Joe Louis vs Gene Tunney

We cannot rule out the possibility that he woudl use the same approach against Louis, albeit there are good reasons to think that he wouldn't.

 

Most fighters ended up trying to use movement against Joe as a last resort, with some being more effective than others. Conn used it effectively to a degree, but his infighting, crowding and handspeed appeared to be even more effective against Louis. Tunney was a solid infighter himself, with solid handspeed on top of that.

I don’t find Tunney repeating Conn’s performance to be out of the question. He may even outperform Conn.

 

Gene Tunney vs Joe Louis

Now we have a genuine clash of styles with both fighters having a completely different approach to the other to etch out the win. Tunney had no issue with stinking out a fight if he was ahead and was very defensive against powerful punchers like it the Dempsey fight. Joe had just as much power and through some devastating combinations so it’s fair to assume Tunney would employ a similar tactic in this fight.

Both fighters were virtually the same size with the only advantage being two inches in favour of Joe. Louis was by far the harder hitter and better finisher with Gene having the advantage in footwork and ring IQ. Louis had fast hands but slow feet and didn’t like to move his head so wouldn’t be too hard to hit.

The fights starts with Gene sticking and moving and exploiting some defensive weak points in Joe’s skills. For large parts of the rounds Louis is stalking Gene goading him to come forward and engage however the Fighting Marine is too smart to fall for this and sticks to his game plan perfectly.

By the mid rounds Joe is starting to get frustrated with his lack of success and the crowd is growing restless with some boo’s being directed at Gene. Coming into the championship rounds Tunney is starting to slow a little and Joe finally sees his chance, with Tunney staying in range a little too long a crushing left hook followed up with some powerful rights and lefts sends him to the canvas. He rises at 9 however is still on rubbery legs and Louis goes in the for kill and finishes the job.

Verdict – TKO win to Louis round 11

 

Louis likely KOs him at some point, but if he doesn't, he's likely going to lose a decision, because Tunney had the perfect style to give him fits. Tunney did a lot of what Conn did, but with more caution and pacing, and Tunney was 15-20 pounds bigger than Conn.

 

Yes, I would not be totally shocked if Tunney squeeked out a decision win here.

 

Think Tunney takes this one.. the more i watch of him the more i think hes ahead
of his time.. a master strategist who would study & take advantage of his opponents flaws. He would still be competitive even today.. high ring IQ, excellent defense, beautiful shot selection.. even Ali thought he was the best of the 'old timers'..

 

Tunney could pull this off but I just think Louis would catch him at some point, stun him, and then those lightning combos would finish him.