If each man was at their absolute peak, who wins between Sonny Liston and Jack Dempsey over 15 rounds.
Hard call. On paper, I'd go with Liston, but Dempsey was a fighter where you had to be mentally tough to fight. 50/50 type of match.
I believe Sonny was mentally tough. He got rocked quite badly by Clevland William, survived Big Cat's attack, and came back to stop him. Probably not mentally tough as say Dempsey himself was, or Marciano, Ali, Frazier, etc, but I don't see prime Sonny folding under Dempsey's attack. As far as the Ali fights go, there's a lot of strange occurences going on in both bouts, and with Sonny we never know what was real or not because he's such a mysterious figure. Even so, Sonny proved he can get hurt and hang in to come back even stronger, which is the sign of mental toughness.
All things being equal - primes and what not - I'd say that Dempsey's speed and mobility would let him get in and out, bang Liston up fairly good over a long fight. I'd say that Liston wouldn't come out for round 15, or so. Still, either man could win on any night. They both hit so damn hard. I just think the speed is the difference for Jack.
I'm tentatively going with Liston by knockout because of the stylistic advantage he enjoys. However, Dempsey has a big edge in speed and could get his combinations off first by intelligently stalking Liston as he did Willard. Liston is no Willard of course, but Dempsey wouldn't go as easy as Patterson did, either.
2 points A. Liston is nowhere near as slow as you think. if very slow firpo could catch dempsey, liston longer straighter faster more powerful punches are going to hit jack. B. Liston is no willard. liston was not a 6'6 standing punching bag, he was a 6'1 at most scientific boxer. I personally think dempsey is made for liston
For some reason people always assume Liston was really tall, and as such a shorter boxer would get inside and hammer his body. As SuzieQ stated, he was only 6'1 but had incredibly long arms, a brilliant jab and a huge amount of punching power. I call Liston in 8 rounds or less.
Dempsey is tough, but not durable enough to withstand this particular onslaught. If he fights clever and keeps moving on the outside he'd maybe last five or six rounds, but it's a big, big ask. If he leaves himself open ala Firpo and invites a brawl he'll get blitzed out of there in the opening few rounds. Liston is deceptively quick, certinaly not plodding when at his best and he's just got too much weaponary and variety for Dempsey to overcome. Too big, strong and hard hitting. This (plus Tyson and Lewis) would be a worse matchup for Dempsey than Foreman would be as all are defensively superior to Foreman.
I'll take Dempsey by mid round stoppage. I don't think Liston beat anyone of Dempsey's quality and he didn't handle foot and hand speed too well. Liston, Tyson, Foreman, guys like that had trouble when they hit a guy and he didn't go anywhere.
If Liston, Tyson and Lewis landed on Dempsey early on, and they would, Dempsey would be shaken to his boots. We're talking about big skilled guys here who carry frightening concussive power and are all fundamentally better fighters than Dempsey. Whilst Foreman isn't all that in the skill stakes he'd overwhelm Jack too.
the opp. is true i.m.o. liston is built for dempsey ,he would slip listons long jab and if he didnt ko him early he would punish liston severely bad all night,for me its a fairly easy dec. u had to be a slick fast footed boxer to beat dempsey,heres some interesting quotes from others on the subject . (I picture a bear walking into a tornado full of swirling sledge hammers. Dempsey was a force.He had the speed of a middleweight ( not just his punches, but his footwork etc. He could cut off the ring or close the distance like a pissed off panther.) I think he would frustrate Liston with his speed, his fast bob-and weave and explosive counters. ( much like Ali frustrated Liston with his speed and moving in and out of distance, but unlike Ali, Dempsey would be smashing and breaking Liston up every time) And Dempsey could take Liston's punches as well ( look at the Dempsey vs. Luis Firpo match. Firpo was the George Foreman heavy hitter of his day. Dempsey took Firpo's best.) When hurt NOBODY was more dangerous as Jack. Someone once said,' Dempsey hurt everyone he hit, and he hit everyone he fought) Jack "The Giant Killer" Dempsey vs Sonny Liston. Wow what a fight this would have been. Liston has the size advantage which never seemed to bother the Manassa Mauler who knew how to get inside and bust opponents up with his power shots. Dempsey used that bob and weave technique and would need to, to get by the 84 reach of Liston. Of course Liston also had a lot of power and a powerful jab that would hurt Dempsey. The heart advantage would definetly go to Dempsey and this may be the major difference in the fight. I think that Liston would hurt Dempsey early on but would shock the big man with his power roaring back to stun the big man several times. Liston would floor Dempsey in the 2nd round and Dempsey would hold on until the bell rings. In the 5th round Dempsey would land a big left right left combo that shakes Sonny and sends him to the floor. Sonny gets up but is visably surprised and shaken. Liston holds on and even wins the 6th round behind his jab. In the 7th round both men land bombs and take turns shaking the other man. Liston is getting tired as Dempsey with the better endurance starts to really pour in on, on the inside throwing bone breaking shots to the ribs and hard right hands to the head. Finally the referee intervenes and stops the fight with Dempsey winner by 7th round technical knockout. i was just playin around lookin on the net and cant find a story i once red on the matchup that was aw( Dempsey vs Liston: Liston would have been tough; he was a more skilled, if less powerful, version of Foreman, and his straight left hand would have caused Dempsey problems (although, like Tunney did and Jeffries would have, Liston would have had a hard time planting that left on Dempsey's quick-moving chin). Still, Liston was not the hardest guy in the world to hit, a big minus against Dempsey. And, extenuating circumstances or not, one has to question Liston's heart based on his two pathetic surrenders to Ali (remember, unlike the other fighters on this list, Liston never won a tough fight in his whole career). In the final analysis, I see Dempsey as simply too tough and too determined to lose to Liston; I see him getting by the jab and out-quicking Liston on the inside until Sonny either burned out or quit. Result: Dempsey KO10 over Liston cant find the story still,but i disagree with this last one i think dempsey/prime dempsey easily slips listons jab and punishes him severely bad
