How good was jack dempsey would you rate him in top 5 greatest heavyweights?

Question

lets not forget he fought in a day when most boxing matches were like street fights and unfortunately he never fought black fighters of his day such as harry wills

Answer 1

Dempsey is in the top 12 on my list but certainly not the top 5.  

Ali and Louis beat them all.  Then you have your top 10.  None of the top 10 would go undefeated in a series of fights against the others on the list.    Dempsey is near the bottom because he would suffer more losses than many others on the list.   Holmes is near the top because he suffers fewer losses.  

Top 10

Larry Holmes

Lennox Lewis

George Forman

Holyfield, Tyson, Marciano, Johnson.

Tyson

Frazier

Dempsey

This order is not etched in stone.  Its based not only on who would beat whom but how many losses each would suffer.  

Some examples:  Holyfield beats Tyson who is too big and strong and fast for Marciano who KOs Johnson.  But Marciano has a good chance of beating Holyfield, depending on how he train and if he can come in at about 205 comfortably.  

Holmes, Lewis and Forman would likely beat all below them.  They could trade victories in a series of bouts with Holmes having the greater chance for victory.  Liston, Frazier and Dempsey are the same but would lose to Holmes Forman and Lewis.  Dempsey might catch Frazier early or lose in a  long drawn out war.  Liston KOs both but loses to Holyfield, and Tyson.

Answer 2

He is #5 on my list behind Ali, Louis, Marciano and Holmes. He didn't fight Black fighters but he KO Jess Willard who beat the best of the Black fighters, Jack Johnson. I also give him the second Tunney fight because of the long count.

Answer 3

yes in the top five. Larry Holmes, you gotta be kidding me. Lennox Lewis, please, maybe in the top 25. I do not need to defend Dempsey as his record defends itself. Any one out there that thinks Dempsey was a slouch should remember Joe Louis' bum of the month club. Ericktra, Does that make Louis a bum. Where exactly do you get your information?

Answer 4

Yeah, but they fought tougher and for more rounds. Dempsey is probably right at #5 all-time. Dempsey actually did fight some exhibitions against black fighters. It was the promoters not him that didn't give them the title fights.

Answer 5

Yes ....and ACEMAN said it all ---- Johnson DID REFUSE to fight Sam Langford & Sam Langford placed ads in newspapers offering to fight any man in the world EXCEPT Jim Jefferies --- Actually Dempsey WANTED to fight Wills but Dempsey's Manager ( Doc Kearns ) wouldn't let him because there was no money in fighting Wills. Originally a fight between Dempsey & Wills was planned & tickets were even printed but the pre-fight ticket sales were so poor that the fight never materialized. Today those tickets go for big bucks among collectors of boxing memorabilia.  Dempsey was so tough that he ran away from home &  " rode the rails " on trains and lived in hobo camps where as a 13 year old he knocked out grown men. When Dempsey won the title by destroying Willard....he broke Willard's jaw in over six places & Willard spent 3 months in the hospital recuperating after the fight.

Answer 6

He contributed greatly in terms of popularity, he was boxing's first big draw and he is considered an american icon. However in terms of actual boxing skill he does not make my top fifteen much less my top five, he drew the color line and refused to fight all the great black fighters of his day (i guess they hadn't recovered from jack johnson yet) and he is remembered for beating jess willard, a slow,sloppy tall boxer that was never great opposition to begin with, and then a fight with louis firpo,another over rated boxer with not much to his credit, I don't mind people giving him respect,i think he deserves it,but as far as actual ring abilty.....he never actually did anything to deserve to be placed higher than guys like evander holyfield,lennox lewis,mike tyson,marciano,ali,foreman,frazier or even ken norton, I don't think that fighting a bunch of white guys,a seven foot cowboy who barely boxes and an over rated european boxer like louis firpo while dodging all the great black fighters of your day is enough to deserve a spot in the top five.

p.s I was expecting Jo S to come up with some sort of defense statement for jack dempsey,yeah he fought rougher fights and longer rounds but he fought against a lot of nobodies (with the exception of gene tunney) and still dodged the black fighters of his day denying great fighters like harry wills and sam langford the opportunity to contend for the heavy weight crown. Just because he fought in a rough and tumble era it does not mean he is any better than the other guys i listed.

Aceman....I was expecting you to come in defense of your boy, Jack Johnson fought langford and beat him once,he didn t feel the need to fight him again and he didn t have to, and gannonway by the time Willard beat Johnson,jack johnson was already well past his prime, and for those of you who said Louis fought bums, ARE YOU GUYS SERIOUS? Joe Louis fought against a prime Max Schmelling,Braddock and many other greats of his day as a matter of fact he never drew the color line to dodge anyone,he fought the best avaliable competition, unfortunately we can't say the same of jack dempsey who only fought the best WHITE competition available in his day, you can call me racist all you want but the facts speak for themselves here.

Answer 7

Jack Dempsey was and always will be an American sports icon no matter what people like Ericktravel who is the most militant racist answerer on here say.

He had the 1st million and 2 million gate, and fought in front of stadiums full of fans.

He would have demolished Lewis and his glass chin. I have him at #4 on my list of heavyweights. Every champion has stuff people can judge. Nobodies perfect. It wasn't Dempsey alone who didn't fight Wills or Langford.

Jack Johnson REFUSED to fight Langford but u dont ever hear that now do u? Unfortunately the black fighters back then were caught in a racist time where they mostly fought each other and never received title shots. Langford and Wills fought like 20+ times!

Dempsey was a brutal brawler that would give ANY all time great a good fight. His style had never been seen before and u could say he was the Tyson of his day with the intimidation and ability to attract movie stars to fights with his violence.

But the comparison ends there. Dempsey vs. Wills would have been a great fight but Jack fought and lost to Tunney instead.

That's how great Jack Dempsey was, 80 years after he fought we still talk about him.

Answer 8

It seems I should rate him in the top 5, yes.

I've been reading a lot about Dempsey lately, and most boxing writers, historians, trainers and other fighters seem to place him right at the top.

He had terrible KO power in both hands, he was fast, he had a fantastic chin (in fact, flooring him was the most dangerous thing you could do - it made him furious), animal reflexes, great stamina... he even had the natural bone structure for it, they say.

The only people I've seen questioning his place in the top 5 are rookies in sports writing, and they all get picked apart by the more seasoned writers.

P.S.: The main reason the Wills fight didn't happen, was that it was a total mismatch. Nobody wanted to see that fight happen.

P.S.II: Willard wasn't no soft, big lump, as many seem to believe. Read more about the guy, and you'll see why the Dempsey fight rocked the boxing world so.

Answer 9

1. Joe Louis

2. Muhammad Ali

3. Rocky Marciano

4. Larry Holmes

5. George Foreman

6. Jack Johnson

7. Joe Frazier

8. Gene Tunney

9. Jack Dempsey

10. Evander Holyfield

11. Ezzard Charles

12.  Harry Wills

Johnson fought and beat Langford in 1906.  Johnson never fought Wills.  Wills lost elimination bouts leading up to fights with Dempsey.  He lost to Sharkey and Uzcudun