From what I've read and seen Johnson didn't wish to continue fighting against Willard. Don't know the reasons but do know when he was counted out he jumped up and walked out of the ring. Pretty quick exit for a hurt man.

I think Dempsey would have beat him.

The fact is, Johnson wasnt the pillar of truth. Take the Johnson- Ketchel exhibition. Jack claims Stanely cheated and tried to take him out with a sneak punch. Of course this comes from Jack and the fact that Ketchel was murdered shortly after this. And Ketchel could not refute this story because of now being deceased. However, the spectators viewing this "exhibition" saw it different. From the start they went at it, Ketchel and Johnson, both, were banged up. Was Stanley's bloodied face a part of the exhibition? In the 2nd. round Stanely doubles Jack over with a vicious body blow. Just for Show? I feel Jack just could not admit to being dropped by a smaller man (Middleweight) and hence, the tale of Stanely cheating after the fact that Ketchel was now dead.

In the Johnson- Willard bout (Iv'e watched this footage MANY times and in slo-mo.) Jess Feints a left and Jack falls for it and bob's to the right and in the same time Jess is following up with a (Surprising quick and hard, for Jess) right hand. Its perfectly timed and landed with percision. It's a solid hit. As Jack goes down he grabs and tries to hang on to Jess( Last desperate act?) To me, none of this footage shows a fix. But Jack claims it was, after the photo shows up, claiming he was shading his eyes. But dosent the photo show the shade from his arm covering his forehead and not his eyes? This would be consistent with a man who is dazed or out. When it came to ring setbacks, Jack could be dishonest.

Dont get me wrong i'm not trying to bash Johnson. I like many of the boxers who had personality flaws. And Jack had some- very pridefull and dishonesty.(Just proves were human, with the good and bad)

At this time- A young savage Dempsey vs. a fading Johnson. Dempsey everytime. A prime Dempsey vs. a prime Johnson? Again, Dempsey.

Dempsey had all the tools to beat Johnson. Dempsey had quick middleweight speed ( The respected Nat Fleischer said Dempsey had better handspeed than Joe Louis. Many were awed by the speed Jack had.) Dempsey also had great footwork ( see Dempsey/Bill Tate. Excellent footwork, shuffling, moving in and out at angles very quickly. Watch bouts of Johnson and bouts of Dempsey. Dempsey had the better footwork, body movement and mobility over Johnson.)

With Dempsey's accurate numbing combo. punches, his bob and weave from angles, ko power with any punch whether to the head or body, and with either hand, would start to overcome the less mobile Johnson.

Dempsey had the far, far better chin. Johnson was knocked down or beat by way smaller men. And none of these had Dempsey's speed, ferocity, and power. Dempsey was a fusion of fighter and boxer, and I just dont see Johnson outboxing and punching Dempsey.

Also, I dont think Dempsey tried to duck the Black fighters. Did'nt he twice sign to fight Willis? Wasnt it more of 'Tex' Rickard and the promoters who failed to deliver and follow through?

DEMPSEY REFUSED TO FIGHT BLACK FIGHTERS

It wasnt a thrown fight and Dempsey didnt have Plaster Paris in his gloves when he defeated Willard. Plain and simple Johnson was a boxer beating up toughman style stiffs. Hes probably the most overrated heavyweight in history. His great winning achievement for the heavyweight title was over a 5 ft 7in fighter who weighed 168 lbs. Jess Willard his conqueror was a cowboy who didnt take up boxing till the age of 30. Unless people want to consider Marvin Hart or Willard all time greats they should quit citing Johnson as anything more then the overgrown bully he was. Johnson couldnt carry Dempseys jock strap.

probably not

a lot of blacks threw fights back then and these white people know this on here. white people always run from the truth

Johnson would have been too old at the time and Dempsey was in his prime, it would have been a very tough fight but I do not know if johnson would have been able to keep dempsey away for long, in their primes johnson would have beaten him.

Both Dempsey and Johnson were overrated and mostly fought ,local tough men, Its not even the same sport anymore really. Dempsey vs Johnson... I say its a hard call, but Dempsey was more then just a tough guy he had a good punch good chin and had some basic boxing skills to go along with it. It would be a tough fight for both of them but i would lean towards Dempsey to score the knockout. Johnson had been knocked out by less....but then again he did fight something like 20 round fights so.. i dont know..theres barley any tape on Guys from Johnson's era so theres no way to know unless you were there how good he really was.

If I took a time machine and went back to the early 20's or 30's Id look spectacular too, any guy with a modern boxing background would probably school most of the fighters back then and they would say wow HES AMAZING!!!! no hes not, everyone else is just really crappy.

Dempsey by Ko 8

Johnson did beat some legitimate fighters like Tommy Burns,Stanley Ketchel, Bob Fitzsimmons, Marvin Hartt although they would seem pretty average by even the 1950's standards.

Johnson gets alot of credit because he faced the possibility of a lynch mob everytime he beat up badly on a white man. Johnson was pissed off black bastard who liked beating on chubby farm boys.

He Belongs in a top 10 heavyweight accomplishments list over Dempsey. But Dempsey would ko him

Dempsey would probably have beaten Johnson at the time they could have fought and maybe earlier.

Johnson was, IMO, overrated. His footwork and balance were not good, and he often looked like he was walking on stilts; his supposedly impenetrable defense, which often consisted of clinches and Ali-like snap-backs of his head, worked best against lighter, shorter fighters who were the staple of Johnson's diet; and his vaunted punching power was greatly overrated. In his career he only fought a handful of fighters whose names are recognizable today: Marvin Hart (L-D12); Sam Langford (W-D15); Stanley Ketchel (W-KO12); Tommy Burns (W-KO14); and Jess Willard (L-KO26). He outweighed both Langford, Ketchel and Burns by 30 pounds and would never give Sam a rematch. Ketchel's style was "kill or be killed" and he still lasted 12 rounds.

You seem to think Johnson was great when he beat Jim Jefferies, who came out of a five-year retirement to fight him, but when he lost to Willard he "threw" the fight.

Johnson was a disagrace. He certainly had good boxing skills for his time, but they were enhanced by the limited abilities of his opponents, most of whom were just "opponents." If Johnson was fighting today he would probably not be a top contender and he would not make a name for himself by fighting so many middleweights.

His behavior outside the ring was largely within his rights, but he was a disgrace to his sport and his race. Although thgere were many good black heavyweights around after Johnson lost his title to Willard, it took 22 years before another black was allowed to fight for the heavyweight championship. That, of course, was Joe Louis.

The "fantasy" fight I would most like to see is Joe Louis v. Jackson, both in their primes and each knowing the other's "story." I think Louis would have pulverized Johnson and made Louis-Schmeling II look like an exibition match.

that fight that dempsey hammered willard was sheer brutality to be honest johnson was a fantastic champion his defensive style paved the way for stars of the future also so did dempseys together would be a cracking scrap over 15 rounds i think dempsey would have had enough to dethrone johnson as he was young hungry and determined

There is no question that Johnson tanked for Willard, if your knocked out you don't shade your eyes from the sun while your waiting out the ten count. I think a prime Dempsey would have put up a much tougher fight against a prime Jack Johnson then Tyson did against Lennox Lewis, but eventually Johnson's size and skill would have proved too much for Dempsey. Clearly Dempsey had more skill and heart than Tyson, there is no way Dempsey would have quit on his stool, but in the end a good big man beats a good little man most of the time. If you put a 45 year old Jack Johnson in the ring with a 25 year old Dempsey, it's over rather quick, and Johnson really does end up like Larry Holmes did, Dempsey would KO the old man. At his best, Johnson out boxes Dempsey and wins a decision.

Jack Johnson would have beat Dempsey if all things were equal, but in life that rarely happens. The racial crap is just that, crap. Dempsey and Johnson were two of the all time best, leave it at that, they both would have crushed all of today's fighters, nutrition, training style, or growth hormones aside. The difference was HEART. Like it or not, flaunting white women in bigots faces shows more heart than Tyson's thuggery ever did. Dempsey went from being a a homeless indigent to the heavyweight champion of the world, an accomplishment that Tyson could only emulate in reverse.

Your answer is no, Dempsey was not the fighter Johnson was, and if they both met with their best, Johnson's was a bit better.