Jack Dempsey was a truly talented and great fighter – but so was Mike Tyson, and both were immensely popular in their eras…
Both men are two of the only 23 undisputed heavyweight champions, since Jack became the first one, 102 years ago…
And Jack is one of Mike’s boxing heroes, whose minimalist ring attire he adopted.
Dempsey is ranked ahead of Mike every time both are ranked
Mike is not as far behind Dempsey as one might think, in 7 of the 10 both are in the top ten, with Dempsey usually 4 ranks ahead, but again, both in the top 10.
Dempsey is ranked in 9 of the top 10 of all time rankings.
Mike is ranked in 7 of the 10 all time rankings.
Dempsey is clearly ranked ahead of Mike in 9 out of 10 rankings, but in 7 of the 10, both are in the top 10…
Comparison of records:
Tyson had more top opponents, 17 to 12, but Tyson beat 82% of his top opponents, 14 of 17, whereas Dempsey beat 92% of his top opponents, 11 of 12. Tyson faced 4 Hall of Fame fighters.
Dempsey faced 7 Hall of Fame fighters, Tyson faced 4 Hall of Fame fighters
Dempsey beat 86%, 6 of the 7 Hall of Fame fighters he faced, Tyson beat 50%, 2 of the 4 Hall of Fame fighters he faced.
Length of time of domination in their era:
Mike was Undisputed Heavyweight Champion for 3 years.
Dempsey was Undisputed Heavyweight Champion for 7 years, however, he was inactive for 3 of those years.
Conclusions:
Harry Wills clearly did NOT face the best of his era – Wills, McVey, Langford or Joe Jenette, were clearly better challengers for the title than 172 pound Georges Carpentier…
Tyson fought more top opponents, but Dempsey beat far more of his, and Dempsey beat 3 times the number of Hall of Fame opponents that Tyson did Dempsey was Undisputed Champion for more than twice as long as Tyson, and even if you deduct the 3 years he didn’t defend the title, Dempsey was still Undisputed Champion for a third longer.
Expert rankings all have Dempsey over Tyson, even if it is not by as much as one night think.
Dempsey clearly had the better resume, warts and all…