Dempsey's reign is no worse than Tyson's. Who did Tyson beat? Berbick=a pure workhorse with power but very little skill and speed, even his punching power was nothing to brag about. Bonecrusher= he was all about his punching power and reach, didn't even make an effort to beat Tyson. Pinklon Thomas= already faded, was doing well and outjabbing Tyson for four rounds before he was stopped. Tony Tucker= the best win of Tyson's career, but broke his hand in the 4th and before that lifted Tyson off the ground with a punch, was outboxing him too. Larry Holmes= coming off two losses to Spinks and 2 years of inactivity almost, aged 38, was starting to clown around and paid the price. Tubbs= outboxed Tyson before getting caught, always looked out of shape, but a good win. Spinks= was scared as hell and never was a natural hw, looked like a tennis player compared to Tyson. Bruno gave him a good fight, but was never a strong fighter mentally or HOF material.
While Dempsey didn't always fight the best guys as a champion, Carpentier was still one of the best p4p guys at that time and getting up after that monster punch that put him thru the ropes against Firpo took guts, not least stopping Firpo in the next round. Tommy Gibbons was a clever fighter and made Dempsey miss a lot, but still Dempsey knocked him out.
Tysons 'reign' is distinctly average,not a great comparison
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