Dempsey vs. Marciano

[Zmerai Khan]

Imagine what Dempsey would have done to Johnson? I can imagine what he would have done. AVOID HIM. Which is what he did to an even old Johnson.

Drew the color line on McVey, Langford, and Jeannette, did he?

Oh sweetie, you're too adorable.

You can trouble yourself to find, snip, catalog, and post some old newspaper articles which no one will read.

But you can't take the time to go to YouTube and watch some of Johnson's "fights".

He was rubbish. (Not necessarily by the standard of the day... he was the Wilder, Fury, Joshua of his day.) But you won't see anything there that Dempsey wouldn't slaughter.

Just refer to the evidence. It'll free your mind. And your time.

[Zmerai Khan]

You already embarrassed yourself kid?

And apparently the non-binary individual from New York doesn't know what a question mark is for, either.

[HOUDINI563]

Johnson was a great fighter. Among boxing’s best defensively. Wonderful jab. Nearly everyone misunderstands his skill set due to the low quality of the films of his bouts.

[Zmerai Khan]

Johnson was a great fighter. Among boxing’s best defensively. Wonderful jab. Nearly everyone misunderstands his skill set due to the low quality of the films of his bouts.

He's got very good reflexes... which paired with his size advantage make him difficult to hit. But among the best defensively!? Based on what? After beating which opponents?

[HOUDINI563]

Johnson was a master of blocking and feinting. Well known for his defense. If you know what you’re looking at just watching his ability to control the attacking fighters he faced should be enough evidence. Fleischer who watched him fight live rated Johnson as having the best defense, best at feinting and the best uppercut.

[GhostofDempsey]

Johnson was a great fighter. Among boxing’s best defensively. Wonderful jab. Nearly everyone misunderstands his skill set due to the low quality of the films of his bouts.

He had a distinct size advantage and experience advantage in his best wins. Jeanette and McVey were several inches shorter and 30 - 50 pounds lighter. Jeanette and McVey were never great to begin with. They were somewhat slow and crude. Johnson to Willard who was the Fury of his era. After losing to Willard fought twenty "never-was" fighters, losing to seven of them.

Many of these fighters have been romanticized over the last century. Langford was really the best of the bunch. Dempsey admittedly avoided him while he was still coming up. Dempsey had about 15 fights and Langford was already in his prime when Jack said no thanks. He knew he'd be in over his head. Too green.

Outside of that, there was no reason he would have ducked Wills or anyone else. Their style was made for him. Big and slow. Here are some clips of the "great" McVey, Jeanette, Wills.

McVey - jab and grab



Jeanette - wide stance, leaning back from punches, lunging in, clutching and grabbing, throwing wild punches.



No wonder Johnson was so successful against these two. He was far bigger, stronger and quicker than these two "legends".

[HOUDINI563]

No fighter is considered an ATG by peers unless they are very special. Johnson was one of those fighters. Just as I condemn revisionism with Dempsey and Marciano I do so with Johnson. All three exhibited top notch abilities and characteristics that are expected of ATG fighters. Johnson of the three was a very crafty fighter. Fleischer called Johnson the “brainiest” of all hwt champions.

[HOUDINI563]

The other thing is that Johnson was an over the hill 37 year old champion in poor shape due to high living in Europe for so many years. Willard would never have beaten prime Johnson. Even with all this had the fight need scheduled for 20 rounds Johnson would have won the decision by a wide margin.

[Zmerai Khan]

He had a distinct size advantage and experience advantage in his best wins. Jeanette and McVey were several inches shorter and quiet a 30 - 50 pounds lighter. Jeanette and McVey were never great to begin with. They were somewhat slow and crude. Johnson to Willard who was the Fury of his era. After losing to Willard fought twenty "never-was" fighters, losing to seven of them.

Many of these fighters have been romanticized over the last century. Langford was really the best of the bunch. Dempsey admittedly avoided him while he was still coming up. Dempsey had about 15 fights and Langford was already in his prime when Jack said no thanks. He knew he'd be in over his head. Too green.

Outside of that, there was no reason he would have ducked Wills or anyone else. Their style was made for him. Big and slow. Here are some clips of the "great" McVey, Jeanette, Wills.

McVey - jab and grab



Jeanette - wide stance, leaning back from punches, lunging in, clutching and grabbing, throwing wild punches.



No wonder Johnson was so successful against these two. He was far bigger, stronger and quicker than these two "legends".

Best. Post. Ever.

[Ben Bolt]

Quite a remarkable thread!
It started in 2005, to be continued in 2007, returning in 2013 and 2015, before making a STRONG comeback in 2018.

I don’t know if it has been mentioned yet, but in The Ring Nov ’18 there's an article that I found reliable: “A Will Without a Way – Hopes for a fight between heavyweight stars Jack Dempsey and Harry Wills were dashed by racist fears.”