historical footage - extremely clear dempsey -tunney

Just on the fighters themselves issues.

Dempsey was right in the top echelon as a p4p puncher.

Dempsey showed he was game as they come, plowing forward into all those punches.

Dempsey shows he was reasonably durable, but Tunney didn't stop Carpentier or Gibbons in 10 rounds either, and he never stopped Greb at all, so Tunney's punch, especially at heavy, remains a bit iffy to me.

On the down side for Dempsey, critics as far back as 1918 and the Meehan fight pointed out that he looked sensational when he got off first, but looked ordinary if the other guy got off first. This fight, as well as the Brennan, Firpo, and Sharkey films, back up that observation.

Dempsey showed a few times that he had a jab. He just rarely used it. The few times he did Tunney didn't make him pay with a counter. More jabbing might have been a good idea to not allow Tunney to get off first all the time.

Both men carried their hands low. It is hard to fault Tunney, as he controlled distance so well. But I think it might have been a good idea for Dempsey to pick off a few punches with his gloves. His defense seemed limited to ducking, and the bob down prevented him from countering effectively.

Dempsey had a perfect male physique. Tunney was built oddly. Observers always commented on Fitz's big upper torso, but Tunney is also big in the shoulders and chest compared to his lower body. His upper-body strength showed on the inside. He had no trouble tying up Dempsey.

Critics back in the twenties speculated that a potential weakness for Tunney came as a side effect of his heavy upper body. They said he was unable to duck punches effectively, something which didn't bother in the mid-ring (at least against the opponents he fought) but which could have been important if he were trapped against the ropes. Dempsey did hit him against the ropes but it is difficult to see how Tunney could have ducked. As is, it is true he moves away from punches rather than trying to slip under them. This might have proven a flaw against a big guy with a longer reach (let's say Wills) but I can't see it having any impact against Dempsey.

Overall, I thought Tunney looked the better fighter and would win most of the time against Dempsey with Jack limited to a puncher's chance.

Hard to say what difference youth would have made for Dempsey. None of the fighters we have film of him going against are in Tunney's class, and Dempsey having to go 12 rounds with Brennan and the full 15 with Gibbons doesn't point to him catching up with Tunney all that often.

Off what we have here, I gave Tunney 9 of the 10 rounds.

 

Tunney's precise footwork and foot speed are among the best in division history. Many talk about Tunney's jab, but actually he was a hellacious body puncher too. See the Gibbons fight.

Dempsey was a noted dirty fighter. Low blows, and kidney shots can be seen on film Yes, he was gassed. Even in his prime Dempsey was not noted for long term stamina. Tunney was not only landing, he was making Dempsey chase him.

Tunney won 18-19 of the 20 rounds fought.

 

Excellent post. The only thing to add is Tunney wasn't built that oddly and kept his speed at 190 pounds. Tunney had a 77" reach. Pretty good for those days.