Jack Dempsey: Should we consider him to be the father of modern boxing?

Question

There's always someone who did it earlier, but would it be accurate to call Jack Dempsey the first modern boxer? Along with that, should we call Gene Tunney the first scientific boxer? Where does Dempsey belong in the pantheon of great heavies? How would you compare and contrast him to today's heavy.

Answer 1

Jack Dempsey was the first big draw, he was not only a good boxer but also an exciting one to watch, he helped make the sport popular and worked hard to rise from poverty to fame. In terns of style I consider Jack Dempsey one of the first true boxers, however in terms of boxing skill Jack Johnson predates him by few a years,however jack Dempsey could be credited as the innovator of low stances and quick hand combinations, he was aggressive and hit very hard and this made him a very entertaining fighter to watch as well as one boxing's pioneers many people refer to him as the first true in fighter and Gene Tunney as the first scientific boxer which i think is true (Jim Corbett was also quite scientific but very rudimental when compared to Tunney) In terms of contribution Jack Dempsey is definetely in the top ten heavy weights of all time,however in terms of strenght and skill (if he was to be put in the ring with other great heavy weights) I am not sure because he never really gave any chance to the black contenders of his day (Harry Wills,Langford) because of the color line and his size is small compared to modern day fighters ( i think modern fighters eat better than the fighters of the 1920's lol) so I am not so sure where I would rank him in that department, however he deserves a lot of credit not only for what he did in the ring but also for everything he continued to do for the sport after he retired.

Answer 2

When I think of the past and present boxers, I feel everyone today descends from Sugar Ray Robinson, but not to such a great degree.  Fighters have to have a certain level of expertise in a lot of different categories, but Ray Robinson hit a 10 on most of those where most fighters today try to fit that particular mold but cannot.  So I think that before Sugar Ray you had a lot of one tool fighters, but Robinson was able to put all of that together.

Answer 3

He was one of the pioneer. He would do well against today fighter. He is a cruiser weight by today standard but Evander Holyfield was also a cruiser weight. Chris Byrd, James Toney, Roy Jones were middleweights and they did pretty well at heavyweight. Roy Jones beat John Ruiz, Chris Byrd beat many big heavyweights so size is relative.

Answer 4

I give that honor to James J. Corbett, with an honorable mention to Jack Johnson, I think both preceded Dempsey.

Answer 5

Dempsey actually asked to have the neutral corner rule started in his bout with Tunney, a boxing first.In the heavyweights Tunney was a scientific fighter, I would also say that maybe the Lt heavy champ Carpentier may have been a scientific fighter.Dempsey against the other heavy wieight champs, a good fight against Louis both in their primes, Dempsey did n't fight for a few years, and I think the long count fight with Tunney, Dempsey actually won the fight on a ko, but the referee , blew that one.Against todays heavies, well the division is very week except for klishko, that would be an interesting bout.