Jack Dempsey .Vs. Rocky Marciano

But one happened the other didnt ,see the difference?

 

Dempsey had to be led across the ring to shake Tunney's hand. He was certainly getting a clean shot at something. Frankly, on film, Tunney hits Dempsey with straight lefts and rights all night.

Anyway, Marciano's opponents, such as Walcott, comment on how deceptively difficult it was to get a clean shot at Marciano. I don't think either were easy to hit or they wouldn't have gotten as far as they did, their obvious toughness aside.

 

Stylistically, this fights favors Marciano.

 

Dempsey's eyes were shut ,the punch that knocked him down landed high on the cheekbone,I don't see any contradiction in Tunney's statement,and the fact that Dempsey's eyes were closed.Tunney never said he didnt land on Dempsey ,he said he never got a clean shot at his chin finis.

 

I stand by my original statement. In 1950 Rocky weighed over 190lb 3 times including 193lb vs big Keene Simmons a Bayonne Heavyweight. Dempsey was past his prime for the Tunney fights so his weights dont count there, and against firpo he nearly got knocked out, he looked awful that fight. I think they were about the same. Dempseys peak fight, willard, he weighed 185lb.

 

The fact that this fight won't go the distance favors a fast starter like Dempsey. Both men would take it right to each other but Jack would do it faster. It would be very interesting to see how Marciano would fare against a two fisted power puncher such as Dempsey. One of the raps against Marciano was that he never faced a puncher in his own class. In Dempsey he would and then some. I also feel that Jack's edge in handspeed would play a factor. Dempsey's hooks on the inside were so quick that it's difficult to catch them in real time. Look at the combination that he hit Tunney with that floored him. Jack was landing these punches on Gene while he was sagging to the canvas. That takes considerable precision as well as speed, two qualities that were somewhat lacking in Marciano. I also think that reach would play a role in this contest. Jack had an 8" reach advantage which means that he could throw his bombs from farther away than Rocky could. Rocky would have to plant himself pretty much in Jack's chest to be really effective while Jack could use his reach, handspeed and better foot mobility to his advantage (note that I didn't say "speed" but rather "mobilitry"). Rocky's best chance, if not his only chance, is to weather the storm and hope to wear Dempsey down in the later rounds and set him up for a booming right or left ala Walcott I. The big question is whether or not he can. If Jack drops Rocky early and hurts him like Moore did then I think he finishes the job. Say what you want about Dempsey but there's no denying he's one of the greatest 2 fisted bombers in HW history, the type of animal that Rocky, for all of his greatness never met.

 

There might not be a contradiction between having your eyes battered closed and being difficult to "hit cleanly on the chin" but I also question extrapolating that Dempsey has a superior defense to Marciano's from Tunney's statement. Dempsey is hit often on film not only by Tunney, but by Brennan, Firpo, and Sharkey.

 

Dempsey weighed 187 for Willard. I take a man's prime to be while he is Champio,reassonable assumption?Marcianos weight for title fights
Walcott 184
Walcott 184 1/2
Lastarza 185
Charles 1871/2
Charles 187
Cockell 189
Moore 1881/4

Marciano weighed 190 for his pro debut would you call that his prime?
Dempsey was in the middle of his prime when he met Firpo ,and he weighed1921/2

 

And Marciano wouldnt be?

 

You are correct Suzie, Charles was a month short of his 33rd Birthday for the first fight and a couple of months past it for the return.

 

An often overlooked point.:good

It has actually always surprised me that Dempsey is a tall, lanky man (especially for his time) with a short, stocky man's style: Frazier, Tyson, Tua, Marciano, etc, they were all under 6 foot tall. One of many reasons he did so well against Willard.






By the way, how tall was Lowry?

 

Jack had a decent reach for his height around 77in,Lowry was 5 2,known as Tiny Ted Lowry.

 

Tiger Ted Lowry was 5 10,only stopped once, by Harry Mathews.

 

In fact, I have not on film seen anyone land a whole series of punches on Marciano in the way Firpo, Tunney, and Sharkey do on Dempsey. If stunned, Dempsey rather than bob tended to stand straight. He was certainly resilient, but he took punches in those circumstances.

When Marciano was stunned, he either got his arms up to barricade himself or went into a crouch and roll. Walcott and Moore missed him a lot when they had a chance to follow up knockdowns.

I think Marciano is very underrated defensively.

 

What whole series of punches did you see Firpo land? I saw one at a time sweeping swings.Do you think Tunney would have difficulty landing on Marciano,or Sharkey ? And bear in mind this was not a prime Dempsey he was past his best,the easy life had softened him and his legs were not the same.Have you seen Dempsey being outpointed for 13 rds by a 37 year old ? Or dropped by a 40 year old LH?