Who's The 3rd Greatest Heavyweight Of All Time?

[Real King Kong]

Jack Dempsey

i don't think there's any argument for dempsey over louis...only argument should be louis at #1 over ali imo.

[sonnyboyx2]

Jack Dempsey, who at his peak between 1918-1923 was 32-0 with 28 kayo's, 17 in the first round, was one of the greatest punchers in ring history,

[Southpaw Great]

Jack Dempsey, who at his peak between 1918-1923 was 32-0 with 28 kayo's, 17 in the first round, was one of the greatest punchers in ring history,

That's incorrect, Dempsey was beaten in 1918 by Willie Meehan, and he never went on a 32 fight winstreak either.

[Jim Jeffries]

I count a 23 fight unbeaten streak before Meehan and then a 19 fight win streak after between 1918 and 1923, though I suppose it's possible he fought some fights that aren't listed.

[boxing boy]

No Sonny Liston?

[mickey malone]

I count a 23 fight unbeaten streak before Meehan and then a 19 fight win streak after between 1918 and 1923, though I suppose it's possible he fought some fights that aren't listed.

He lost to him in 1917 aswell.. Dempsey was 1-2-2 against Meehan, and over the years i've unintentionally upset plenty of Dempsey fans trying to find out why..

The best objective answers i've had in all this time are:-

They were hometown decisions
Meehan was a spoiler
They were only 4 rounders
He was a slow starter

Well, if Meehan was such a spoiler, then why did Dempsey have to keep fighting him?
And more importantly, why did all the fights have to be in California, a state where the sanctioning laws only permitted 4 rounders?

Dempsey KO'd both Fred Fulton (1rd) and Battling Levinsky (3rds) either side of his 1918 loss to Meehan, so it cannot be said that Dempsey was green.

Meehan wasn't exactly superman; but it does appear that inspite of his nickname of 'Fatboy,' he was actually a very good distance fighter who frequently went 10-15 and as a younger man, had won lost & drawn over 20, so he was obviously a very experienced fighter.. His finished with a record of 68-28-38 and wasn't KO'd inside 4 rounds until past-prime against Miske & Gibbons.. All in all he was ko'd 6 times, so for a fighter of Dempsey's ferocity, was imo, stoppable.

My view is, that for JD to be considered a top 3 HW, he should have had the better of this guy no matter what. It's not like he didn't have enough attempts, or enough time in which to work out a way of beating him.. He also must have tried pretty hard too, and facing him 5 times in California virtualy proves this.

His fights were world events, but there wasn't very many of them.. Dempsey gets far to much praise for a fighter who cheated his fans by giving away the best years of his prime in favour of Hollywood which is often used as the common reason for his defeats to Tunney.. Top 3?... No way!

[Spartacus Sully]

Id have to go with other and put ali at #3

[$Bullsfam$]

George Foreman. Just a terrible style match up for Tyson & Fraizer who are 4 & 5 IMO.

[sonnyboyx2]

He lost to him in 1917 aswell.. Dempsey was 1-2-2 against Meehan, and over the years i've unintentionally upset plenty of Dempsey fans trying to find out why..

The best objective answers i've had in all this time are:-

They were hometown decisions
Meehan was a spoiler
They were only 4 rounders
He was a slow starter

Well, if Meehan was such a spoiler, then why did Dempsey have to keep fighting him?
And more importantly, why did all the fights have to be in California, a state where the sanctioning laws only permitted 4 rounders?

Dempsey KO'd both Fred Fulton (1rd) and Battling Levinsky (3rds) either side of his 1918 loss to Meehan, so it cannot be said that Dempsey was green.

Meehan wasn't exactly superman; but it does appear that inspite of his nickname of 'Fatboy,' he was actually a very good distance fighter who frequently went 10-15 and as a younger man, had won lost & drawn over 20, so he was obviously a very experienced fighter.. His finished with a record of 68-28-38 and wasn't KO'd inside 4 rounds until past-prime against Miske & Gibbons.. All in all he was ko'd 6 times, so for a fighter of Dempsey's ferocity, was imo, stoppable.

My view is, that for JD to be considered a top 3 HW, he should have had the better of this guy no matter what. It's not like he didn't have enough attempts, or enough time in which to work out a way of beating him.. He also must have tried pretty hard too, and facing him 5 times in California virtualy proves this.

His fights were world events, but there wasn't very many of them.. Dempsey gets far to much praise for a fighter who cheated his fans by giving away the best years of his prime in favour of Hollywood which is often used as the common reason for his defeats to Tunney.. Top 3?... No way!

When Dempsey fought Meehan there was no judges in those days just a local newspaper reporter at ringside and it was that reporter who decided the decision of the fights and in most cases it went to the local fighter. "Newspaper Decisions".... i dont think its a black mark on Dempseys record like you claim, you only have to look at the record of Lennox Lewis and his performance against Levi Billups, Lennox makes many peoples Top 10 but he could not put a dent in Billups when at his very best yet guys like Tim Witherspoon, Cory Sanders, Jeremy Williams & Orlin Norris destroyed Billups within a couple of minutes.

Boxrec is made from guys researching newspapers to find fight reports, they then compile fight records. many fighters had more than double their recorded fights pre 1940 than what is listed on boxrec, Dempseys autobiography lists his fight record from 1918-1923 as 32-0 (28 KO) 17 in the first round.

Boxrec states under the fighters name how many "Newspaper Decisions" the fighter won

[mickey malone]

When Dempsey fought Meehan there was no judges in those days just a local newspaper reporter at ringside and it was that reporter who decided the decision of the fights and in most cases it went to the local fighter. "Newspaper Decisions".... i dont think its a black mark on Dempseys record like you claim, you only have to look at the record of Lennox Lewis and his performance against Levi Billups, Lennox makes many peoples Top 10 but he could not put a dent in Billups when at his very best yet guys like Tim Witherspoon, Cory Sanders, Jeremy Williams & Orlin Norris destroyed Billups within a couple of minutes.

Boxrec is made from guys researching newspapers to find fight reports, they then compile fight records. many fighters had more than double their recorded fights pre 1940 than what is listed on boxrec, Dempseys autobiography lists his fight record from 1918-1923 as 32-0 (28 KO) 17 in the first round.

Boxrec states under the fighters name how many "Newspaper Decisions" the fighter won

So if Dempsey knew he wasn't gonna get the rub of the local newspaper man, then why did he fight him five times in the same place?