Where would you rate Dempsey with a win over Harry Wills?

Anytime a fighter faces and beats the best available challenger throughout the majority of his reign it raises his status. I would have Dempsey top-10.

 

I think it would definitely lift him 1-2 places, from wherever you have him now.

 

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It would be his best win.

 

It would have quieted a lot of people and would have added some color to his resume but IMO Dempsey had the style to beat Wills but we will really never know.

I still rate Jack very high and felt he was the best until Louis unfortunately he was not active enough in the last few years and the rust hurt him but he still had flashes of his brilliance and quick power with his rusty KO over Sharkey and the Long-Count KD against Tunney

 

He was not as active as we all would liked him to be looking back 90 years into the past. However look how active all the hwt champions were from Sullivan. Most had few defenses instead making money by taking the championship on the road...vaudeville, plays, pay for view training sessions and in the case of Dempsey he entered the new media...silent films. Dempsey was no different than most of his predecessors in this regard.

 

Far and away his best win over his most credible opponent. It would go a long way to justifying the idol worship so many throw at him. Beating a large, solid heavyweight with top skills that fought and defeated Langford would have been a tremendous achievement. Knowing this was why Kearns and Rickard never let it happen. Jack was quilty too.

 

I agree it was par for the course back then

 

Jack Dempsey's better than Ali and Louie now and he definetley would of been after that fight

 

Burns was extremely active and Johnson was pretty active ... Willard sat out the war. Dempsey was highly ripped for his inactivity. It was terrible for the sport as well as for him as a fighter .. we never saw a prime Jack Dempsey because he sat on his ass through what would have been his prime ... I know Dempsey apologists will give him a free pass here like they do w the army and w Wills but like I said the other day, history has been extremely kind to Dempsey ...

 

I have Dempsey in the 11-13 range, and don't see a Will's win as necessary to confirm his greatness nor so great as to have him crack my top 10 either way....It would accomplish silencing the Dempsey detractors and help us to avoid 1000 threads on Dempsey/Ali, Dempsey Wills, was Dempsey a racist etc. For that alone I wished they had.

 

Not much,Wills was just a glorified victim. Dempsey best win would have been Tunney. Wills would have been lucky to last 3 rounds