The interesting thing is style wise Dempsey matches up decently against Ali .. Muhammad was no huge puncher. Dempsey with a surprising 77 " reach could connect. As a swarmer he had faster hands than Frazier, better two handed power than Frazier and much faster leg speed to close the gap than Frazier . At 190 or so to 212 it is not a huge size matchup mismatch .. as always it would depend on the ref , what he allows, ring size , etc .. while I have to favor Ali it would possibly be a fast paced very competitive type fight, maybe a bit like Camacho vs Rosario ..
I respect and agree with Tyson's more educated view and assessment of Dempsey more than what Ali had to say about him.
You mean, going down once, and then coming back to stop Dempsey in the very next round...? Not at all out of the realm of possibility. Tunney had Dempsey on the deck after getting dropped in the previous round, and I think Ali holds more advantages in terms of speed and power over GT.
A joke? I wouldn't go that far. But I do think he's very overrated. Especially when I read through old match up threads
My point is, it was well in Dempsey's capabilities to take care of Ali. Should he be favoured? No, I don't think so, since Ali is a bigger man, excellent boxer and is so proven at the top level. But certainly Dempsey's quickness and power would be quite unpleasant for Ali.
I don't think Dempsey passes my eye test as well as he passes the test of others on this site, but he did have the power to ensure that Ali would have to remain focused.