Jack Dempsey vs rocky marciano

That statement is not backed up by film footage of the two nor by anyone who saw them both at ringside. Actually just the opposite.

 

I see exactly the opposite when I watch their respective fights.

 

I admit that Dempsey had the better tan.

 

Odds are this would be a stoppage result. I go back and forth with this one. I like Dempsey inside the first six rounds, and Rocky from 7-15 if a stoppage is scored.

In almost all cases if Dempsey went past six rounds, he was not getting a stoppage. The Brennan fight is the lone exception, and Jack had to come back to win that one...not likely to beat Rocky on that night.

On their best singular night, I like Dempsey, but on average nights Marciano.

Close to 50/50. It would have been a heck of a fight

 

While I agree with these points, cuts stoppages are rare in boxing. Maybe 2%,of all title fights are stopped on cuts being the primary reason and if one happened, Rocky proved his could fight well with them.

The non surprise is you left out a few things.

1 ) Stamina. Rocky's stamina is much better than Dempsey's, and he could very well smother JD's power some or go under Dempsey's hook and work the body.

2 ) Consistency in the ring. Big edge for Rocky

3 ) Heart and will to win. Edge Marciano, few had greater.

4 ) Ring Generalship. I think Rocky fought just a little smarter.

 

I just want to say thanks for the interesting discussion, gentlemen. A far cry from some of the dross in General

 

McVea

Dempsey and Marciano do not have comparable chins. There records and film footage shows marciano has the more reliable chin.

 

I, and the vast majority of experts of boxing who saw Dempsey and Marciano ringside, and chose Dempsey to beat Rocky,
SECOND the MOTION...Todays neophytes have no clue how great a force the prime Dempsey was...Yjey bring up the 2nd Brennan fight where it took Dempsey 12 rounds to ko Brennan, breaking Brennan's ankle in the process...They forget when previously Dempsey flattened Brennan in an early round...No fighter ever
was at his best in EVERY fight including Ray Robinson and Clay/Ali. NO FIGHTER. But Dempsey beat everyone from 1919 to 1923.Were his opponents the greatest assortment of opponents
of HWs ? NO. but this doesn't mean that Dempsey wouldn't have risen to the occasion at any other time in heavyweight history.
How great did Ali look against Norton in their 3 bouts, nor against Doug Jones or Jimmy Young, or Joe Frazier in the FOTC
which I attended ?...Nor even my man Joe Louis look great against Bob Pastor or Billy Conn. But HE got the job done eventually...Same with Dempsey, the roughest, toughest body puncher of them all...cheers Mc...

 

Marciano was knocked down by two men nearly 40 years old Chuvalo he wasn't.

 

8-02-25
188½ Bill Brennan 196 25 2 3








Auditorium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin W TKO 6/10

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W
TKO
6/10



Auditorium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
"Just one man, Fred Fulton, stands today between Jack Dempsey, the shiftiest two-fisted fighter since Bob Fitzsimmons, and Jess Willard, the heavyweight champion of the world. When Dempsey fights as he fought against Bill Brennan here last night, no lesser man can stand against him. Dempsey knocked Brennan out in the sixth round, and it was a masterly piece of work. Very few fighters have taken a better licking or taken their licking better than Brennan did last night. In sixty-seven fights Brennan had not been knocked off his feet, and his record includes about forty knockouts. Dempsey had him down four times in the second round and twice in the sixth. That ought to be answer enough to the question, can Dempsey hit? Just once did Brennan's robust wallop net Dempsey for a punch that stung. Dempsey took that punch and came back fighting like a tiger. Brennan's vaunted defense crumpled like paper before Dempsey's attack and his deadly left hand could not find its mark. Dempsey punished the big Chicagoan in every round but one." (******

 

I don't think this is a given by any means.

Dempsey's chin was tested against much bigger fighters, and harder hitters.

You could definitely make a case his way.

 

That's why I say comparable.:good

 

You could also make these same 4 points in favor of Frazier over Foreman but we all know that Joe is never going to win that fight.

Dempsey is quicker, both hands and feet, punches at least as hard and is taller with a longer reach. These are the factors that will make the difference here. Dempsey by KO or cuts by the middle rounds.

 

OK all fighters look less than great sometimes, espeically when not at their peak. . But all the Ali examples were NOT at his peak, except near it for FOTC< & he looked excellent indeed then. If he was in great (as before the long layoff) rather than good endirance, that alone might let him win-but he had also lost speed.

Dempey was just *much* less consistent than Marciano.
All the (pre-championship, pre-peak) fights Marciano "struggled" in he won.
Only the 1st Lowry fight can it be argued he did not deserve to.
Dempsey's record is much more chackered.
And Dempsey was not that old in his last fights.

Dempsey likely did not hit "at least as hard" as Marciano.
Dempsey himself noted how he needed a bunch of shots to take out a man-Rocky did not always. He SAID Marciano hit harder.

Again, cuts rarely stop fights.
But Dempsey with his speed & power MIGHT beat Marciano.
But Marciano was also a much better fighter after he won the title.
We do not knowhow well ROcky could handle Dempsey's offense.

Nor is Dempsey could survive a relentless high volume power puncher.

We really & truly just do not know.

 

Which of the bigger fighters tested his chin? We know Fulton didn't land a punch. We know Willard didn't land a punch. That leaves firpo, who floored Dempsey three times including Dempsey falling out of the ring and having to be saved by a type writer. Was Marciano ever floored three times in one fight before?

The only two punchers who floored Marciano rank number 63 and 4 all time on RING magazine top 100 greatest punchers list. Both hit Marciano with there BEST Sunday punch. Both resulted in nothing more than flash knockdowns with Marciano unfazed.

Dempsey was badly wobbled on film, did the chicken dance against 172lb George's carpentier.

Dempsey was badly wobbled and floored by Tunney, would have been stopped if the fight went another couple rounds

Dempsey badly hurt nearly knocked out by light punching Jack Sharkey

Dempsey floored NINE times by 5-8 Johnny sudenberg

Dempsey hurt by Bill Brennan twice during the fight

Here's the killer. Dempsey was knocked out in 1 round by a 37 year old average hitting journeyman. This NEVER ever happened to Marciano