Name me a 190lber who could beat Tunney.

Many people forget when Cassius Clay came on the scene he was first compared to Tunney in many cases.

That Tunney-Dempsey fight looked a lot like Ali-Frazier in some parts.

It has been 50 years since Cassius Clay arrived and people have just forgotten how good Gene was....obviously he was a "modern fighter".

Put Tunney in with Joe Louis instead of Billy Conn....and Tunney might of won.

And if he had.....where would he be ranked now?

 

Do you guys rank Tunney above Dempsey ATG?

 

In the old books, Nat Fleischer had Jefferies, Dempsey, Tunney, Johnson, Louis, and Marciano usually in some similar order.

I think he loved Dempsey from the Roaring 20's and the Golden Age of Boxing, but probably knew Tunney in his prime would have been Jack's poison.

Tunney spent 2-3 years just kinda following Jack around studying him.

When they finally got in the ring, Gene was ready to go.

 

Jack Dempsey is one of, my favorite all time fighters..but stylistically Tunney was hard for him to beat.

Do you think a stressless, younger, faster 1919-1922 Dempsey could've have KO'd the Tunney that took the title from him?

 

Giving Tunney full credit for the Dempsey wins is almost as bad as giving Foreman full credit for the Frazier fights. Both Tunney and Foreman deserve credit for the fights and the manners in which they won them but Frazier and Dempsey weren't the animals they once were.

Really, Dempsey was a passion fighter. Take that away coupled with fading reflexes and the ability to get off his shots and you've crippled his greatest assets. And we saw that Tunney's chin could be seriously dented when Jack did connect.

Now give Dempsey more fire, make him get all of his shots off faster and with more accuracy, basically improve everything and tell me he couldn't of won at least one of the Tunney fights in his prime.

 

I am also of the opinion that Tunney would have beaten Marciano and Louis. I think he had the right style as well as the speed, power, toughness and stamina required to get the job done. Head to head he'd be absolute hell for anyone around his weight. Charles might be able to beat him, Langford, and maybe a prime Dempsey. Not many others.

 

How would a 190 Evander do against Tunney?

 

More than that, Dempsey came into the 1st Tunney fight as a huge betting favorite.

 

That Dempsey was far from his best in those two fights is pretty certain. Many of the contemporary writers took note of it and it's there to be seen on film. How far from his best is up for debate.

 

A Dempsey who had not been inactive for three years.
Sharkey would give him an interesting evening too.

 

Dempsey and Frazier is a bad comparison. Dempsey was 31 and hadn't fought in over 3 years.Frazier was 29 and had defended his title twice in the previous year ,the last defence being less than 6 months earlier.
Ali comes out of enforced exile after nearly 4 years and at 29 [same as Frazier for Foreman ] is prime.Frazier ,on the other hand is shot at 29, there is also the possibility that Foreman beats the **** out of him anytime ,anywhere.
Frazier apologists say that in the rematch with Foreman, Joe did better because he lasted longer,yes he went nearly 5 rounds ,and might have shared the 4th on the judges card.
Tunney would allways give Dempsey trouble because he was a great ,fast ,shifty fighter with excellent footwork,but imo a prime active Dempsey catches him .Tunney said he noticed the difference betwen the Dempsey of the first fight and the second ,immediately,in the first Jack was lack lustre and appeared disinterested,his legs,and timing were off, in the second ,thanks to the outing with Sharkey, Dempsey had shed some ring rust and was in better shape,he just didnt have the legs to catch Tunney anymore , over 15 rds Tunney would probably have stopped Dempsey.

 

Tunney got thumbed in the eye while sparing for the Second Dempsey fight and had a blind spot in that eye, so he did not see that punch coming.
I believe Tunney was down only once in his life,and knew dammed well the new rules...and was not as bad hurt as was thought by the Dempsey fans. I believe Tunney also decked Dempsey early in that second fight too.
The Heaney fight, was some one Tunney could beat with one eye, so he rooked the promoter by retiring.

Tunney was hated by the sports writers. My god once he got caught in public at a training camp of his......reading Shakespeare.

Tunney was in love with a rich girl, who waited for him to become rich himself.
It took 7 years. And seeing he was going to be moving in her social circle, he needed to have a bit of Culture. Tunney became CEO of a couple of companies, and did not get wiped out by the stock market crash nor the Great Depression.

A life time later (40-50 years), Paul Gallico, the famous writer and sports writer apologized for his hate campaign against Tunney.

Tunney in his book aslo said he avoided Gibson until he became good enough. Which gose to show you how good Gibson really was.

I always like looking at scranny chested Tunney, who said chest and bicepts were not needed in boxing, lats and a strong back was. He grew naturally into being a heavy.

This was the time when weight lifting was stupid, putting on the wrong muscles.
Often today, I see guys like Hayes with great looking beach muscles, that in the end cause only a chickenwing jab.