Both were a similar size and weight, both were big KO punchers and both would make this into a classic war.

Who wins and why?

I have always maintained that Dempsey was a bad matchup for Marciano. Though Rocky does have the edge in one-punch power and possesses a slightly better chin, Dempsey has the advantage in handspeed and has a much more exspansive arsenal of punches. I think Dempsey would land two punches to every one Marciano lands. Add in the fact that Rocky was somewhat of a slow starter and Dempsey was one of the quickest and you have a tough day in the office for Rocky. I think Dempsey's initial onslaught would take a lot out of Marciano, leaving him too hurt to stage a comeback. Rocky definately has his moments, but Dempsey stops him on cuts late in the fight.

this fight would be a bloody, brutal war. if it went the distance, someone might die in the ring, and both are headed to the hospital after. i think the Rock has a better chance of winning this fight than cple does, but he'd eat a lot of Dempsey's power punches at the begining. Ezzard Charles actually did the most damage to Rocky of anyone that he ever faced, he split his nose open so bad Rocky's little brother couldn't look at him in the dressing room after and the Rock beat him up worse, i think the Rock could squeak out a decision or stop Dempsey late

Marciano by late KO.

Marciano's not beating Jack Dempsey!

For those who think he could, watch Marciano's early round struggles vs. both Rex Layne and Don Cockell. Then follow that by watching Dempsey vs. both Jess Willard and Luis Firpo.

This is no contest....Jack Dempsey would storm out of the gate and lay a sound beating on the slow starting Marciano, before stopping him before the fight reaches the halfway point.

Marciano's as tough as they come, but there's only so much even he could take, and against Dempsey, take (bad beating) he will.

Like Cple said, this is a horrible matchup for Rocky.

Dempsey himself said that he thought Rocky was a bigger puncher than he was... i say this because Dempsey's KO's came from knocking his opponent down several times, until they refused to get up. When The Rock knocked a guy out, it was a one punch KTFO with the right hand. Don't decieve yourselves, Rocky could knock Dempsey out

Dempsey himself said : " What people don't realize today is that Marciano punches harder with the right hand than any modern day heavyweight... The right scrambled Jersey Joe's brains at Chicago"

The thing about Rocky was that, stylistically, i wouldn't pick him to beat many of the great fighters of all-time. However, he ALWAYS found a way to win, despite being at a stylistic or physical disadvantage. Whenever i contemplate a fantasy matchup that includes Marciano, my minds says one thing, but my gut usually leans towards Rocky. Perhaps it's my fondness of fighters who rely on determination and grit to win that makes me think this way. I don't know. It's hard for me to discount someone with such heart, perseverance, and one helluva punch. I mean, NO ONE in the history of the sport put as much commitment and belief in his punch than Rocky.

Because of this, i could imagine Rocky beating Dempsey, but you can say that about any matchup. In reality, to me, Dempsey beats Rocky more often than not. All Rocky has in this matchup is a slight advantage in conditioning and one-punch power (which i believe is somewhate negated by Dempsey's higher workrate).

i think Rocky has more heart than Dempsey ( Rock has more heart than ANYBODY! ), although i think Dempsey's close. The trouble is, i don't know what Dempsey was like when someone took him to the limit ( while he was in shape ). i think Dempsey would be winning the fight on points because of his higher work rate, when he got stopped by the armor piercing bullet that was Marciano's right hand

Marciano because the depth of fighters in his time was much better than during Dempsey's.

The only fight i have ever seen dempsey fight was where he destroyed willard. I was wondering if someone could clarify this for me. I was reading a book called "The best 15 rounds in boxing" And Round 1 of willard-dempsey was like in the top three. But anyways it was saying later it was proven that dempsey had a railroad ****e in his glove. That if you look in slow motion you can see him take it out. The evidene is there, didnt willard have broken ribs, cheek, jaw.

i would think marciano by decison in a very close fight

What a war! I would put my money on Dempsey if absolutely forced to make a decision. Jack, who was actually a better inside fighter than Marciano, possessed the reach and handspeed to beat him to the punch on the outside. People forget what an athlete Dempsey was, the quickness and power he possessed in his prime. He was no lumbering slugger, he was an aggresive speedster. Later on in his career he looked slow and crude, against Tunney for instance, but that was after the booze and the women went to work on him. His handspeed was the very best of his era. In that department, he was competitive with Ali, Louis, Tyson, and Patterson.

Still you can never count out Marciano's chin, heart, and right hand. Not a fight I'd want to bet on. Would love to watch it though!

we all know that its marciano so plz let this thread die in peace

i can honestly say that this is one fight i can not make a distinct case for any fighter deff. winning. i'd give it 50-50 odds if i were vegas

The winner could be everyone.

Now for me this is to close to call. Jack dempsey is incredibly underated, some of you state that Jack dempsey's one punch power wasn't as great as the rocks. Thats questionable Dempseys got one of the most explosive hooks i have ever seen. Jack Dempsey was an explosive fighter who had superior speed, and the same agressive, swarming style as the rocks. Inevitably this would result in numerous punching tradeoffs and i think its quite possible with his speed, and explosive punching dempsey could Knock rocky out. However if the fight went beyond 5 rounds i think
Rockys superior endurance would come into play and he would probably win on points or possibly a knockout. In my opinion it could go either way.

Marciano by KO 10-12.

dempsey would knock marciano spark out around the 6th, is it a myth or did marciano lose a fight and somehow got wiped from his record?

to close to call. could go either way. too bad there is no way to actually find out. man what a war i keep going back and forth between the rocks superior right hand power to jacks two fisted power. i am up in the air on this one.

To set all of you people straight, keep in mind the difference in times when these two fighters were in their prime. We have Jack Dempsey the best fighter for a number of years in the early 1900's and then you have Rocky Marciano who fought in the 1950's. Alot had changed in Boxing between those years. First off the Gloves, second the ring size, and third there were some rules that changed.
If you remember Dempsey was a bare fist fighter for a number of years where when a fighter got knocked down it didnt matter if it was 10 seconds into the fight that would be the end of the first round then the fighters would get 30 seconds to get back to their feet and start again, until the fighter went down again to end a round and when finally the fighter couldnt get up any longer the fight was over. Now think thats the early 1900's lets look at the 1950's.
In the 1950's boxing was kind of in a slump the great fighters were getting old and the young fighters were not great until the 60's so unfortunately for Rocky this made him great he had to fight washed up ex champions and bums just to have a fight. Although his power spoke for itself, and there has been no other boxer with as much heart as Marciano. The rings in this time were alittle bit larger than the early days of boxing like in the Dempsey years so movement was a larger part of fighting, although both fighers werent really known for there movement.
My prediction on this fight would be a slug fest from the moment the bell rang till the moment the fight was over. Blood, sweat and a few knock downs believe me. Can you say fight of the decade!! First you see Dempsey charge out of the corner and attack the slow starting Marciano, this causes a few problems for Marciano who finds it difficult to get a shot in during the first few minutes as he tries to figure out Dempsey. As the fight continues the action continues as Marciano finds openings on Dempsey but only a punch here and a punch there as Marciano still has not found his groove into the 4th round of battle.
Coming out after the bell into the 5th Marciano steps up his attack and you can see he finally woke up but is it too late for the slow starting Marciano who has already taken a heck of a beating at the hands of Dempsey? Just as the crowd quiets the roar Dempsey misses a wide left and gets hit with a shot that opens a cut over his eye. Dempsey now as always steps up his attack even more feeling at a disadvantage with the cut, and this proves to be a good tactic against Marciano who already has been beat up throughout the constant attack of Dempsey, although we only see signs of bruising and a slight swelling on Marciano.
Out of the gate into the 6th again Dempsey charges out still not showing any signs of fatigue accept the cut we see over his eye that doesnt seem to be bothering him at the moment. Marciano though showing alittle fatigue which is alittle rare of the champ but in this brutal sport anything can happen. Dempsey throwing shots to the head of Marciano swelling his face to the point his eye is shut on his left side will this effect Marciano later into the fight considering its only the 6th we will see. As the two continue to battle head shots on Marciano do not seem to be effecting him to much, but the mix of body and head from Marciano onto Dempsey now seem to be showing in Dempsey as the 6th comes to an end.
Into the 10th a bruised and bloodied Dempsey still trucking (slower but still throwing alot of shots stands there not like himself earlier) gets hit by the what seems to be the rejuvinated Rocky Marciano by a flurry of shots (head, body, head, head, head, body,) and down goes Dempsey!! A Flurry of shots that were just too much for the tired Dempsey ohh my did you think this would happen I never in my day would have thought the fight would turn out like this. Dempsey makes it to his feet and the round comes to a close as he holds on to make it to round 11! Oh my what a fight people what a fight!!
As the 11th begins it's like Marciano is out to kill his opponent he charges and goes in for the kill, we all know what kind of power Marciano has can he finish off Dempsey? Dempsey obviously still hurt from the shots last round comes out showing he still has what it takes to win but is it enough? The two battle for the next 3 rounds as the 13th comes to an end. Marciano now both eyes almost shut, his nose flattened and his trunks covered in blood, looking across the ring at the severely cut Dempsey with one eye fully shut and his face almost purple from the bruises he has suffered in this war.
Now the 14th round the two men struggling to stay on there feet continue to battle but it almost seems like Marciano has the edge, as he stays inside and duels with Dempsey who is having alot of trouble getting off the punches he was able to throw so quickly and often in the first rounds. Dempsey getting pounded with everything Marciano has got but he just stands there and throws when he can it's almost like these two were in there till the death. The final 2 rounds show to be the same with Marciano gaining the edge over the tired Dempsey but the fight comes to a close after 15 rounds of pure battle. To look at these two it's almost disturbing you would have thought they were pow's getting tortured for weeks not to have just been fighting for 15 rounds unbelievable!!
As the Ref goes to the score cards, it's a unanimous decision...Marciano wins by the score of 144-142, 143-143, 144-142. If not for that knockdown we would have had a draw or who knows Dempsey could have won!! My God what a fight this is the fight of the Decade unbelievable. As one might imagine this fight could have gone either way, but it is true that pure heart and desire to be number 1 can win the fight and thats what Marciano did all his career and it's a wonder why he did it during this fight.

No way this fight goes the distance... My money would be on Marciano by brutal ko5. Dempsey was a tough sob, but would not survive a slugfest against Marciano. He might win the first two rounds, but sooner or later he would fall. Marciano had a better chin, better stamina and a little more power.

I agree with the fact Marciano had better power and probably even a chin but no way he had better stamina, as I stated before Dempsey used to go bare knuckle and it would last over 100 rounds in the early days of boxing when a knockdown counted as a round, Dempsey also had a great chin so it's questionable I stick with my decision of how the fight would go.

If Jim Flynn could KO Dempsey in 1 then I can see him getting KOd by the Rock.

Rocky KO 3.

Who would win?

The white guy ;)

yeah the white guy would definitly win :D

this could have been one of the greatest fights ever, this is a fight where some might have died.

in the end i see marciano ko a tired dempsey after dempsey had given him a terrible beating.