Jack Dempsey vs Lennox Lewis

[abdelfadeel]

Lewis was a big guy who could box and punch when he had to. He had an effective jab a monster right hand and the fundamentals down to a tee, but his biggest weakness was his chin - which if hit correctly would be like a power button - just switch him off.

Dempsey was a shorter guy who was an animal on the inside, he was quick, strong and very tough. His obvious weakness would be he can be out-boxed but only by someone with fast feet (and when past prime), that is what Tunney used to beat him, Lewis who never had to use great footwork because of his size, wouldn't be able to keep the primeval force of Dempsey away from him.

I think Lewis uses the jab early to keep Dempsey away but Jack has a fire inside of him, he wades inside, moving his head wildly and going to Lewis's body. Dempsey risks coming in quickly because Lewis was good at timing and could catch him with a right which could spell trouble for Jack. After 12 hard rounds the bigger man Lennox Lewis, who has been forced to fight a furious pace by Dempsey is beginning to tire - which is a downfall for all big men. By round 13 Dempsey, who is behind on all scorecards (due to being outboxed and tagged trying to rush inside) ups the pressure looking for a knockout. In round 14 he gets it, a crisp left hook on a tired Lennox Lewis. In a 12 round fight Lennox would have won a unanimous decision.

KO14 Jack Dempsey

[rightsideup]

sounds like a exciting scenario just curious who is considered jacks best opponent where he stopped a fellow in the late rounds

[AlexKid]

jack dempsey via ko jab, round 3

[The Old LefHook]

jack dempsey via ko jab, round 3

I have to go with you here. Dempsey fights didn't run all night while he broke his man down in a war of attrition. His punches were more destructive. Lewis will not be given round after round to drop long rights home. Either way, it is an early night, and I favor Dempsey.

[RED REP]

I'm a huge Dempsey fan but GTFOH.

[ShoulderRoll]

Lewis' chin was a weakness and Dempsey had the punching power to exploit that.

If it was a 15 rounder I could see Jack punishing the body then pouncing late once Lennox got tired and worn down.

[billeau2]

There is little chance that a match up similar to this would happen at any time. In Dempsey's time a guy had to be more mobile and had to be able to shoot in on openings from a greater distance. In Lewis' time guys punch in a manner comensurate with using bigger gloves. Guys stand right in front of each other to trade blows. While Dempsey could trade he seldom stood in front of the guy to do so.

Either guy would do better in his time his rules. If this fight took place Dempsey would start moving around the ring and shooting in on Lewis, Lewis would swat at him thinking that he would slow down. Lewis might catch Dempsey with a jab or so, and Dempsey might catch Lennox with a cross to the body...Jack would have a time of it, given the gloves size, folding Lewis to catch his jaw. Jack would virtually never be in front of Lewis to recieve a blow, he would be inside tying Lewis up and hitting, or, bobbing in on Lewis to catch the body, or a good angle.

Lewis would try to catch Jack with the jab, he would have a rough time plodding in to get set to throw his shots. Lewis might get lucky and uppercut Jack coming in, if so, he would risk getting hooked and backed up if he missed the shot. Lewis would be strong enough to fight off the ropes when this happened...How good would his chin be? Would he be the Lewis who was struck down twice? or the Lewis who took Vitali's best shots?

Certainly Lewis would tire down the stretch, but Jack would have to move a lot to keep Lewis from setting for his punches. lewis would need to be at his fastest to have a chance to catch Jack and he would have to time Jack very well.

Thats kind of how I see it. To call a winner here is just to antagonize...there is not really an intelligent way to say with certainty which man would have his way, other than the obvious rules in play at the time of the fight. It is worth noting that even big guys like Jeffries were much mmore mobile and active at that time...if Jeffries came into the ring encumbered like most fighters today, carrying extra weight, he would probably weigh close to 280 pounds or so. Even Carnera, despite what one thinks of his skills, had little weight to spare and could remain active through a 15 round contest.

[W. Ledochowski]

Lewis supposed "weak chin" was only a problem against modern heavyweights who hit hard and/or when he wasn't 100% prepared... Lewis KO1 Dempsey, in my opinion...

[Sun_Tzu]

The Mauler gets Mauled, get real guys. Dempsey would be a cruiserweight today.

[Fury4daWIN]

Dempsey wouldn't even be considered a real heavyweight today. Does Kovalev beat Tyson Fury? Of course not.