Why Jack Dempsey???

[HappyBoxingFan]

Mostly because of his effect on the sport, he was hugely popular and destroyed his often bigger opponents in exciting fashion.

Dempsey beat most of the top fighters of his era aside from Harry Wills who he could be accused of ducking. Sam Langford was already an old man by the time Dempsey arrived on the scene, Dempsey destroyed Fred Fulton who knocked out the old Langford.

The giant Willard who had knocked out Jack Johnson was destroyed in 3, Georges Carpentier was knocked out in 4, Jack Sharkey (who beat Harry Wills) was knocked out in 7, Tommy Gibbons lost to Dempsey by a decision and Firpo who destroyed Willard was knocked out by Dempsey in two.

I'm not sure if I would rate Dempsey as top 5 but maybe top 10, definitely top 15. It all depends on how you like to rank top HW's.

Wow. Someone who actually knows something about something.

[sterling]

My thoughts are that Dempsey's manager is to blame as well as Dempsey himself, but I put blame on the fighter first since as he has to take control of his career...the blame is on both.

Boxing started to get big again (since it was big in the ancient times) with John L., but Dempsey, led by his Manager/Promoter, made boxing World-Wide. He was a true Celeb. His big paydays allowed for future big paydays. His style was perfect for the time, perfect to promote the sport. If anything, his "importance" is key.

For Johnson: it would have been the right thing to do to rematch the top black fighters, but I still give him a great deal of credit for fighting them in the first place (even though he had no choice anyway)...and, he did want a fight with Jeffries while Jeff was still Champion. After Jack won the title, I don't think he wanted to risk losing the belt he had worked so long and hard to get against the top black fighters, for low money. In addition, he took great pleasure in beating the "White Hopes" I expect.

Your other points are very good as well with Foreman (and I would add in Shavers), Marciano, and many others. In addition, it was good to note that Dempsey had been off for 3 years and was not the same mentally because of his new, improved life-style. People look at numbers/stats to much without looking further into the story.


Good post

gooood post i agree

[Steak]

Even if you cant compare fighters from different eras, Dempsey only defended his title 5 times in 7 years, and then lost pretty one sidedly. most of his wins are over lousy opponents, and his big wins arent even that big. even one of his biggest wins over Sharkey he only won because he punched him in the balls.

I mean, I have no problem with him being an ATG, he was famous! everyone knew about that guy, everyone loved to see a smaller guy beat the stuffing out bigger guys.

what irritates me is when people claim Dempsey should be rated so highly, and then turn around and say that Tyson is not an ATG. Am I missing something? Tyson is one of the most famous atheletes of all time, and he was smaller than most the guys he fought but destroyed them on a regular basis. He defended his title more times than Dempsey in about half the time, defeated other fairly good opponents and won it back.

people will probebly ***** about level of competition but lets be serious...
Tucker, Berbick, Holmes, Tubbs, Bruno, Ruddock, Spinks(he dominated basically all of them) is better than Dempsey's best wins.

I dont mind Dempsey being an ATG due to how famous he was, but he doesnt deserve to be a top ten heavyweight based on his accomplishments.

[the330ballers]

Mostly because of his effect on the sport, he was hugely popular and destroyed his often bigger opponents in exciting fashion.

Dempsey beat most of the top fighters of his era aside from Harry Wills who he could be accused of ducking. Sam Langford was already an old man by the time Dempsey arrived on the scene, Dempsey destroyed Fred Fulton who knocked out the old Langford.

The giant Willard who had knocked out Jack Johnson was destroyed in 3, Georges Carpentier was knocked out in 4, Jack Sharkey (who beat Harry Wills) was knocked out in 7, Tommy Gibbons lost to Dempsey by a decision and Firpo who destroyed Willard was knocked out by Dempsey in two.

I'm not sure if I would rate Dempsey as top 5 but maybe top 10, definitely top 15. It all depends on how you like to rank top HW's.


Jack Dempsey HL.

why does he keep his hands so low
and he looked kind of amateurish


and this is coming from a dempsey fan.
i am a fan of the boxers in the past but not during this time period.

i also have thought jack dempsey and harry greb were both overrated.


but like "Feint" on this thread said, "You really can't compare boxers from different eras against each other. The only real way to rank a fighter is how well did he dominate the era in which he boxed in. Using that criteria you have to put Dempsey in the top 10."

[TheGreatA]

why does he keep his hands so low
and he looked kind of amateurish


and this is coming from a dempsey fan.
i am a fan of the boxers in the past but not during this time period.

i also have thought jack dempsey and harry greb were both overrated.

but like "Feint" on this thread said, "You really can't compare boxers from different eras against each other. The only real way to rank a fighter is how well did he dominate the era in which he boxed in. Using that criteria you have to put Dempsey in the top 10."

Umm, how can you be a fan of a boxer but then say he is overrated and that you're not a fan of boxers of that certain time period he fought in.

Anyway, like you said, you can't compare boxers from different eras against each other. What use do you think having gloves up would've been with those tiny gloves he had? The big, strong guys he fought would've punched right through his guard.

Dempsey was an inventor, he was one of the first ones to use the bobbing and weaving, come forward pressure style. That's why he was able to take out much bigger opponents, he avoided their slow but strong punches, got inside and pummeled them to the body and the head.

Dempsey showed his ability to adapt to certain styles even when he was past his best against Tunney in the rematch. He counter punched with rights over Tunney's jab and managed to connect cleanly once (01:21 in the vid).
Tunney was put down but saved by the 'long count' and his surviving skills. Tunney never made the same mistake twice, Dempsey lost a decision and retired.

You can also see the short punching power he packed in that vid, look at 01:00 when he lifts Sharkey up with a short left hook.

I don't rate Dempsey as a top 5 heavyweight because he didn't defend his title actively enough and he didn't beat Wills and Tunney. Otherwise he would probably make my top 5 or atleast top 7. Now he is in there somewhere in the top 15 along with Mike Tyson.

That's just my opinion though, others might rate him the greatest of all time because of his impact on the sport. I don't rate fighters like that but it's all your own opinion, as long as you have logical explanations and facts to back it up.