Can Dempsey Be Rated Over Louis?

[Wild Blue Yonda]

Smith, Morris and especialy Flynn were all past prime, and hardly top fighters anymore...at that point they were fodder for other fighters to feed on.
did Dempsey beat them more impressively than anyone else? definitely. he was the best of that era. but they were still not really top fighters anymore.

As Ive already said, I dont give much credit to Dempsey for the Sharkey win, since Sharkey had the fight in control before the low blow hit on the break combo. Winning fights through illegal blows isnt really my thing.

Yes, I would say that Wills was 'by far' better than everyone but Tunney and Sharkey. He beat Fulton just as good as Dempsey did, and you could even say he beat Firpo more one sidedly than Dempsey did, since he wasnt dropped in the fight and completely dominated him, despite not getting the knockout. And those are two of Dempsey's greatest wins right there.

my point isnt that Wills was better than Dempsey...because I dont think I would even say that. Im saying that Wills was by far better than anyone Dempsey legitimately beat and was the #1 contender for years, above everyone else, and Dempsey never fought him.

Louis had a far better pre-title career than Dempsey. he beat Massera, Ramagex2, Perroni, Brown, Carnera(former champ), King Levinsky, Max Baer(former champ), Retzlaff, Sharkey(past prime), Ettore, and Bob Pastor.
Sure, a loss to Schmeling in there. but Schmeling would hold the HW title, and Dempsey, after all, did get KOed by an old Flynn. Louis pretty obviously had a better pre-title career. even pretending Flynn, Morris and Smith were still top fighters Louis fought the better competition, even beating 3 former HW champs in the process.

I give Dempsey credit for his wins over Willard, Brennan, Fulton, Firpo and Miske. and a little less credit for his wins over Gibbons, Carpentier and Levinsky. and maybe a smidgen of credit for his wins over Meehen(even though that was only one win out of 5 or so fights). and he was the best of his era. but he didnt beat that many good fighters, and didnt fight his best competition.

I believe your initial point was not that Wills was much better than anyone Dempsey beat, but rather, much better than anyone Dempsey faced. Both are incorrect, as Dempsey beat Sharkey (at least Wills' equal), & fought Tunney (Wills' superior).

[BigStereotype]

I wouldn't and I'm having a lot of trouble seeing a case for it, based on resume and skills. Head to head, I'd pick Louis to KO Dempsey, but that's not a sure thing at all. The opposite could happen pretty easily, too. But for their careers, I'd say Louis was the superior fighter.