Marciano or Dempsey?

[louis54]

i knew ray arcel and he told me he thought dempsey was the best heavyweight fighter he ever saw, but not the best champion- he didnt defend it much. he thought dempsey probably would have beaten all the top heavyweights, but it was still a guess and championship pressure and regns count too. he hestited to name the greatest in any division except for a leanord or robinson because he didnt know. but he did think dempsey was the most talented heavy he had seen and p robably would have koed louis and beaten ali, marciano, tyson, etc. anyhow i favor dempsey over marciano but what a war- two guys with lit fuses in both hands, chins like rocks, and guts to spare!!!

[mickey malone]

Quote;TheGreatA: I came across these two newspaper articles on another boxing forum.

Thanks for that A.. Appears he was caught cold.. No shame in that, happened to a lot of greats, including Flynn himself.. For me, that dispells the rumour that he took a dive..

What do you think were the reasons he struggled with Meehan?

[louis54]

there is an article on cox's corner about the fynn fight. dempsey always said he got koed. but, there may have been more to it. meehan was defensive and probably lost one or more of those bouts than credited for the win, plus, four round limit.

[hhascup]

I like Dempsey, but you never see much written about his defeats..
Ok, a multitude of historians can't all be wrong, and he is notoriously highly placed on the majority of lists, but what of his defeats?

What was it about the styles of Gene Tunney and Willie Meehan that Dempsey couldn't handle?.. Does this kind'a suggest that Larry Holmes and Tony Tubbs would've had Jack's number too?

I'd also love your take on what happened in one of his fights with Jimmy Flynn..
Is there any evidence to suggest Dempsey took a dive?

Sorry to pick your brains Henry, but you really are an invaluale teacher on this subject.

i knew ray arcel and he told me he thought dempsey was the best heavyweight fighter he ever saw, but not the best champion- he didnt defend it much. he thought dempsey probably would have beaten all the top heavyweights, but it was still a guess and championship pressure and regns count too. he hestited to name the greatest in any division except for a leanord or robinson because he didnt know. but he did think dempsey was the most talented heavy he had seen and p robably would have koed louis and beaten ali, marciano, tyson, etc. anyhow i favor dempsey over marciano but what a war- two guys with lit fuses in both hands, chins like rocks, and guts to spare!!!

there is an article on cox's corner about the fynn fight. dempsey always said he got koed. but, there may have been more to it. meehan was defensive and probably lost one or more of those bouts than credited for the win, plus, four round limit.

I agree with louis54 statement. As far as Flynn goes, here's another article on that bout.

http://coxscorner.tripod.com/dempsey_dive.html