxer who usually got his punches off first. Max would have had quadruple jabs in his face constantly. (Check out Tunney/Gibbons.) Gene brutalized Heeney inside with his hooks. Max would lay back too much to win by counterpunching. He had a good hard jab, but it was usually a singular punch. Tunney kept his in his opponent's face constantly. His jabs were also delivered with bad intentions. (Watch the grimace on Gene's face when he slams jabs into Gibbons.) As smart as Schmeling was, nobody outsmarted Tunney
