Is Jack Dempsey the most overrated fighter of all time

No

 

Battling Jim johnson who fought mcvey, Jeanette, wills, Langford numerous times as well as Jack Johnson and many others on dempsey, " he's the hardest hitter I've ever met and I've faced some pretty good punchers in my time," said The veteran Johnson, " I took plenty of his rib crashers for two weeks and I sure want No more of his game. But anytime he goes into the ring my moneys gonna be on him, that's all, on him. " October 1918

 

I don't see either man beating Jack,,, There's a lot of talk on here insinuating that Jack Dempsey was AFRAID to fight some guys. Dempsey was many things in his life,,, being afraid to fight someone ain't one of them. The guy was a beast at his best

 

Greb was only in the running for a short period of time. It is more modern revisioning that Dempsey dodged Greb. Yes he won an elimination against Gibbons, eliminations were happening all the time Wills won several and even refused two, Dempsey beat Fulton in one after Fulton had already won an elimination, Dempsey still had to wait a year before that elimination was honoured. They done a poll in one of the newspapers for a title shot (sorry off hand can't think which paper) around the time Greb and Gibbons were in contention. They thought the people would have it between them two, but Wills won the poll that backfired on them as they were never going to let that scrap happen so it was given to the runner-up in the poll Tommy Gibbons.

 

Greb was first approached about a Dempsey fight in 1918 to which he agreed and Dempsey refused. He was last approached about a Dempsey fight in 1925 to which he agreed and Dempsey declined. There were several offers in between. Thats a period of 7 years, six of which Dempsey was champion. Define this “short” period you allude to. Also, Tommy was not given his title shot based on any newspaper poll. Not sure where you are getting your data from.

 

I think Jack is every bit as good as say Patterson or Quarry at heavyweight. Around that level second tier guys. Deserves his due for what he did for the sport.

 

When people are comparing him to Patterson or Quarry, then he is very decidedly in the underrated category!

He was overrated through most of the 20th century for a good reason!

 

I suppose it depends how you rate Patterson and Quarry whom are both top twenty HWs imo. Just not top ten.

 

In terms of actual ability, this is spot on. He could fight each of these guys 4 times, win 4 and lose 4. Nothing to be ashamed of and plenty before his time.

 

You can pick holes in Dempsey's resume, but head to head he was a monster.

 

I think with modern training he would be a beast in any era with his speed and power. As he was it was hard to tell. Basically barely fought at his best against not so good competition. Lot of men could look good. Would have liked to see him against the 30s HW scene to get a better idea of how good he was. How does he do against Louis?Baer?Schmeling?Carnera? Barely made it out alive against Sharkey (given he was not prime). Even if he fought Wills or Johnson we might rate him higher.

 

If Floyd Patterson fought Jack Dempsey a hundred times, he would get knocked out a hundred times.

 

While his opposition were not the best of any heavyweight champion, they were undoubtedly world class.

They were good enough to show that he was an exceptional finisher.

For example Fulton and Willard might not have been great fighters, but they should have been able to manage some sort of resistance with their physical advantages.

I am going to say that he was the most dangerous puncher of his weight that the ring ever saw.

 

Jack never beat anyone as fast, athletic, skilled and explosive as Floyd. And I would argue Floyd hit harder than any of those stumblebums like Brennan and Firpo and Willard.

 

I might agree with you, but nobody with Patterson's chin or style is beating Dempsey.

Not unless they do it with a stick while he sleeps.

Then you would be profoundly wrong.

There are men who hit significantly harder than Patterson in every era.