If we switch Dempsey and Marciano, does anything interesting pop up?

Dempsey, following the "Rocky" time line, would have lost a few years in World War II, as the real life Rocky Marciano did.

I think Dempsey gets the shot at 28 or 29, and not at 23 or 24. Think he was 24.

This would not be a prime Dempsey, I dont think the Marciano that fought Walcott was prime perhaps, peak yes, but not a prime 23 year old.

 

DMT,

no one critisizes dempseys skill level. Certainly not me. If you read my posts, I have nothing but utmost respect for Dempseys bob and weave, and I think his footwork was unbelievable top 5 in history

 

I've favor Dempsey over Marciano. Dempsey was faster/more explosive then Marciano. He'd find that chin sooner or later a majority of the time.

 

And Marciano wouldnt find Dempseys chin? Dempsey was outswarmed by 5'9 Willie Meehan, and knocked down 3 times by crude Firpo.

 

Did I comment on a Marciano vs Dempsey match up, Suzie?

 

Wasnt he dropped twice by fripo though? And why do you refuse to read the newspaper reports which say that the meehan decisions were unfair? Maybe its because u have a grudge against dempsey?

 

I wonder whether Meehan would take a fight or two of Marciano. Quite possibly he could. I think that realistically Marcianno would have won the series but maybe drawn a fight or two.

I seriously doubt that Marciano would have the loss to Flynn, but i suppose stranger things have happened.

Here is the difficult part for Marciano. I cant see him doing to Willard and Fulton what Dempsey did. Therefore, i dont see the same sort of public adulation existing for Dempsey as what currently exists. This means that i think it would be held much more against him, that he didnt fight Wills or possibly even Langford and later Godfrey.

This leaves the Tunney fight over 10. Marciano might not be highly rated, but he could certainly give Tunney some problems. This is a toss up fight. If we assume that Tunney wins, (like he did with Dempsey), then, imo, there is no way that Marciano would be seen as a great fighter because i dont see those destructive early KOs. Of course, in reality, Marciano may take a different route and fight McVey Jeanette Langford Wills Johnson and Godfrey, by which time he could have retired with a huge legacy still.

Dempsey in Marcianos time, might be interesting. Assuming he doesnt lose early in his career (like he did in his own), it must be remembered that he stopped training when he won the title and became lazy. For this reason, i see him beating Charles, and Co, but like with Tunney, i can see maybe an Archie Moore or even Ezzard himself outboxing and winning the title against an undisciplined Dempsey. I would have thought his legacy would have suffered.

Thinking about the two legacies I think that it is highly unlikely that either would be as successful as the other was, if they swapped circumstances

 

I happen to think Marciano has a much tougher time with Willard that Dempsey did .. not a great match up for Rocky ...

 

dempsey was a killer in 1919. once he got the title he got more into hollywood but was still fighting a great boxer like tunney 8 years later. tunney was a harder opponent than old louis - i think he would beat moore and is 50/50 v charles/walcott - i actually slightly favor tunney as he was very smart in the ring. rocky never held on the title for even 5 years so you can't compare. dempsey, tyson, ali, patterson, louis all won the title very young. rocky was an old champ compared to these fighters so he had to stay hungry longer to get the title - he was fighting bums at an age when these were champs and defending their title. put 1918-1920 dempsey against moore, walcott, charles then i pick dempsey to win.

 

Walcott could be a very tough martch for Dempsey ...

 

How so? Rockys record against men above 200lb was 11-0 with 11 knockouts. Rocky feasted on the bigger slower punching bags. These men were tailor made for him because they were easier to hit. the smaller trickier guys were more problems for the rock. I doubt Willard lasts 3 rounds vs Rocky, especially the 37 year old inactive WAY out of shape willard dempsey fought.

 

We have to take into account would Dempsey draw the color line in Marcianos era? He wouldnt fight top blacks in his own era, what makes you think he will take on the likes of Joe Louis, Archie Moore, Jersey Joe Walcott, Clarence Henry, Ezzard Charles, Nino Valdez, Bob Baker??

 

In all fairness the 50's was different from the 20's in that respect. It wouldn't be as easy to avoid Charles and Walcott as it was to avoid Wills. The money would be in fights against black fighters. On the other hand Dempsey wouldn't even fight Greb, so...

Just think if a champ in the 50's would avoid all the non-white fighter as well as the best white contender. What would be left? Cockell? Hardly legacy building.

 

oh yeah Jack was very scared of Greb, after all athe experts at the time thought Greb would destroy dempsey. And of course Greb showed everyone that he defetaed more powerful guys then dempsey so hed have no problem beating jack. Greb was an atg heavyweight after all.

 

1. According to Many here, Greb embarrassed Dempsey in sparring to the point where Dempsey refused to get into the ring with Greb in a real fight

2. Greb actually did better against Dempseys competition than jack did himself! Embarrasing!

3. Greb did not draw the color line and took on a Prime Kid Norfolk