Lennox Lewis vs Jack Dempsey

You doubt wrong. I still have my copy from Sportsnight, with the '20 years since the fight of the century' tribute in it too. :good

 

MDWC, That sounds like a very interesting article re Jacobs/Fleisher debating. Would you post some of it?

 

atsch

 

Dempsey wasn't flat-footed against Willard, or Gibbons, or Brennan, and certainly does not appear flat-footed in the sparring with Bill Tate footage.
In fact, you rarely see a fighter as light-footed and high up on their toes as Dempsey was in parts of those films.

The fact that Carpentier was heavily outgunned and, as you say, smaller than Calzaghe, explains why Dempsey walked him down in such a contempuous manner.

Still, Carpentier's face was a bloody mess and he wore a pained expression by the 3rd round. Perhaps while he was "outboxing" Dempsey he was getting mauled quite severely.

100,000 people paid to glimpse that fight live. That's one hell of a pub fight.

 

its enough to prove that liston could take big boms from very hard hitters

 

Liston?

Do you mean Louis?

 

But what is your historical evidence?

It is logical to me that a 250 lb man should hit a baseball farther than a 185 lb man, but Mickey Mantle was 185 lbs and hit a baseball as far or farther than anyone.

It does seem a very hard sell to me that the 220 or 230 lb men of Marciano's era hit harder than Marciano, or the big guys of Dempsey's era hit harder than Dempsey. I don't know of a contemporary who thought they did.

 

As impressive as Frazier was in FOTC I probably would favour a prime Lewis over him. As we all know, Frazier doesn't have the best record against big powerful men.

But you make a good point, anyway, McGrain.

How do you see Dempsey vs Foreman, then?

 

Some sources suggest that Fred Fulton fit that model though we can never be sure in the absence of film.

At the end of the day the only people who achieved anything against Dempsey were small slick defensive boxers. All the available information suggests that bigger fighters were made to measure.

 

Perhaps they did.

The crucial factor is that they were not as effective as punchers.

The most effective heavyweight punchers in history have all been comparativley small heavyweights from Bob Fitzsimmons to Mike Tyson.