Jack Dempsey 1919 v Evander Holyfield 1987

evander was a n excellent champion but in 1987 holyfeild could not match 1919 Dempsey for seasoning. Jack had many more fights and was already beating giants as well as fighters like brenan and miske, gunboat smith etc.

it truly would be a wonderful fight butDempsey has the edge. This was the most lively and sharp version of Jack Dempsey against the smallest version of evander who had under 20 fights by then so it is not a fair match.

 

Holyfield is black, Dempsey would have avoided him.

 

My thinking also, although he is a durable mofo at his best.

 

Evander too easy to hit, Jack too elusive with his bob and weave. Dempsey's pre-title swampings of Brennan, Fulton and Battling Levinski [all in their primes] surpass any stoppages Holyfield produced through 1987.

Langford did have a few good wins after Fulton sent him to the hospital following seven rounds in Boston during June 1917, but Sam definitely turned a downward corner after this one. Fred looked like an unstoppable monster on an inexorable collision course with Willard until Jack crushed him.

Bill Brennan had just been decisioned over 12 by Levinski when Dempsey floored him six times in the process of knocking him out in six. KO Bill had not been floored in 67 fights.

Levinski was at his peak as the reigning LHW Champion. He could be knocked down, and was frequently gotten the best of over the distance, but in 250 bouts, nobody had taken him down for the count. Dempsey did it in three.

Holyfield? I thought at the time that Qawi deserved the SD Evander was awarded in their first match. To this day, Dwight is convinced Holyfield was using PEDs for their rematch. Regardless, Brennan I, Fulton and Levinski are far more impressive stoppages for Jack than anything Evander produced prior to 1988. Tillman, Ocasio and DeLeon are respectable stoppages for Holyfield, but none of them would have stopped Langford as Fulton did.

 

Jack wins, power in both hands and a guy that is going to come at him Evander ends up on the deck finishes but looks like hamburger.

 

Neither was too elusive. Dempsey got hit plenty, lost his balance often and oversold his right hand.

Brennan had just lost and had a draw against Levinsky as well as a draw with Coffey... those in his previous 5 fights. Greb would go on and beat him 4 times within his next 8 outings... He had been figured out and exposed. And still Dempsey would choose him as a title challenger ( and not his many time victor Greb?!)...

A quality win for Dempsey, no doubt... but a victory over a light heavy, not a heavyweight or even cruiserweight by the standards of Holy's era. That is important.

Oh, and Holy beat Qawi, no doubt. And then stopped him, innuendo be damned.

The crux of this question is that we are comparing a prime Dempsey against a pre-prime Holy.

 

Who hit Dempsey "plenty" in his prime? Gibbons one of the great contenders of his time rarely hit Dempsey over 15 rounds. Tunney called it Dempsey's greatest win because it showed Dempsey was not only a great puncher but a great boxer.

 

..and back in 1919 which heavyweights threw the kind of sustained combination punching at high volume/high intensity that Holyfield brought to the table? And by this, I'm not talking 'stick and move' while throwing about 20 punches a round or windmilling with their heads down either.

 

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Holyfield LOOKED like he hit harder? What punch did Holy ever throw that LOOKED like the left hook that dropped Willard the first time in round one? Did Holy ever knock down opponents with body shots as did Dempsey? Dempsey regularly knocked out much larger opponents....how many larger opponents did Holy ever KO? Punching power has nothing to do with how an opponent LOOKS.

 

Holyfield, God of War, is going to take this. Jack isn't big enough to withstand Holyfield's dirty in-fighting, which consist of an array of headbutts, lowblows, and elbows. So what if Dempsey hits hard; Holy took wickedly hard shots from Bowe, Tyson, Foreman (All bigger and stronger then Jack).

 

right from the start, '84 olympics, holyfield was really hurting guys. he koed everybody in great fashion, using every punch in the book.. rare to see in olympic amateurs. he probably would have won the gold, with all ko's, but that ref called a late shot in the semi-finals against barry, who was decimated by a left hook, head-gear and all. that was my first impression of holyfield- the guy could punch with either hand.

 

Holyfield wasn't beating guys up in 5 and 6 ounce gloves, standing over them and hitting them as they tried to get up.

 

slash...the question was...how many bigger hwts did Holy KO? Dempsey Koed bigger men all the time...many with body shots. He hit like a hammer. Those at ringside could hear Dempseys shots "like a wooden hammer hitting an anvil". Noone disputes Joe Louis punching power and those that saw them both rated Dempsey just as hard or harder.

 

well, when it comes to 190lbs vs 190lbs, holyfield could punch with anybody. '84 olympics was the start of it. holyfield koed douglas, dokes, thomas, tyson, moorer, qawi etc. dropped mercer and bowe when it really meant something. the guy could punch. i'd like to see what dempsey would do against that same opposition. that would be interesting.