How big was jack dempsey really

What an animal he'd be in the ring.

 

Frazier looks bigger than Dempsey in terms of the weight he could have held.

 

We wouldn't be here, he would have torn a hole through the space/time continuum and the universe would have imploded via his demonic aggression

Read up on how much he did during training then factor in his wrestling (which alot of older fighters incorporated into their training)

I don't think many modern heavyweights would be that much stronger than him and even the ones who were wouldn't "ragdoll" him due to his experience with wrestling.

From a Mike Casey Article on Dempsey, talking about training methods from older fighters
[url]http://cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/casey/MC_OldSchool.htm[/url]



"Wrestling? Yes indeed. Here was a vital and essential component in the training manual of the great fighters of the past. Jeffries was a very able wrestler, as was Dempsey, who was greatly admired and respected by the great grapplers of his day. Historian Tracy Callis offers us some valuable opinions on this subject. Says Tracy: “Personally, I believe that whatever exercises one does is an aid to the physical well-being of the individual and improves the energy level. So I will not criticise techniques that are utilised to train boxers today.
“Instead I will only say that stronger attention needs to be given to a few areas that appear to be deemed less important today. A number of old approaches have been abandoned in favour of the more direct needs, and I speak primarily of wrestling. This process places stress on the muscles of the body in all the right places – arms, legs, shoulders, back and also requires the body to manoeuvre and stay balanced as it deals with opposition. "

 

I really disagree. Dempsey's body type reminds me of Adamek.

Look at Adamek in the 1st then the 2nd Briggs fight, he's noticably thicker in the second fight. Even then he still looks pretty unimpressive and scrawny/spindley.

Would you imagine that he would have ended up being a fit & solid 205 during his CW run? He doesn't look like he'd be able to carry it but he can easily.

Dempsey is just in much much better shape than most modern heavies, even Frazier in the 70's. Frazier can't even carry the 200/205 he was, you can tell he's carrying more weight than his frame can handle.

 

Yeah and one of his books wasn't just boxing but unarmed combat in general : boxing, wrestling, judo, jiu-jitsu

Same article describing how many of the top fighters did similar training, outdoors stuff rather than weights.

[url]http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/casey/MC_OldSchool.htm[/url]


"Flicking through the pages of Fleischer’s terrific little manual, one striking impression is immediate. Everyone is out in the open air. Jack Johnson strengthens his shoulder by carrying a heavy log. Freddie Welsh chops wood. Battling Nelson, typically, clambers up a steep mountain and follows up with a spot of hurdling. Johnny Kilbane plays leapfrog in Central Park. Luis Angel Firpo ‘chins the bar’ whilst hanging from a tree. Dempsey swims in a lake, rows a boat, slugs baseballs and strengthens his arms and abdominal muscles by working a water pump. Abe Attell climbs a tree. Ad Wolgast lifts a heavy trunk to develop his shoulders, arms and thighs. Jim Jeffries strengthens his mighty body still further by wrestling. "


About the Tunney rematch, getting from 227 to 192

" His weight was up to 227lbs and he had lost his appetite for the game. But a stinging observation from crafty Tex Rickard galvanised Dempsey into trimming the pounds. “Maybe Tunney’s too tough for you. No one likes to get licked by the same guy twice.”

Dempsey recalled: “I disappeared into the hills near Ojai, California, away from everybody and everything, including the telephone. I chopped trees for hours at a stretch, did callisthenics, raced against dogs, jumped rope, carried rocks and climbed trees. It wasn’t just a matter of getting into shape, but of training hard to get rid of the flab. By June, I had trimmed to 205lbs, increased my roadwork to seven miles and was punching light and heavy sandbags.”
Jack was just over 192lbs by the time he stepped into the ring against Tunney at Soldier Field. "

 

Archie Moore once said in a television interview about Dempsey that "he was a very strong man" from what he knew about him..much stronger than his size would indicate. He emphasized that again like he was really impressed about how physically strong Dempsey was, for some reason.

 

I'm sure everyone has heard the story and not that it's completely applicable but just for kicks the Galento-Dempsey story.

[url]http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/casey/MC_DempseyFeature.htm[/url]

"Gruff, strict and taciturn, the legendary and brilliant Lou Stillman ran his famous New York boxing gym with a rod of iron. Like Ray Arcel, Lou could be shy and guarded in giving his opinion of different fighters.........But one day Stillman saw one thing he never forgot. It was the angry punch with which the retired Dempsey knocked out Tony Galento in a sparring session. The sight and sound of that mighty blow being driven home was hard for even Stillman to believe. Right to the end, Lou maintained that it was the hardest shot he had ever seen and that Dempsey was the greatest heavyweight.

Ray Arcel was also a witness to the chilling incident and recalled that the punch nearly decapitated Galento"


How old would have Dempsey been? Galento fought louis in 1939 and Dempsey was born in 1895. So Dempsey could have been anywhere from maybe 44-48 yrs old roughly? Not sure the exact year this story took place.

 

He certainly looks taller than Frazier here, even as an old man

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Tunney had battles with the booze later on in life though didn't he?

Carpentier looks the same size as he always was