Why I beleive Dempsey should be highly rated

There is a lot of clinching because it is a sparring fight, but i counted roughly 25 jabs in 1 and a half minutes of sparring from Bill Tate. This means that Tate would presumably throw about 50 jabs in a 3 minute round. Tate was 6'6 and 220-240lbs. That makes him roughly the same size as the klitchskos. Looking at his style, he does fight similar to Vitali. Against Chris Areola, Vitali threw the jab between 36 and 69 times each round, with an average of somewhere around about 50-55.

So, realistically (class aside) you would have to wonder that if Dempsey can slip and handle a big heavyweight this well, wouldnt you think that he would be at the very least capable of doing the same to modern heavys. Tate did not look to give him any trouble at all, and he didnt really seem to do anything to different to what some of our better modern superheavys do. Obviously vitali may hit harder and probably use the right a little more effectively, but it certainly suggests taht dempsey v a modern superheavy is unlikely to be a mismatch (unless it goes dempseys way)

 

I would hardly call Marciano at his best an attrition puncher. He was certainly a one punch banger pre 1954. He has more one punch knockouts on film vs world class fighters than dempsey does. In fact it took Dempsey hundreds and hundreds of punches and knockdowns to put away many of his foes.

 

I always knew Mendoza was a closet Dempsey Fan.

Dempsey certainly cleaned out the best WHITE challengers in the division(except the best one Harry Greb), but the same could hardly be said of the Black challengers. Langford Challenged him in 1917, Dempsey Declined. Jenette challenged him in 1918, Dempsey ran out of the ring. Harry Wills was the # 1 heavyweight contender in the world from 1919-1926 and did not get a shot. Kid Norfolk was a top prime heavyweight during this period, yet white men he beat got shots instead. As mentioned before, Harry Greb was also avoided. This means dempsey avoided the TWO best challengers to his heavyweight throne for 7 years!


Jack Dempsey has dropped in my book over the years...I sometimes question if Harry Wills deserves a higher ranking than Jack Dempsey, as his resume certainly backs up this theory.


* I do find it funny how Mendoza references the Sharkey fight as a credible source to Dempsey's chin. Sharkey not only had one bad hand, he also only scored FIFTEEN career knockouts. In the firpo fight, he was floored 3 times and had to be saved by the typewriter the last time.


Dempsey was a fine offensive and defensive talent, and did great things for the sport of boxing....but accomplishments wise..he is sorely lacking when compared to the other greats in their respective eras. I think Rocky vs Dempsey is an all time fight, probably a 15 round draw. I think Dempsey murders the Klitschkos.

 

i like dempsey as a fighter to watch he was fast aggresive and hit hard enough to trouble todays heavies i imagine, so i think he had freakish power for his size his defence is i would think underated by most i think willard landed i think less than 15 punches so i dont buy the old timer who rushed in and got lucky opinion that one of my sons puts forward.

3 defences then two yrs off then after the firpo fight another three yrs off and his stance on black challengers has no doubt hurt his legacy

 

Ali has all kinds of vulnerablilites too....but he is considered to be a great fighter.

Doubt if Ali would relish seeing a prime Dempsey in the opposite corner if they ever fought.

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFWhqVuIiUk&feature=related[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6govb3IOhk&feature=related[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i19dlfjoxhU&feature=related[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nn4yOm6Noc&feature=related[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu-ik0eFCLM&feature=related[/ame]

 

And this, part of a BBC documentary from 2005 :

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZDlvZ2W3Ak&feature=related[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMrUvDPVK1w&feature=related[/ame]