Marciano was the greater fighter. The better champion IMV. I think that Dempsey squandered his title reign from a pure boixng perspective. He made a shitload of $$ though. Not mad at him for that. Head to head? I think it favors Dempsey. I like his quicker hands and sharper combination punching on the inside. Jack was just more explosive. If it goes into the late rounds I would give Marciano the advantage as no one could match his conditioning and stamina.
Marciano by decision or late round KO. They both had good punch outputs and power. Both had pretty quick hands, Dempsey more so. They both had good chins. Marciano was only down twice in 49 fights and never stopped... and he never lost. Dempsey was a bit more wild with his punches. Marciano had the better stamina IMO. Marciano could throw punches for 15 rounds and he carried his power in every round. Dempsey was good in this area as well but I give Marciano the nod here. Dempsey was a little taller and had the longer reach, their weight was close. Dempsey didn't jab much so his reach wouldn't really be an issue. The fight would be fought with both fighters standing in front of the other... this would favor Marciano.
I love this matchup. It´s nearly 50/50. I voted Marciano ´cause I thought he´d survive Dempsey and drown him in the alte rouds but the more I think of it I think Dempsey will hurt Marciano before round 6 and he is the best finisher bar Louis and perhaps Tyson. So, it´s not a stretch to say that if Jack hurts the Rock he very well might finish him. Marciano has an iron chin though. But I think Dempsey get´s the job done.
Dempsey a bit wider with his punches? Are you joking? Marciano swung from left field. Dempseys shots were short. Look at the body work vs Sharkey...short brutal shots. Look at the ko blow vs Sharkey and the same shot vs Tunney in round 7......can't get much shorter. Look at the inside work vs Firpo.....especially the knockdown prior to the ko in round two. Dempsey weaves freezing Firpo in his tracks...Dempsey throws two short powerful punches....right to body left hook to the jaw. You do not see these type punches from Marciano.
Agree, the only hws which got as much leverage behind short punches as Dempsey did was Louis and perhaps Tyson.
:roll: Tyson and Louis were a league above Dempsey as a puncher/finisher/willingness to fight black opponents/top rated contenders. Marciano's 6" punch on Walcott in round 13 is better than anything Jack ever threw.
His longer range is nulified in the sense he very rarely/never used this advantage, he pefered to be at close/mid range so he could hook. This wouldn't bode well against Rocky. Where was Dempsey's mobility against the abysmal Firpo? Like with his range although he did posses it he hardly/never used it. Firpo fought coming forward as did Marciano and Dempsey never used his mobility to his advantage against Firpo and paid for it when he let Firpo pummel him through the ropes. Dempsey used his mobility when he needed to weave himself closer to larger opponents but he wouldn't need that here against the half crouch, t rex arms that is Marciano. His mobility would make a difference if kinda like Sugar Ray he threw a combo then moved, but Dempsey didn't fight like that. With his nature he'd be dragged into a brawl and like I say every time this thread pops up, in a brawl the superior fighter with the better physical gifts will come out on top (e.g. Lyle - Foreman, Cooper - Mercer) and in this case it goes to Marciano. Dempsey's sole advantage is hand speed while Marciano hit harder, better chin, better stamina, better workrate, physically stronger. Marciano grinds him down to a TKO.
Watch how Marciano punches he uses his legs and hip twist EXTREMELY well, infact one early opponent who fought Marciano as an amateur was watching him hit the bag and noted how he managed to get everything behind his punches. Every noted puncher in history used leverage very effectivley. Tyson probably got the most into his given sometimes when he missed he wound up behind his opponent.
I agree on Marciano's ability to get immense leverage at very close range - a good example is the Marciano-Rex Layne match where Layne I think had a similarish height and reach to Jack Dempsey and when boxing looked like he prefered the kind of midrange that Dempsey did when he worked his way forward before exploding but Marciano got inside and leaned on his chest and really dug his heals into the canvas and ripped some awful shots into Rex from angles that Layne just couldn't cope with he did his best to lean on Rock with his greater weight and then push off and try to get some straighter shots off but Marciano was just mean on the inside and he was so difficult to get to get to himself inside. But then against Firpo Dempsey showed how he needed barely any room to smash his own vicious brutal shots in and he was also tremendously quick at spinning Firpo and getting around to get a better shot at him even with only one hand free at times - no doubt this would be a slugfest to end all slugfests - so difficult to predict but if forced the only thing I can say to split them is that I have seen Dempsey vulnerable and have seen his moments such as against Firpo when he touched down in the first few seconds and then when his legs went late in the first round which ended with him going through the ropes, and I've also seen his legs wobbled badly by an explosive series of shots from Carpentier, and I've seen him rocked badly by Sharkey and also taking a bit of a shellacking by some Tunney shots so I don't know - granted all those times he came back to end things himself - but that was part of the excitement of the man for me - kinda like a heavyweight Nigel Benn for any British fans he could be hurt and staggered pretty badly but he also had remarkablely quick recovery time and was lethal when getting hurt but one of the things with Marciano that gets me is (and I don't think I've seen any of his fights where this isn't the case) is that he always finished every exchange himself even in exchanges when he had to take his lumps he would always always finish the exchange with his own punches - this is one of the most difficult fights for me to say one way or the other but with a gun to my head I'd say Marciano but then I would haha but one things for certain but I suppose it's a given that if Marciano landed anything like the 13th round Walcott right hand then it would be over for me
I don't know of any historian or writer who saw both men live that picked Rocky to beat Dempsey. fleischer stated you cannot compare Rocky to Dempsey except as a puncher.
I like Dempsey by tko on cuts in the mid-rounds. However, it could have become problematic for Dempsey if this stoppage doesn't occur and Rocky's indomitable stamina and determination take over later in the fight.
