By Sean McDaniel: If there’s a fighter that reminds me a lot of Jack Dempsey (61-6-9, 50 KO’s), it’s former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (25-2, 23 KO’s). Both fighters were blessed with incredible power and an all out two-fisted attacking style.
Dempsey was a little more wide open than Haye, and was willing to take shots in order to land his windmilling combinations. But the most part the two fighters are identical with their size, aggressiveness and attacking style.
Dempsey’s prime was from 1916 to 1923. After that point, he took three years off from the sport and came back to fight a young Gene Tunney in September 1926. By that time, Dempsey no longer looked like the youthful fighter he had once been, and whatever speed he once had was now gone. He lost that fight, including their rematch a year later. Dempsey retired after the second loss to Tunney, but you can’t take away all the accomplishments he had in his youth.
Haye has got an important fight coming up next month against Derek Chisora on July 14th at Upton Park, and this fight reminds me a lot of the Dempsey vs. Luis Angel Firpo in 1923. Firpo was a fighter with an attacking style a lot like Chisora. A fighter that just comes right at you attempting to land his looping power shots. Firpo knocked Dempsey down twice in the 1st round of their fight from hard right hands. On the second knockdown, Firpo sent Dempsey flying out of the ring. Dempsey was helped back in as the round was ending. Dempsey went on to drop Firpo twice in the 2nd round to get a stoppage.
I believe that Chisora is going to attack Haye much in the same way that Firpo did against Dempsey. Chisora may even get a knockdown in the 1st like Firpo did. But I think Haye will get off the deck and come back and deck Chisora as many times as it takes to finally get a stoppage. Dempsey knocked Firpo down 9 times in their fight. Firpo just kept getting back up. I think Chisora is the same kind of fighter. He’ll keep going and until he’s eventually blasted out.
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