Who else could have finished Willard like Dempsey ?

I mean if Tommy Morrison was allowed to land the shots that Dempsey did then Willard would've certainly been killed.

 

If Willard was alowed to fight back, then Morrison might well get sparked.

I somtimes wonder if you even think before you post some of this nonsense.

I mean Willard might noit have been the greatest fighter that ever lived, but he was not somebody you could aford to take lightly either.

 

It was the left hook that floord Willard wasnt it? Then I would go with Frazier,Tyson and Louis.
Wouldnt surprise me if Baer just walked straight through him and throw his right hand.

 

Keep in mind that Dempsey knew his purse had all been bet on a 1st round KO.

A lot of fighters might surprise you under those circumstances.

 

j, Jack Kearns THOUGHT Dempsey would ko Jess Willard PRONTO, for Kearns bet i believe, Dempsey at 187 or so $100,000 that Dempsey would flatten big Jess in the very first round. Which he DID, but Ollie Pecord the ref was negligent in not stopping the fight in the first round after Willard was floored SEVEN times....
Dempsey at 187 or so was outweighed by about SIXTY FIVE pounds in that blazing hot sun in Toledo, Ohio...Truly one of the great feats of boxing was this quick ko of Willard because though Willard was 37 years old, he was NEVER dropped before, though Jack Johnson hit Willard with everything in the book for 25 rounds and Willard biding his time, absorbed everything
in 1915...Today Dempsey is degraded because of who he DID NOT fight
and not given due credit for beating everyone he fought once he hit his stride with Jack Kearns as his mgr...
I believe his destruction of Willard showed his catlike movements and two handed power, though the film of the bout isn't in real time as the camera was hand cranked in 1919. As a point of reference my idol Joe Louis hit the lumbering Abe Simon with every punch in the book for THIRTEEN rounds and couldn't put Simon away until the referee stopped the bout in round 13....Dempsey at his best was an animal in the ring and watching him flatten Luis Angel Firpo with a lightning one-two punch in the second rd
is a revelation....Cheers...

 

I don't know if the legen of Keans betting the entire purse on Willard is true or not.

I do know that most of the people picking Dempsey expected a far more competitive fight.

 

I think back then people didnt realise how damaging a lay off could be. I mean Willard was a big favourite and would have been over anyone around.

 

He didn't bet the purse on Willard. He bet it on Dempsey to score a 1st round KO.

 

Sorry, that is what I meant.

What I am saying is, I don't knbow how well verified that anecdote is.

 

The same thought has come to my mind more than once.

 

I don't know either.
I know that Dempsey told the story many times.

 

I think around 100 HWs in history probably could have

 

Oh please.

You would be hard put to find 100 heavyweights who have demolished any sort of world class fighter in three rounds.

There havn't been gloved boxers for much more than 100 years.

 

If they had to KO Willard in 1 to get a payday:

Liston
Foreman
Tyson
Marciano- big maybe here. Rocky had the ammunition, but he was never strong in the early rounds. Willard was so inept, that Marciano wouldn't have any problem getting to his belly.

 

But a 37yo Willard wouldn't be top 30 today over the last 50 years and there have been many big punchers who could KO a defensively poor slow opponent

Prime Danny Williams KO1 37yo Willard

Other randoms who'd easily KO Old Willard

Rudduck
Sanders
Tua
Bruno
Morrison
Shavers
Haye