Who would win between Jack Dempsey and Vitali Klitschko

[Cardinal Buck]

True, but Vitali's neck is formidable. They took a picture of him having a face-off with basketball player Lamar Odom and it was obvious who the fighter was; Vitali's neck dwarfed Odom's in thickness.

[bklynboy]

True, but Vitali's neck is formidable. They took a picture of him having a face-off with basketball player Lamar Odom and it was obvious who the fighter was; Vitali's neck dwarfed Odom's in thickness.

I would love to see that picture. Will look for it. That being said "small" heavyweights such as Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield worked out their necks like demons. Now, VK's neck muscle will help him "absorb" a Dempsey or Tyson shot. Specifically the neck muscles will prevent the skull from accelerating as fast. BUT. This helps only so much. If Dempsey (to return to the original conversation) is able to tag VK with hard shots - he will knock him out.

However, as said earlier, the advantage has to go to VK.

[aaron.king]

Dempsey is so overrated,,, never fought any black guys like harry wills,,,,,
He could stand over a knocked down opponent and start punching again once the guys knees were off the ground....

vitali by brutal ko.....

Even if you set aside the color bar issue, I've always thought Dempsey was terribly overrated. In terms of historical significance, sure he is at or near the top. But look at his best wins: Jess Willard, Georges Carpentier, and Jack Sharkey. For numerous reasons, not the most impressive lineup. Frankly, the Sharkey win was probably his best. Why anybody puts Dempsey ahead of Gene Tunney is beyond me. To the question at hand, Dempsey struggles against a prime Vitali, but it's a toss up. My hunch is that Vitali would be too skilled at his size (he's light-years above Willard) and would survive some hairy moments to get a close but clear decision.

[StarshipTrooper]

this guy schooled Jack Dempsey:


all 5'9, 30% body fat of "Fat Boy"

And a fat golfer KTFO Wlad.

[StarshipTrooper]

Why anybody puts Dempsey ahead of Gene Tunney is beyond me.

Primarily because Tunney didn't have enough fights at Heavyweight to qualify on most peoples' lists. He spent damn near his entire career at Light-Heavy and had maybe six fights at Heavy.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

Primarily because Tunney didn't have enough fights at Heavyweight to qualify on most peoples' lists. He spent damn near his entire career at Light-Heavy and had maybe six fights at Heavy.

True but any knowledgable fan putting together a list would know that dempsey got schooled by tunney,,,, I always say that tunney, louis, jack johnson are the only "old school" heavys that could compete in any era and i have them ranked much higher than a marciano or dempsey

[Anthony342]

Yeah. I've wondered about that. You read that some of the fights were exhibitions, and that in other fights Dempsey rocked him all 4 rounds with hard punches and they were scored draws. I know little about him except from boxrec and in passing references in books.

I do see that he fought a lot of 4 round fights - way more than most other people. Anybody know more about him?

So he was basically the Butterbean of his time?

[Cardinal Buck]

Primarily because Tunney didn't have enough fights at Heavyweight to qualify on most peoples' lists. He spent damn near his entire career at Light-Heavy and had maybe six fights at Heavy.

You would have to be a complete idiot to think that a loss to an obese flyweights is less disgraceful than losing to the hardest punching southpaw in history. Rose tinted lipstick.

[StarshipTrooper]

True but any knowledgable fan putting together a list would know that dempsey got schooled by tunney,,,, I always say that tunney, louis, jack johnson are the only "old school" heavys that could compete in any era and i have them ranked much higher than a marciano or dempsey

They also understand that Dempsey was over the hill when he faced Tunney, hadn't fought in three years and had only fought twice over the previous five years. When you fight someone matters when grading the value of a win.

[billeau2]

This sounds good but we know it isn't true. Big guys with big necks and traps are usually the ones taking he'd shots the best. I'm thinking of McCall and Briggs circa 2006.

This is "complicated territory" It brings us right into the provance of "can one train to take a punch?" type arguments.

Honestly Buck? My own opinion on this, which is alas all one can have is that while it certainly takes muscle and perhaps bone to be one who can absorb a shot well, not all people who have these attributes take a punch well.