in DOS they were moving fast enough that on panel they were moving as fast as flash does when moving around, they were punching eachother in almost all pictures... they must of been hitting eachother while moving at speeds the human eye could onlydream of seeing, so yea your pretty much right that superman can have a highspeed punch up quite easily and his durability sucked in that era.
actually, i beg to differ, superman beating gladiator, not in the reaches of space he won't, especially in a red star system. Gladiator pummels superman, I'm a big superman fan but I know superman is the more well writen character and Glads isn't. Realistically Kallark pummels Clark if well written, on earth maybe clark has the advantage but Glads is stronger and faster and the beter fighter. Also, cyborg supes beating thor, your joking right? Surfer being in this makes it unfair for the dc team. Team Marvel trounce DC.