Tweet
A lot if these comparisons have been going on and it seems that there is a lack of perspective. We usually take two great fighters, rip them out of their century, sprinkle said fighter with our prejudices, assumptions and then have a rip roarin time of it.
has anybody thought how many times a great fighter actually fights another great? In between fighters take fights that are there to keep the lights on, keep the skill set sharp and minimize risk. For every Ali vs Frazier we have Ali Versus an old Floyd Patterson, or against a Zora Foley right? I believe that when we evaluate the skill sets of a fighter we can gain a perspective by looking at something that can also be evaluated...How would a fighter who we would judge as an easy fight be compared to a great fighter from another era? This is valid because if we took a very average NFL Linebacker today and put him in a 1950's NFl game we would probably notice that this player would be exceptionally fast, strong, skilled and able.
For the purposes of evaluating Dempsey Versus Klitschko....Lets assume it is a fair day in the Dempsey headquarters, cigar smoke blowin in the window...Dempsey needs a fight....manager says (forgot his manager) "Hey champ how bout this Wills fella?" Dempsey says "awe gee guys come on that Black guy hits hard!! I need a gimme!" manager says "how bout this here Russian Fella potkin err I mean Povetkin?" Would Povetkin dominate Dempsey because he is a modern heavyweight? we will never know but here is how that comparison might look based on what we do know.
Dempsey would first notice that Povetkin has virtually no inside game. he would also notice stamina problems, a very orthodox fighter with a decent jab and hand speed....but not on the level of Tunney (assuming Dempsey fought Gene already) who was probably faster, smarter, better inside and tougher. Why tougher? because Povetkin ducked Klitschko before out of fear. Povetkin might have some size on Dempsey, but not much really.
Given experience, level of competition etc it would appear as though Most people would conclude that Dempsey beats Povetkin. In fact Povetkin would be facing a guy with more head movement than anyone he had ever fought. Dempsey would attack from many angles unlike a more stationary Huck...Could the
russian deal with this? Look at the Huck fight and you tell me...I did not see much foot movement in that fight from Povetkin leading me to conclude he could not.
Most people likewise would assume Klitschko handles Povetkin. What I like about looking at this scenerio is that when Povetkin is viewed categorically (his inside game, jab, stamina, etc) it appears that he stacks up the same to
Dempsey and Klitschko. This is a roundabout way of concluding that a fight between Klitschko and Dempsey is not necessarily a blow out given that both men seem a lot better than a common opponent who we might deem "average" though I know Povetkin is technically a champ and not a gatekeeper (rolls eyes).
Hope this is not unnecessarily complicated just wanted a way to gain some perspective on some of these match ups.
has anybody thought how many times a great fighter actually fights another great? In between fighters take fights that are there to keep the lights on, keep the skill set sharp and minimize risk. For every Ali vs Frazier we have Ali Versus an old Floyd Patterson, or against a Zora Foley right? I believe that when we evaluate the skill sets of a fighter we can gain a perspective by looking at something that can also be evaluated...How would a fighter who we would judge as an easy fight be compared to a great fighter from another era? This is valid because if we took a very average NFL Linebacker today and put him in a 1950's NFl game we would probably notice that this player would be exceptionally fast, strong, skilled and able.
For the purposes of evaluating Dempsey Versus Klitschko....Lets assume it is a fair day in the Dempsey headquarters, cigar smoke blowin in the window...Dempsey needs a fight....manager says (forgot his manager) "Hey champ how bout this Wills fella?" Dempsey says "awe gee guys come on that Black guy hits hard!! I need a gimme!" manager says "how bout this here Russian Fella potkin err I mean Povetkin?" Would Povetkin dominate Dempsey because he is a modern heavyweight? we will never know but here is how that comparison might look based on what we do know.
Dempsey would first notice that Povetkin has virtually no inside game. he would also notice stamina problems, a very orthodox fighter with a decent jab and hand speed....but not on the level of Tunney (assuming Dempsey fought Gene already) who was probably faster, smarter, better inside and tougher. Why tougher? because Povetkin ducked Klitschko before out of fear. Povetkin might have some size on Dempsey, but not much really.
Given experience, level of competition etc it would appear as though Most people would conclude that Dempsey beats Povetkin. In fact Povetkin would be facing a guy with more head movement than anyone he had ever fought. Dempsey would attack from many angles unlike a more stationary Huck...Could the
russian deal with this? Look at the Huck fight and you tell me...I did not see much foot movement in that fight from Povetkin leading me to conclude he could not.
Most people likewise would assume Klitschko handles Povetkin. What I like about looking at this scenerio is that when Povetkin is viewed categorically (his inside game, jab, stamina, etc) it appears that he stacks up the same to
Dempsey and Klitschko. This is a roundabout way of concluding that a fight between Klitschko and Dempsey is not necessarily a blow out given that both men seem a lot better than a common opponent who we might deem "average" though I know Povetkin is technically a champ and not a gatekeeper (rolls eyes).
Hope this is not unnecessarily complicated just wanted a way to gain some perspective on some of these match ups.
Comment