Let's evaluate He was knocked out in the first round by a past prime Fireman Jim Flynn when he was only about a year away from entering his prime Of the heaviest punchers he faced (Willard, Firpo, Fulton, Brennan) two never had a chance to land anything significant. Firpo floored him twice and had he not been such a wild and inaccurate puncher might have been able to finish him and Brennan had him hurt in their second fight but hesitated to follow up. He was also hurt by guys who weren't and aren't thought of as big punchers like Tunney, Sharkey and Carpentier. Tunney dropped him near the end of their second fight, though Dempsey was past his prime and had been absorbing punishment for several rounds. Sharkey hurt a past prime Dempsey early, though Sharkey did show good power on occasion. Carpentier was small, and was only really a fair puncher even for a LHW and he had Dempsey momentarily shaken up in their fight. So, as far at ATG heavyweights go, did Dempsey have a sub-par chin?
If you're acknowledging them both as heavy punchers, why should this be indicative of a weak chin? Tunney and Carpentier were both thought of as big punchers. Tunney was widely praised for his impressive KOs of Tommy Gibbons and Bartley Madden, both of whom were thought of as impossible to KO. Carpentier had KO'd another "unknockoutable" fighter in Battling Levinsky and twice KO'd European HW champ Joe Beckett in 1 round. I think that answers your question right there.
Because I think one of the basic marks of a good chin is taking big punches from big punchers and showing little/no ill effects. It seems as though Dempsey was noticeably hurt every time he took a good punch from someone with power. Brennan wasn't even that good of a puncher by all-time standards but he still hurt Dempsey badly. Was Tunney commonly considered a powerful puncher in his time? His stoppages of Madden and Gibbons are both impressive, but were they due to power or speed, accuracy and accumulation? Carpentier was a good puncher for a LHW, but Dempsey was a heavyweight and he still got rattled by a man much smaller than him who wasn't even an ATG puncher for his naturally lower weightclass. What other great heavyweights can you see being hurt by Carpentier? I want to be clear that I by no means believe Dempsey had a bad chin for his size, but held to the standards of other ATG heavyweights would it be considered below average?
The Flynn KO and the fact that he did not face that many big hitters (or took their shots well) doesn't bode that well for him, but the Flynn fight is the only one he didn't finish on his feet. His chin seems to be good not great.
The Firpo fight certainly showcased Dempsey's recuperative abilities, heart and ability to fight hurt, but does it prove he has an excellent chin? Any other examples?
as i said i'm not a dempsey fan so a i'm not bothered either way but i don't think he had a weak chin.
See, I think that's an example of great punch resistance. Taking bombs from a huge puncher and climbing of the deck (and back into the ring) and taking the boy out. Good, tide turning chin/heart combo. The bottom line is, he would take some banging out, and he would be dangerous until "10". Not a top HW chin, but not a guy you want to wound, either.
Its a combination of that and being a face first brawler with an open defense and over eagerness to lunge in leave himself open will mean hes open to big big punches. Against bigger ATG punchers he'd likely get ko'd. His susceptability to being outboxed is also a problem.
At first I thought this was a troll thread that had no substance. I can see that it's not, although I don't agree with you. Fluke knockouts and knockdowns happen. George Foreman was knocked out only once by a guy who wasn't even close to the biggest hitter he faced-including the ones he faced in his forties! And he was knocked down by Jimmy Young who stopped only eleven opponents in 56 fights. I say for one of the most aggressive champs in the history of the HW division with at least 77 fights in his career = damn good chin. Maybe great, considering the aggressive style.
