Nonpareil Dempsey vs. Stanley Ketchel

When you mention Ketchel being one of the hardest punchers in boxing history I realized he wasn't ranked on The Ring Magazines 100 hardest punchers in the last 100 years.
Of course this is because The Ring only ranked boxers from 1922 to 2022 and Ketchel had his last fight in 1910.
I wonder if The Ring did another ranking but went back 125 years where the Michigan Assassin would rank?
Anyway.. I got Ketchel winning by Knockout over the Nonpareil.

 

Ketchel would probably rank pretty high on that list, because from what we have of him he'd need some serious power to make up for his poor boxing skills.

It's harder to know Nonpareil Dempsey's skill since we have no footage of him, but he was highly well regarded by his peers as a technician. Now, this could be the same like Corbett where his abilities don't hold up to modern times, but there have been some films of boxers from Nonpareil's period that look decent today. I pick Nonpareil

 

It would be fair to use the term "Styles make Fights" for this matchup. I'm not completely sure if Nonpareil was a Out-boxer or a Boxer-puncher but going off his 34% KO ratio I will say he was an Out-Boxer for the sake of the conversation. ( If anyone knows which was his style please comment)
Ketchel was a known Brawler who relied on brutal force and possessed a great knockout capability due to his ability to plant his feet before throwing. If Ketchel began to throw predictable punching patterns then Nonpareil could pick him apart from the outside with counters. At the same time though without any power behind the Nonpareils punches and unable to hurt Ketchel it would just be a matter of time before Ketchel found an opportunity to get on the inside, smother and grapple before creating an opening for a knockout punch or a power punch that leads to a knockout punch.
If the fight went to the cards the Nonpareil would most likely get the decision. I think ill stick with Ketchel with a KO in the late rounds.

 

In 2003 their "Top 100 Punchers Of All Time" had Ketchel in 6th place:
Ring Magazine Top 100 Punchers Of All Time (liveabout.com)

 

This is an awesome list. Thank you so much for the link!

 

Thanks! I was unaware of that issue. My next task now is to track down a hard copy so I can add it to my collection.