Herb Goldman: Tyson = Dempsey

Dempsey had been very inactive most of his reign.
He followed the win over Willard with 14 months out of the ring, making film series in Hollywood.
He followed the win over Carpentier with 2 years away from real boxing, and came back to beat Gibbons.
He then went 3 years away after beating Firpo, and came back to lose to Tunney.

To suggest Dempsey was closer to his prime than those others is silly. He was more or less in decline his whole 7 year reign.

No, the Sharkey fight showed him to be washed-up too. Sharkey threw that fight away by making a fuss about a low blow. But it was all Sharkey for most of the fight.

Dempsey's legs are gone in 1926/'27.