Jack Dempsey vs Lennox Lewis in their prime

[sonnyboyx2]

Dempsey would be lucky to leave the ring alive

There have always been big men in the heavyweight division and the All-Time greats fought them with success. Jack Johnson fought a whole string of very big "great white hopes" before finally losing to 6' 6 ¼" Jess Willard. And Johnson was much past his prime.

Jack Dempsey fought Firpo at 6' 2 ½", Willard at 6' 6 ¼", Fred Fulton 6' 4 ½", and Carl Morris at 6' 4". Of them all, the smallest, Firpo, is the only one who gave him any trouble. The fact is, Dempsey preferred the bigger men, finding them slower and easier to hit. And lest someone cry that Lewis is better than any of the Manassa Mauler's big opponents, I must painfully point out that Lennox was knocked out twice by single punches from smaller men. On the other hand, Lennox-sized Jess Willard suffered a jaw broken in seven places, a smashed nose, knocked out front teeth, cracked cheek bone, and broken ribs before his seconds threw in the towel. Any one of the punches that did that damage must have been equal or greater than the single KO punches of McCall and Rahman, just based on damage inflicted.

In Lennox Lewis's only loses, KO losses at that, it has been smaller men, Hasim Rahman and Oliver McCall, both 6'2 ½", who turned the trick. And against 6' 2 ½" Evander Holyfield he has looked less than impressive. This is significant in a discussion of the merits of the heavyweight champions of the past verses the best of the pro-wrestler size super-heavyweights, because many of the great heavyweight champions were very close to the size of Rahman, McCall, and Holyfield. And, they fought and beat men of the size of Lennox Lewis. In fact, across the board, they beat them with ease.

To those who say this is a new era of super-heavyweights and the smaller men of legend would need to find other means of employment besides the heavyweight division today, I would point out that if the best super heavyweight so far has been Lennox Lewis, and I believe it has been, then the greats of another time should hold on a second before filling out their unemployment forms.

Lewis's nemesis can be profiled as someone with power at around 6'2" or someone with great skill and decent power at even less. Who fits in that range? At 6'2"to 6' 3" we would find James Jeffries, Max Baer, Jimmy Braddock, Ali, Foreman, Norton, and Holmes. At 6'1" we bring out Jim Corbett, Jack Johnson, Dempsey, Schmelling, Louis, and Liston. At the very short 5' 11" of Tyson, we could put in Rocky Marciano, Patterson, and Frazier. I challenge anyone who calls himself a true fan of the sport and its history to declare that these men wouldn't have done as well or better than the men of similar size Lewis has fought. And remember that in the case of McCall and Rahman, better isn't necessary; just do as good.

[Equilibrium]

I have a lot respect for old school fighters. But some people on here tend to like old school fighter so much that they make them sound like invincible gods.

The fact is boxing has evolved. The technique, the rules, the equipment and the training has evolved. Emphasis on technique. Some old school fighters had great technique for their time and would still be considered to have good technique nowadays. I'm thinking of guys like Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Louis.

But Jack Dempsey wasn't one of those guy, he won with pure aggression. Wide swinging hooks, he kept his hands low and didn't have much in terms of defense.

So all in all, i think Lewis would mop the floor with Dempsey.

I know some of you guys are going to not agree, but unlike you i don't live in the past, i live in the real world.

[Obama]

Oh and Dempsey was only about 180-85

I was going to mention that but I said **** it after I saw everyone was picking Lewis to win already.

Also, the McCall fight shouldn't be used against Lewis in predicting this h2h matchup. He clearly was out of shape for the fight. He was filming Ocean's 11 instead of giving a **** about training for some nobody.

[mickey malone]

Lewis would hand out a systematic & one sided beating, to end the fight inside 6 rounds.. The bigger guys beaten by Dempsey never did much.. Only one of them was a world champ (Willard) & none of them would have lasted more than 3 rounds with Lewis..

Some people rant on about Lewis avoiding fighters, while Dempsey never even fought the best in his division.. 7 defenses in 7 years says it all really, & I don't recall Jack reclaiming the title after getting beat twice by Tunney, who was only a light heavyweight..

To even suggest him being in the same league as Lewis is pure poppycock!

[sonnyboyx2]

I was going to mention that but I said **** it after I saw everyone was picking Lewis to win already.

Also, the McCall fight shouldn't be used against Lewis in predicting this h2h matchup. He clearly was out of shape for the fight. He was filming Ocean's 11 instead of giving a **** about training for some nobody.

Amazing how excuses for Lewis defeats are always used and accepted yet when the fact is mentioned that Mike Tyson was heavily sedated in the Lewis fight it is `Not Acceptable`...When the fact is mentioned that Andrew Golota was tranquilised in his dressing room after suffering a panic-attack only minutes before he was due to go out and face Lewis, it is ignored and brushed under the carpet...Tommy Morrison suffering from the HIV virus is ignored when his defeat to Lewis is questioned, Oliver McCall being in a Drug-Rehab up to 48hrs before his return fight with Lewis is ignored and the old line trumpeted "Lewis avenged his defeat"
but Lewis making a film is a valid excuse, if Pacquiao loses to Cotto then his `making a movie` will be a valid excuse for defeat..

[Obama]

Amazing how excuses for Lewis defeats are always used and accepted yet when the fact is mentioned that Mike Tyson was heavily sedated in the Lewis fight it is `Not Acceptable`...When the fact is mentioned that Andrew Golota was tranquilised in his dressing room after suffering a panic-attack only minutes before he was due to go out and face Lewis, it is ignored and brushed under the carpet...Tommy Morrison suffering from the HIV virus is ignored when his defeat to Lewis is questioned, Oliver McCall being in a Drug-Rehab up to 48hrs before his return fight with Lewis is ignored and the old line trumpeted "Lewis avenged his defeat"
but Lewis making a film is a valid excuse, if Pacquiao loses to Cotto then his `making a movie` will be a valid excuse for defeat..

You make good points, I don't ignore those excuses either. Well, save the Tyson one. He was simply over the hill. Lewis doesn't deserve a lot of credit for it regardless of any excuses.

[sonnyboyx2]

I have a lot respect for old school fighters. But some people on here tend to like old school fighter so much that they make them sound like invincible gods.

The fact is boxing has evolved. The technique, the rules, the equipment and the training has evolved. Emphasis on technique. Some old school fighters had great technique for their time and would still be considered to have good technique nowadays. I'm thinking of guys like Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Louis.

But Jack Dempsey wasn't one of those guy, he won with pure aggression. Wide swinging hooks, he kept his hands low and didn't have much in terms of defense.

So all in all, i think Lewis would mop the floor with Dempsey.

I know some of you guys are going to not agree, but unlike you i don't live in the past, i live in the real world.

i also live in the real world and Boxing today is in dire-straits compaired to yesteryear, we dont have the great knowledgable trainers that were around in the past, fighters today dont do roadwork like they did in the past, todays fighters only have a quarter of the career fights compaired to the fighters of the past, the only thing that is better today is the amount of cameras used to film a fight, as many as 50 cameras are used at ringside so as the viewer can see from almost every angle, where in the old days one camera (flicker-film) was used from the back of the arena, so obviously a film today looks far superior than it did 100 yrs ago, but men are men they was born 100 yrs ago with a set of knackers just like we are today, as for technique i suggest go and watch Dempsey vs Sharkey and tell me Dempsey had no boxing technique, Dempsey rolled, bobed & weaved and was a devastating puncher, Jack Dempsey was the most aggresive fighter in Heavyweight history, that there is no doubt about, Dempsey fought 7 fights in 7yrs because his fights were extravaganzas, the whole world wanted to see a Dempsey fight.... Lets not forget that Lennox Lewis was not hard to hit, even a heavily sedated Mike Tyson landed punches on him, Frank Bruno landed almost at will as did Ray Mercer, Holyfield and Vitali Klitschko, to claim Dempsey would not hit him is ridiculous,

[Ryn0]

Lewis wins, much like the Tua fight except more competitive. He may stop Dempsey if he drops him (ala Firpo)

And I'm pretty sure Dempsey never weighed 205....

[sonnyboyx2]

Lewis wins, much like the Tua fight except more competitive. He may stop Dempsey if he drops him (ala Firpo)

And I'm pretty sure Dempsey never weighed 205....

makes little difference what weight Dempsey was even if he weighed 190lbs. guys smaller than Lewis always gave him trouble, Butler 5`11, lasted 5rds, Tua 5`10 went the full 12rds, Ocassio 5`11 went the full distance Tyson 5`11 sedated went 8rds...Rocky Marciano at 5'10 ½" did fight 6' 5" Pat Connolly, 6' 5" Johnny Shkor, and 6' 4" Carmine Vingo. Connolly didn't last a round while Shkor was able to survive until the 6th before being KO'd. Vingo was almost killed by Marciano, spent days in a coma, and was never able to fight again.

[sonnyboyx2]

Lewis would hand out a systematic & one sided beating, to end the fight inside 6 rounds.. The bigger guys beaten by Dempsey never did much.. Only one of them was a world champ (Willard) & none of them would have lasted more than 3 rounds with Lewis..

Some people rant on about Lewis avoiding fighters, while Dempsey never even fought the best in his division.. 7 defenses in 7 years says it all really, & I don't recall Jack reclaiming the title after getting beat twice by Tunney, who was only a light heavyweight..

To even suggest him being in the same league as Lewis is pure poppycock!

There was only 1 championship belt up for grabs in those days not the huge amount that is on offer today.. Those big men whom Dempsey fought all fought Hall of Fame fighters, so they are NOT tomato cans like you seem to insinuate..Those fighters would no-doubt be champions or `live contenders` today with all the title on offer just like Nicolay Valuev.
Dempsey defended his title 7 times in 7yrs but that was because a Dempsey fight was a World event and a far greater and bigger sporting event than anything Lennox Lewis has ever taken part in.