Many of those at ring side felt if Glaneto could have followed up when Louis was buzzed, an upset could have happened. Louis was not know for defense. His offense was his defense. Vs guys who can't get out of the way, or return with firepower, he's going to crush them. Dempsey is neither. I think the fight could go either way. SuizeQ says Louis without a doubt. That to me is crazy.
Suzie, here we go again.. ! Do you think that a wily old mgr. like Jack Kearns, would have devised a game plan for Dempsey to fight the murderous punching Louis ? Of course he would. Dempsey when young was very very fast on his feet for a heavyweight, and when he had to could avoid punches, until he could get in close, and use his strength and tremendous short punching ability.. If Arturo Godoy could get in close with the prime Louis, bob and weave and last 15 and 8 rounds in 1940, taking what Louis COULD land, what would the as tough , faster and larger edition of Roberto Duran [Dempsey] be able to do against Louis? Dempsey whatever you think of him was as tough and rugged a fighter who ever lived, and in his primea nightmare for anyone, methinks...
But from what I see, Louis was not badly hurt after the knockdown, in fact he got up immediately and soon continued the beatdown. Louis was no defensive artist, but he had decent defense in my opinion. He was more straight up, but knew how to correctly parry and block punches, while Dempsey would bob and weave, but sometimes left himself wide open while attacking. I think the fight could go either way as well, but I favour Louis. Dempsey's early storm and crowding could present problems for Joe, but in the end Louis was the more complete package and better fundamentally. Also keep in mind that Louis always adjusted well in rematches, and even in the case he loses to Dempsey the first time he might always come back to beat him in a rematch.
Louis is just another class of fighter IMO. Dempsey reminds me of the guy in the gym who's always smashing the bag around all over the place, but in reality all he can do is wade precitably into range and start winging bombs, and when it comes to getting something off against a quality opponent he doesn't have the legs for it. He may have been awkward but Dempsey wouldn't look dissmilar against an opponent with Louis' timing and eye for distance. Also, the "Louis didn't like swarmers" thing gets blown out of proportion. Everybody with a remotely aggressive style seems to be getting credit for having a huge stylistic advantage over him these days, to the point where "it could go either way" seems to be the mantra of the day despite Louis being at or near the top of the list compared to Dempsey - that's a good 50 odd places on an ATG list at least, if you think Dempsey merits inclusion on one of those things (I don't). (And yet again we seem to be basing all of this on an off-hand comment made by a fighter which may or may not mean all that much - Ali said he didn't like facing punchers, but he took on that style arguably better than any other.) Louis handled Godoy effortlessly in the rematch, almost like a Holyfield/Tyson I-esque showing but with heavier digs. I'd expect a fight with Dempsey to go the same way. Like SuzieQ says, you don't succeed against Louis by walking into the most skilled puncher and mid-range ring general in HW history, unless perhaps you're Tyson (and I doubt even that one). And if Louis/Galento is worthy of a mention here then so is Dempsey/Firpo.
I think Louis's real problems were against boxers, but he did have a tendency to back up against the ropes when crowded by an opponent. Any man who stands in front of Joe Louis is not in a favourable position though for sure. When Godoy showed any kind of desire to actually take the title away from the champion, instead of clinching, mauling and making it ugly, he was ripped apart by uppercuts from an improved Louis. Dempsey will come to fight, not to survive, and that's why I would not compare this match-up to the first Godoy fight. However the crowding tactics and rough clinch-fighting of Dempsey will be troubling for Joe, in my opinion.
I dont think either of these men had a "stylistic advantage". Maybe Dempsey's ferocious attack shocks Louis, or maybe Louis catches him coming in. Either way, I dont see anything other than a to-and-fro war of the most explosive kind. Say Dempsey hurts Louis first, Louis fights back like a tiger when hurt and hurts Dempsey. Or vice versa. It would be a ferocious war, with both men probably hitting the deck. This fight cant fail to thrill. I dont think it would last long, but it might. The longer it goes the more terrible the damage that is inflicted. I'd expect it to be over within 7 rounds though, 4-5 being most likely.
What did Jack Sharkey say about these guys? He's the only common opponent that they faced. Did he ever mention who hit harder or was the greater fighter? BTW, in my opinion, I see Jack knocking out Joe Louis.
I remember Sharkey saying something like if Dempsey and Louis had fought in a telephone booth he bet every dime he had that Dempsey would be the one who walked out (I'm sure Bokaj and GreatA will say that by that he meant that Dempsey would walk out after asking Joe to stop kicking his ass or something )
This is what Jack Sharkey said when asked who would win between Dempsey and Louis...He was quoted as saying that if you put both men in a phone booth, one man would come out ,and it would be Dempsey, for what it's worth ! Dempsey was a rough, tough S.O.B....
We never really saw a prime Dempsey, outside the Willard bout. For what it's worth, most boxing people that saw both, say that Dempsey would have won. Just about every poll I have seen, up to the mid-60's, have Dempsey as #1.