[RING, Dec. 1962] 40 Experts Pick Greatest Heavyweight (Dempsey wins)

40 Experts Pick Jack Dempsey as All Time Great, pp. 6-12 (Dec. 1962)

Looks like the setup was 40 "experts" (mostly sports journalists) each get one vote. The vote count was:

1. Jack Dempsey (13)
2. Joe Louis (10)
3. Jack Johnson (9)
4. Gene Tunney (3)
5. Jim Jeffries (2)
6. Sam Langford (2)
7. Rocky Marciano (1)

Their voters were:

Dempsey: Elmer Ferguson, Jack Cuddy, Ned Brown, Frank Graham, Dink Carroll, Sam Cohen, Harry Grayson, Jersey Jones (The Ring), Jack Koford, Dan Walton, Max Case, Hugh Bradley, Al Buck

Louis: Dan Parker, Nat Loubet (The Ring), Murray Rose, Lew Eskin (The Ring), Dan Daniel, Johnny McDonald, George Whiting, Ted Carroll (The Ring), Ray Grody, Al DelGreco

Johnson: Nat Fleischer (The Ring), Willie Ratner, Dick Cullum, George A. Barton, Dick Young, Anthony Marenghi, Harry Keck, Arthur Daley, Johnny Sharpe

Tunney: Warren Brown, Chris Dundee, Jack Fried

Langford: Bill McCormack, Charley Rose

Jeffries: Willie Ritchie, Sam Taub

Marciano: Lloyd Larson

 

Warren Brown (Chicago American): "I think that Gene Tunney was the greatest heavyweight of all time because he twice defeated Jack Dempsey--no other heavyweight was ever required to prove himself like Tunney did."

Chris Dundee ("Outstanding Promoter"): I think that Gene Tunney was the greatest heavyweight of all time because he was a good boxer--Also a good puncher--look at his record. Very few people know that he only lost one bout to the great Harry Greb and then came back to beat Greb. He was misfortunate in following the great Jack Depmsey--Like Floud Patterson followed the colorful Marciano. Tunney did not have the personality of Dempsey--and Patterson dod not have the punch of Marciano."

Jack Fried (Philadelphia Bulletin): I think Gene Tunney was the greatest heavyweight of all time because he combined boxing excellence, hitting power, a keen mind, devotion to physical condition to make himself a master over his field--to a great degree than any heavyweight champion of my time, which goes back to Jess Willard."

 

Interestingly, one of the Johnson voters, Anthony Marenghi (Newark Star-Ledger) explained that he had never seen Johnson fight but felt compelled to defer to the authorities of his era (including Fleischer).

Another, George A. Barton (Sports Editor Emeritus at the Minneapolis Tribune) argued that Johnson was better than his record indicated because "Johnson--like many other topnotch Negro boxers of his time, among them Sam Langford, Joe Gans, the original Joe Walcott, welterweight champion; George Dixon, Joe Jeannette, Sam McVey, Jack Blackburn, Harry Wills and Bobby Dobbs, were compelled to make deals with white opponents in order to obtain matches and therefore eat regularly. They likewise had to make deals among themselves."