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William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895-May
31, 1983), was an Irish-American boxing|boxer who
won the world heavyweight title. During the 1920s
he was involved in many famous fights. 

Born in Manassa, Colorado, by age 16 Dempsey had
begun hopping on trains and travelling west to
fight as a professional. He would go into saloons
and challenge for fights saying "I can't sing and
I can't dance, but I can lick any man in the
house". His exact fight record is not known
because sometimes he boxed under the pseudonym,
Kid Blackie. This practice continued until 1916.
In between, he first appeared as Jack Dempsey in
1914, drawing with Young Herman in six rounds.
After that fight, he won six bouts in a row by
knockout (as Jack Dempsey), before losing for the
first time, on a disqualification in four to Jack
Downes. During this early part of his career,
Dempsey campaigned in Utah frequently. He followed
his loss against Downey with a knockout win and
two draws versus Johnny Summerland in Nevada.
Three more wins and a draw followed and then he
met Downes again, this time resulting in a four
round draw. 

Ten wins in a row followed, a streak during which
he beat Summerland and was finally able to avenge
his defeat at the hands of Downes, knocking him
out in two. Then, three more non-decisions came
(early in boxing, there were no judges to score a
fight, so if a fight lasted the full distance, it
was called a draw or non-decision, depending on
the state or country the fight was being held in).
In between the non-decisions, Dempsey refused to
box with Sam Langford, a Black fighter who is now
in the International Boxing Hall Of Fame alongside
Jack. Dempsey was always aware that fights with
Black opponents could bring negative society
reactions.

When the United States entered World War I in
1917, Dempsey worked in a shipyard while
continuing to box. After the war, he was accused
by some boxing fans of being a draft dodger. It
wasn't until 1920 that he was able to clear his
name on that account, when evidence was produced
showing he had attempted to enlist in the U.S.
Army, but was turned down.

Meanwhile, Dempsey went 9-1-4 in 14 bouts in 1917.
Among his opponents were Fireman Jim Flynn, the
only boxer ever to beat Dempsey by a knockout when
Dempsey lost to him in the first round, and
Gumboat Smith, a fringe contender stopped by
Dempsey.

In 1918, Dempsey boxed 17 times, going 15-1 with
one no decision. He avenged his defeat against
Flynn by returning the favor, knocking him out in
the first round. Among others he beat were Kid
Levingsky, a top rated contender of the times.

He began 1919 winning five bouts in a row by
knockout in the first round. Then on July 4, he
and world Heavyweight champion Jess Willard met at
Toledo, Ohio, for the world title. Few gave
Dempsey a chance against the larger champion and
many called this fight a modern David and Goliath.
However, Dempsey was fearless and vowed victory.
The first round of the fight was one of the most
brutal in boxing history. Dempsey dealt Willard a
terrible beating and knocked him down seven times
in that round alone. Both of Willard's eyes were
swollen shut, his nose was broken, six of his
teeth were on the canvas and his ribs were
crushed. At the end of the third round the
champion was forced to give up.  Today, a referee
would be banned from refereeing for failure to
stop such a massacre.

In his first defense, he faced friend Billy Miske,
knocking him out in three rounds. Years after the
fight, it was learned Miske accepted the fight
while suffering a terminal disease and needed the
money to secure his family after death, which
occurred to him two years after challenging
Dempsey. Dempsey always expressed regret about
that fight and declared he would have given Miske
the money he needed if he'd only known of Miske's
situation.


One more defense followed, versus Bill Brennan,
before he had to face world Light Heavyweight
champion Georges Carpentier of France, in what
became boxing's first million dollar gate ever.
Carpentier had served in the war and was a
decorated veteran of the French Army. Ironically,
Dempsey's promoter used this angle to promote the
fight, since many Americans still regarded Dempsey
as a slacker during the war. In a farm that had to
be rented to accommodate all the public in New
Jersey, Dempsey beat Carpentier by a knockout in
four rounds in front of 80,183 fans.

After this fight, Dempsey's fame reached
unexpected heights, becoming one of the top five
sports stars in the United States in 1920s, along
with baseball's Babe Ruth, tennis' Bill Tilden,
American football's Red Grange and golf's Bobby
Jones (golf)|Bobby Jones. They were known in
America as the big 5 of sports.

In 1922, he fought just one official fight, a
four-round bout against journeyman Jimmy Darcy in
Buffalo, New York that was originally scheduled as
an exhibition, but was required to be an official
fight under New York law. Dempsey also fought
several exhibition bouts across the country that
year.

In 1923, he had two fights: one against Tommy
Gibbons in the small town of Shelby, Montana, a
fight which was a financial disaster. Dempsey
retained the title by a decision (decisions had
already been incorporated by 1923 in boxing), but
the town went bankrupt after the fight. In his
second match that year, he met Argentina's Luis
Firpo in a historic fight at the Polo Grounds in
New York City. Firpo became the first hispanic to
challenge for the world Heavyweight title, and
Dempsey had him down seven times in round one, but
Firpo found a combination to the head that dropped
Dempsey outside the ring and on all fours before
the end of the round. Dempsey hit his head against
a writer's typewriting machine, but he recovered,
got up at the count of nine and knocked Firpo out
in the second round to retain the title.

Dempsey signed a contract to fight Black contender
Harry Wills in 1924, but it never occurred.
Promoter Tex Rickard was against the match,
remembering the riots that occurred after Rickard
promoted the James J. Jeffries versus Jack Johnson
(boxer)|Jack Johnson bout and fearing a racial
repercussion after a bout between Dempsey and a
Black opponent.


In 1925, he married Hollywood actress Estelle
Taylor and started appearing in films and doing
more exhibition bouts. He did not defend his title
again until 1926. Among those exhibitions, there
was a trip to Germany where he and future world
champion Max Schmeling boxed a two-round
exhibition.

In '26, Dempsey fought former US Marine Gene
Tunney in Philadelphia, losing his title on points
in ten rounds in front of a record crowd announced
at 120,557.

Dempsey wasn't quite ready to retire from the
ring, and in 1927, he knocked out future
heavyweight champion Jack Sharkey in the eighth
round of an elimination bout for a title shot
against Tunney. The rematch took place in Chicago,
Illinois on September 22, 364 days after losing
his title to Tunney in their first bout.

Dempsey was losing the fight on points by a wide
margin when he knocked Tunney to the canvas with a
left and right combination to the chin in the
seventh round. By rule, when a fighter knocks down
an opponent, he must immediately go to a neutral
corner, but Dempsey seemed to have forgotten that
rule and refused to immediately move to the
neutral corner when instructed by the referee. The
referee had to escort Dempsey to the neutral
corner, which bought Tunney at least an extra five
seconds to recover.

Boxing historians and filmmakers have counted the
time Tunney stayed down between 13 and 16 seconds.
But, after Dempsey finally went to a neutral
corner, the referee started his count, and Tunney
got up at the count of nine. Dempsey tried to
finish Tunney off before the round ended, but
failed to do so. A fully recovered Tunney dropped
Dempsey in round eight, easily won the final two
rounds of the fight, and retained the title on a
unanimous decision. Because of the controversial
nature of the fight, it remains known in history
as the fight of The Long Count Fight|The Long
Count.

He retired after this bout and made countless
exhibition bouts. He opened a restaurant in New
York City, which he kept open well into the 1960s,
and he divorced Taylor and in July of 1933 married
Broadway singer Hannah Williams (who herself had
just divorced Roger Wolfe Kahn) and had two
children by her.

When the United States entered World War II,
Dempsey had an opportunity to refute any remaining
criticism of his war record of two decades
earlier. He volunteered for national service and
was commissioned a commander in the U.S. Coast
Guard, charged with developing a physical fitness
program for U.S. soldiers. Later, he served a
morale officer in the Pacific, and in 1945, he
became a hero to many when, at age 49, he insisted
on going into battle on Okinawa with a group of
men he had trained.

Legend says that one time, an elder Dempsey was
mugged by a couple of teen thieves, whom he
knocked out and held until the police arrived. He
made friends with Wills and Tunney after
retirement, and had many books written about his
life. Dempsey even campaigned for Tunney's son
John when he ran for the US Senate. One of
Dempsey's best friends was Judge John Sirica who
presided over the Watergate trials. 

He had a record of 62 wins, 6 losses, 8 draws, 5
no decisions and 1 no contest, with 50 knockouts.

He is a member of the International Boxing Hall Of
Fame.

In 2003, Dempsey was named the seventh best
puncher of all time in boxing history by Ring
Magazine.

Jack Dempsey is buried in the Southampton
Cemetery, Southampton, New York.

==See also==
Jack Dempsey versus Luis Firpo

== External links ==

*
http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=0
09009 Career Record
* http://www.genetunney.org/dempsey.html Jack
Dempsey Pictures
* http://www.genetunney.org/dempseyfights.html
Jack Dempsey Boxing Pictures

start box
succession box |
  before= Jess Willard |
  title= List of heavyweight boxing
champions|Heavyweight boxing champion |
  years= 1919–1926 |
  after= Gene Tunney

end box