So how does Lewis beat Fitzsimmons with 4 oz gloves. His defense certainly wouldn't be there. Fitz had no problem with big men. His punching power is there. Lewis got knocked out by worse men than Fitz. McCall and Rahman were definitely not on the level of Fitz.
Fitzsimmons defence wasn't the best neither. He was a counter puncher but he wasn't unhittable. Corbett ****ed him up before missing that jab. Watch Fitz knock out Corbett on film. Watch Rahman knock out Lewis on film. Then try saying with a straight face that Rahman looks worse than Fitzsimmons.
Obviously not because he was on steroids. Dempsey fought at lower weights than 198 for his career. Are you saying he just decided to bulk up one day?
So what would Lewis do for defense? That is what I am asking... The only guy of note that Lewis got out in the first round was Golota who is nowhere near the level of Fitzsimmons. Fitz wasn't a quitter. We have already seen that Fitz can take a heavyweights punch. Jeffries hit harder than Lewis I am 100% confident on that little fact.
Lewis wouldn't need defence here. Fitzsimmons presents zero challenge to him. If he did feel the urge to defend himself against a 168 pound man he would do so with range and movement. Show me the film that backs up your claim about Jeffries hitting harder than Lewis. I could show you a hell of a lot of knockouts by Lewis against genuine HW opposition. You say Golota is nowhere near the level of Fitzsimmons, Watch the first 2 rounds of both Bowe fights and tell me that Fitzsimmons could have performed that well. Fitzsimmons best moment on film is hus come from behind ko against Corbett in his biggest victory. Maybe if we saw his demolition of Dempsey we'd have a better Idea of what he was capable of but I could almost guarantee he wouldn't look as good as Robinson did demolishing LaMotta and I wouldn't favour him over Lewis neither.
Unfortunately the film we have on Jeffries and the guys from that era is **** quality compared to what we have of Lewis so of course Lewis will look better. Golota is nowhere near the level of Fitz and that is FACT nobody knowledgeable on here will argue with that. So you're saying that Lewis wouldn't need defense against Fitz with 4 oz gloves, hot ass weather, and a scheduled 20 rdr. when Lewis barely fought half that. Do you think Fitz was a feather fist or something? Lewis was bombed out twice by the likes of Rahman and McCall. If this was under 12 or even 15 rd conditions with 8 oz or 10 oz gloves I would 100% agree with you that Lewis beats Fitz in the first round.
Were Dempsey's best performances at 200 or 185? And if size doesn't matter, what possible benefit would he have for fluctuating weight anyway?
I'm comparing the footage of Fitz to the footage of Golota and Rahman now. Golota would destroy Fitzsimmons. They could schedule it for 1937917272 rounds, they won't need more than one. Fitzsimmons would be giving away nearly 100 pounds, and giving it away to a man who is better than him p4p. I know Lewis lost to Rahman and McCall. Fitzsimmons lost to Dooley, Hall and Jeffries by ko. You aren't displaying any boxing knowledge whatsoever here. Have you seen the Fitzsimmons fight? No one is doubting his greatness nor his legend but his ability to survive 1 round against Lewis is definitely questionable.
We simply disagree here then. I think Lewis wouldn't know how to cope defensively with 4 oz gloves and you think he is an aggressive enough fighter to take Fitz out in 1 round. I respect your opinion so we will have to agree to disagree.
We don't have his fights at 200 on tape so it is very hard to make a decision.If I find some free online newspaper articles regarding the Morris fight and the Dan Flynn fight I'll be more than happy to provide an answer to your question. To the second one I don't know either. Dempsey had his reasons for weighing in at 200. Your guess is as good as mine. Lets not forget that Dempsey wasn't making a lot of money for much of his career up until around the Fulton fight. He was a virtual unknown until then. When you are poor and starving your weight fluctuates a lot depending on when you can eat. I know personally.