a remembered heavywieght with hard punching power.lost to tunney.

Dempsey's a legend. He wrote the book on modern boxing and the Dempsey in 1919 is in the top three greatest heavyweights. Dempsey had the speed and power to knock out anyone of any era and the fact that he weighed only 188 pounds makes his power incredible. The comments about Dempsey refusing to fight black fighters is just untrue. Dempsey was keen to fight wills and it is unfortunate that politics and racism got in the way of what would have been a great fight.

Jack Dempsey, although considered a great by many as one of the three greatest heavyweights of all time, does not make into my top ten. He was a slugger, though admittedly one who could administer a knockout punch, but one who mostly fought opponents who were tailor made for him (yes, even jess Willard) - fighters of known lesser calibre or light-heavyweights, like Georges Carpentier. He refused to fight the legendary black heavyweight, Sam Langford on the grounds of race - he would not entertain any match in the ring with a black man - especially one as talented and ruthless as Langford. Many critics accused Dempsey of being afraid of Langford. I too think Sam Langford would have beaten Dempsey. Dempsey's forte was his courage and strength, but his lack of ring craft was exposed by the excellent strategist, Gene Tunney, who beat Dempsey twice on the two occasions they met. Jim Flynn, an average heavyweight, is the only man to have knocked Dempsey out - in the first round, though Dempsey's supporters were convinced their hero took a "dive." There is no denying that the man known as The Manassa Mauler was a very good fighter and icon of his era, but I truly believe, having watched many of his fights on film, that he would have had his limitations as a boxer truly exposed by the likes of Joe Louis or Muhammad Ali, both of whom would have given Dempsey a boxing lesson... and if in our wildest dreams we could have seen him matched against that other great slugger, Rocky Marciano, then I firmly believe that Dempsey would have been knocked out within five rounds.

jack dempsey? who cares? lame-o just a standard old time fighter on the better side of forgettable

Maybe not the best boxer around, but one tough cookie. He trained hard and was one of the toughest guys in the boxing.

Jack Dempsey was one of the all time great heavyweight champs and hardly overated. It's easy to try to compare him by todays standards, but it was a different era. He fought the best of his day and he did it in an exciting and destructive manner. His overwhelming destruction of Jess Willard, and action packed brawl with Firpo are legendary. I read his biography when I was a kid, and have read several others through the years. He lead a very exciting life.

jack johnson would have jabbed the sh..t out of him,to bad dempsey refused to fight black fighters

Dempsey might be the most overated heavyweight champ. His opponents were lack luster at best; Willard, Firpo and Gibbons to name a few. Carpentier was an overblown middleweight. With that said, he was the best of his era and I think he certainly could have beaten Harry Wills if he fought him between 1920 and 1924. He was tremendous for the sport, doing the same thing for boxing that Ruth did for baseball.

Jack Dempsey was one of America's first great sports heroes. His savage style captivated the public and made him as popular a figure as Babe Ruth or Red Grange. In the ring, Dempsey was equipped with a two-fisted attack. He boxed out of a low crouch, bobbing, weaving and bombing. He continually stalked the man in front of him and was an unrelenting and remorseless warrior. His power was so prodigous that he once scored knockouts in 14 and 18 seconds. In his 78-bout career, Dempsey compiled 49 knockouts, with 25 of them in the first round. Born William Harrison Dempsey in Manassa Colorado, Dempsey was one of 11 children. He left home at the age of 16 and traveled the west on freight trains with hobos, settling occasionally in mining towns. It was during that period of his life that Dempsey learned how to fight as a means of survival. Dempsey's career turned around when he met manager Jack Doc Kearns. Under Kearns, Dempsey knocked out Fireman Jim Flynn, Fred Fulton, former light heavyweight titlist Battling Levinsky and Gunboat Smith. On July 4, 1919, Dempsey challenged heavyweight champion Jess Willard at an outdoor arena in Toledo, Ohio. Temperatures in the ring reached 100 degrees that day. Willard was beaten to the canvas seven times in the first round. There was nothing artistic about Dempsey's attack. It was pure rage. The fight ended when Willard failed to answer the bell for the fourth round. Dempsey made easy title defenses against Billy Miske, Bill Brennan, Georges Carpentier Tommy Gibbons. The Carpentier fight generated boxing's first million-dollar gate. On September 14, 1923, another chapter was added to the Dempsey legend. He faced Argentina's Luis Angel Firpo at the Polo Grounds in New York. Known as the Wild Bull of the Pampas, Firpo was dropped seven times in the first round. But before the stanza ended, the challenger sent Dempsey through the ropes with a single right hand, silencing the 80,000 in attendance. Dempsey made it back into the ring and beat the 10-count. The fight ended 57 seconds into the second round with Dempsey a knockout winner. Dempsey was inactive in 1924 and '25 and put his title on the line against Gene Tunney in 1926. At 31, Dempsey fell behind on points and was never able to change the momentum. In July of 1927, Dempsey knocked out future champion Jack Sharkey in the seventh-round (the knockout blow was setup by a punch that landed low). Two months later, Dempsey met Tunney at Chicago's Soldier Field. The fight drew a crowd of 104,943, generating a gate of $2,658,660. Tunney was again outboxing Dempsey when he was dropped in the seventh round. Before the fight, it was agreed upon that after a knockdown, the fighter scoring the knockdown would go to a neutral corner. But when Tunney hit the canvas, Dempsey hovered over the fallen champ, ignoring the referee's order that he retreat a neutral corner. By the time Dempsey was ushered across the ring and the referee began his count, it is estimated that Tunney had 14 seconds to recover. Tunney got up and won the fight by decision, but the long-count controversy would remain etched in boxing history. Dempsey retired after the Tunney fight but remained a popular figure until his death in 1983.

Pretty good

More balls than brains, good puncher

If Dempsey had taken the championship seriusly , and trained and fought the same way, he had fought in the Jess Willard fight, he would have been able to beat anyone. After he became champ, he lived the high life, hung around with movie stars, and got lazy.In the first fight with Tunney he was out of shape, for the second fight he trained hard and was in shape. Everybody knows he beat Tunney in their second fight, Tunney was down between forteen and seventeen seconds , ( The Long Count),In his prime he was an animal, and could have beaten anyone , today or back then. Dempsey and Gene Tunney became good friends in the years to follow. I,ll rate Dempsey with 5 stars

The most overrated fighter ever. May have only been the third best heavyweight of the 1920's. Middleweight Harry Greb defeated Dempsey opponents Gibbons, Miske, Brennan, Gunboat Smith and Tunney. Tunney defeated Dempsey opponents Gibbons, Carpentier, and Levinsky, as well as Dempsey himself twice. Harry Wills defeated Dempsey victims Firpo and Fulton and Gunboat Smith, as well as Willie Meehan and John Lester Johnson, each of whom defeated Dempsey. Dempsey never fought Wills or Greb and was beaten twice by Tunney, but these men were better than his competition.

Dempsey was a great, colorful symbol of the twenties, who was probably wrongly accused of ducking Harry Wills, the leading black heavyweight of the time. But as styles go, he didn't really transcend boxing rules changes from his winning championship performance against Jess Willard to his two losing conventional performances against Gene Tunney.

Jack Dempsey the manassa mauler was a truely descructiveboxer weighing in at about 188 most of his career for that period of history he was a giant killer fighting men in excess of 230 to 260lbs and knocking them out,had the longest reign from 1919 to 1926 as world champ for the era. Jack was a brawler and hit hard knocking people out of rings etc. He is a all time ring great!

Gets a three for being a pure and unrepentant racist outside the ring. Like Mike Tyson in his prime pure adrenaline & agression. The White Mike Tyson, the man had issues. Can't take anything away from his fighting though. A purveyour of pain, unstoppable in his prime. Boxing's a dirty sport at best, no room for goody two shoes types around here. Made the mold that Liston & Tyson would follow.

He did his thing. He was a solider and a warrior that other boxers can learn from

he'll never be more than an ok fighter to me..he ducked all of the great black fighters of his day, drew the color line..if he had fought Langford, Wills and the others he would not be as revered as he is today..the hell with Dempsey..

Original bad attitude fighter would do ANYTHING to win, pity Tunney was too good. Love him

jack dempsey wus a beast. when he beat willard, willard wus knocked down 7 times in the FIRST round! when willard stayed on his stool and didnt come out the had sufferd severe blood loss, cracked orbital bone (the part of ur skull that surrounds ur eye), broken jaw, at least 6 teeth missing, and 4 ribs broken! yes, there wus a rumor that his gloves were loaded during that fight, but that has not been proven. DEMPSEY DID NOT DUCK WILLS!! they were actually signed to fight, but the mayor of new york or sumthing prevented that fight from happening. and im sure at least some people took the time to find out who he beat (hall of famers i might add): jess willard (KO), georges carpentier(KO), tommy gibbons (UD), luis firpo (KO) (i dont think firpo is a hall of famer, but wus one hell of a fighter!), jack sharkey (KO), and ALMOST beat tunney in their rematch. he had a left hook that wus just a grade lower than the legendary joe frazier's. and wuts this about "not fighting any black fighters"? it wusnt up to him who he fought. if u paid attention to history, the 1920s werent exactly the age of equality. tex rickard (boxing's big time promoter during the 20s) wouldnt let dempsey fight any black fighters. jack dempsey had power, agression, and an iron chin. however, he doesnt get 5 stars because he could be easily outboxed. he had trouble with boxers that had his speed.

"The Manassa Mauler" was a great fighter who had some wars in the ring. In 1919 he defeated the man who ended the great Jack Johnsons career Jess Willard with a 3rd round KO (giving Jess severe injuries including a fractured eye socket, broken jaw and 3 cracked ribs).September 14 1923 Dempsey fought Luis Angel Firpo and dropped him 7 times in the first round!, then Firpo sent Dempsey flying out the ring with a single right hand. Dempsey beat the count and got up to KO Firpo 57 seconds into round 2. On September 23 1926 Dempsey took on Gene Tuney. Tunney defeated Dempsey and took his title (the fight had the largest paid attendance in boxing history) The rematch in 1927 named "The Battle of the Long Count" because Dempsey knocked Tunney down but didnt retreat to a neutral corner so the count was delayed, Tunney got up at 9 but the actual count lasted 14 seconds. Tunney KO'd Dempsey 3 rounds later.Dempsey continued fighting exhibitions the finally retired in 1940. If you think he is overrated you dont know boxing definetely in the top 4 of the greatest heavyweights ever.

Jack was a good fighter. But he's overrated. He never fought any of the great black fighters. He wouldn't fight Langford or Wills or Jeanette or Mcvey even though they were all way past their primes. And Dempsey never beat any great fighters. Jess Willard was not a great fighter. The best fighter Jack Dempsey ever fought was an ex marine by the name of Gene Tunney. And guess who won? Tunney beat him twice. Granted, Jack had partied and hobnobbed his prime fighting years away. But whose fault is that? Dempsey was a talented, ferocious fighter. But he was overrated.

Jack Dempsey gets five stars . Stop all this nonsense about him being over-rated !!! He's up there with Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali .And he had a much harder road to the title than either of them . He may have been inactive as champion but look at what he did in 1918/19 . How many fights ? How many KOs over big ,tough contenders ? Look what he did to Willard . And the fight with Firpo was the most dramatic fight ever . Jack Dempsey was what Mike Tyson could only dream of being . And he didn't duck Harry Wills . He signed to fight him twice ! Wills was lucky he never got the chance to be flattened by Dempsey . Inactivity finished Dempsey , and the wonderful boxing skills of Gene Tunney . But when Dempsey was at his peak he was arguably the greatest boxer ever .Straight from the Wild West , he boxed in a time when boxing was so much TOUGHER . Give the man his dues .Listen to what the expert trainer Ray Arcel said when asked how Dempsey would have faired against Ali and Frazier and other modern heavyweights , he said "Those are fine young men , but Jack woulda had a picnic" . I'm not sure about that, but I certainly rate Dempsey alongside Ali and Louis as the greatest heavyweights of all-time . A legend .

Dempsey is another overrated boxer who's rep is built more on popularity than accomplishments. And his relatively smallish stature would've hurt him against most of the great heavyweights who came after him.

Dempsey was so exciting and the period of time that he fought in brought boxing into one of its greatest periods. Dempsey was like Micky Mantle in baseball, it is unfair to say he was the greatest, but at his peak he was unmatched. The Dempsey of the late teens and early 1920s was unmatched for excitement.

He was my favorite boxer,class act

How the hell could you knock Dempsey? His rise to the top was meteoric. He was like Tyson only with a much bigger heart. The guy had every tool a heavyweight champion could ask for: heart, handspeed, chin, power, quick reflexes, stamina and underated boxing skills. The old guys like Ray Arcel and Lou Duval all claim he was the greatest heavyweight of all time. Maybe Ali or Louis could beat him, but he was nothing short of greatness.

Dempsey didn't duck Wills. He signed on to fight him but the governor of New York cancelled the fight, claiming that there would be race riots following the bout.

Dempsey was one of the most over-rated boxers in the history of the game!

The knock on Dempsey was that he didn't fight Wills. Harry Wills was a 6'4" 215 pound stand up boxer who fought much in the same style as Willard a slow and defensive style. He would have given Jack trouble, but not beaten him. And don't blame Dempsey for not fighting him. I don't think he cared who he fought win or lose. And don't forget that George Godfey a huge black heavyweight was Jacks main sparring partner throughout his career. Bill Breenan boxed his ears off for ten rounds until a left ended it. So he could be out boxed by a fast fighter like Tunney, Sharkey or Ali. But he always had that power in both hands, power that is rarely seen at any weight. He was a stone cold killer in the ring, the closest thing in recent years has been the early Mike Tyson. I would rate number the number five all time heavy.

Because he ducked Wills, and because Tunney twice boxed circles around him, Dempsey can't get five stars. His knockout loss to Flynn and his trouble with Fat Willie Meehan also give a guy pause. But in his prime Dempsey was a vicious, swarming left hooker with serious power. Anything he hit, he hurt, and the Great Equalizer in boxing is the left hook. Iron-jawed Ali tasted canvas 3 times in his career, all from left hooks. When you can hook like Dempsey, you can win any fight you take.

No question that Dempsey was a very talented fighter, but it is ludicrous to place him among the best ever. After Dempsey won the heavyweight title, he carefully picked his opponents. For Tommy Gibbons, he had his own ref and the whole purse. For Georges Carpentier, he had a 17 pound edge. For Luis Firpo, he was saved by the ringside press, who helped him back into the ring after Firpo had knocked him out of it. Then Dempsey took off 3 years before losing decisively to Gene Tunney. All the while, he avoided the true top contender, Harry Wills. Dempsey was a popular champ, but to rank him in the company of Louis, Marciano, and Ali is nonsense.

A savage beast in the ring! Often demolished fighters much larger than himself(KO2 Firpo, KO 3 Willard). Destroyed Jess Willard in probably the most brutal fight of all-time. Relentless, remorseless, and swarming attack, combined with his knockout power made him incredibly tough to beat. EASILY a top 10 heavyweight of all-time.

Maybe he deserves five stars, but there's no way for me to go back and see what I'd need to see to know.

If you like Jack Dempsey, you should check out the book "A Flame of Pure Fire" which chronicles his career. I don't particularly like boxing, but I loved that book.

A legend from the 1920's -- would love to see him brawling today!