William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and was world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926. He is ranked sixth on The Ring magazine's list of all-time heavyweights and fourth among its Top 100 Greatest Punchers, while in 1950 the Associated Press voted him as the greatest fighter of the past 50 years.
Dempsey was the inaugural winner of the Edward J. Neil Memorial Plaque in 1938, awarded by the Boxing Writers Association of Greater New York. Dempsey was an inaugural inductee of The Ring magazine Hall of Fame (1954), the World Boxing Hall of Fame (1980), and the International Boxing Hall of Fame (1990). Considered one of the most iconic athletes of his era, Dempsey generated boxing's first million-dollar gate in 1921 against Georges Carpentier ($1,789,238), surpassing his own 1919 record of $452,522.10 set versus Jess Willard. He later drew the sport's first two-million-dollar gate in his 1927 rematch with Gene Tunney.
Early life and family background
Dempsey was born in Manassa, Colorado on June 24, 1895, to parents accustomed to living in poverty. One of 13 children to Mary Celia (née Smoot) and Hiram Dempsey, he was called Harry during his upbringing. The Dempsey family's lineage was a mix of Irish, Scottish and Jewish ancestry. Dempsey was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in 1903 following his eighth birthday, the "age of accountability", according to church doctrine.
Because his father had difficulty finding work, the family relocated often, moving to another part of Colorado and then to Utah. Dempsey dropped out of grade school to work and left home at the age of 16. As a hobo, Dempsey hopped freight trains across the country by hitching himself to the rods beneath the cars. He took on various short-term jobs, including ditch digging, fruit picking, timber cutting, and work as a circus roustabout. During this period, Dempsey would occasionally visit saloons in Colorado, Utah, and Nevada, and challenge for fights under the aliases "Kid Blackie" and "Young Dempsey", saying "I can't sing and I can't dance, but I can lick any SOB in the house." If anyone accepted the challenge, bets would be made. According to Dempsey's autobiography, he rarely lost these bar room brawls. For a short time, Dempsey was a part-time bodyguard for Thomas F. Kearns, president of The Salt Lake Tribune and son of Utah's U.S. Senator Thomas Kearns. Much of his early career is not recorded, and stated thus, in The Ring Record Book as compiled by Nat Fleischer.
He first competed as "Jack Dempsey" (by his own recollection) in the fall of 1914, in Cripple Creek, Colorado. His brother, Bernie, who often fought under the pseudonym "Jack Dempsey"—this a common practice of the day, in fighters' admiration of middleweight boxer and former champion, Jack "Nonpareil" Dempsey—had signed to fight veteran George Copelin. Upon learning Copelin had sparred with then current world heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, and given Bernie Dempsey was nearing 40 years of age, he strategically decided to back out of the fight. He substituted his brother, still unknown in Eastern Colorado, as "Jack Dempsey". The fans at ringside immediately knew this was not the man they had paid to see.
The promoter became violently angry and "sailed into us, barehanded", threatening to stop the fight. Copelin himself, who outweighed Dempsey by 20 lbs. (165 to 145) upon seeing Dempsey's small stature in the ring, warned the promoter, "I might kill that skinny guy." The promoter reluctantly permitted the fight to commence, and in his first outing as "Jack Dempsey", the future champion downed Copelin six times in the first round and twice in the second. From there, it was a battle of attrition ("Neither Bernie nor I had taken into consideration the high altitude at Cripple Creek."), until a last knockdown of Copelin in the seventh moved the referee to make the then-unusual move of stopping the fight once Copelin regained his feet. According to Dempsey "In those days they didn't stop mining-town fights as long as one guy could move." This trial by fire carried with it a $100 purse. The promoter, angered at the switch pulled by the brothers, had laid no promised side bets, "... and even if I did, I wouldn't give you anything."
Following the name change, Dempsey won six bouts in a row by knockout before losing on a disqualification in four rounds to Jack Downey. During this early part of his career, Dempsey campaigned in Utah, frequently entering fights in towns in the Wasatch Mountain Range region. He followed his loss against Downey with a knockout win and two draws versus Johnny Sudenberg in Nevada. Three more wins and a draw followed when he met Downey again, this time resulting in a four-round draw. Following these wins, Dempsey racked up 10 more wins that included matches against Sudenberg and Downey, knocking out Downey in two rounds. These wins were followed with three no-decision matches, although at this point in the history of boxing, the use of judges to score a fight was often forbidden, so if a fight went the distance, it was called a draw or a no decision, depending on the state or county where the fight was held.
After the United States entered World War I in 1917, Dempsey worked in a shipyard and continued to box. Afterward, he was accused by some boxing fans of being a slacker for not enlisting. This remained a black mark on his reputation until 1920, when evidence produced showed he had registered with the U.S. Army, but been exempted due to hardship (having a dependent wife). After the war, Dempsey spent two years in Salt Lake City, "bumming around" as he called it, before returning to the ring.
Among his opponents as a rising contender were Fireman Jim Flynn, the only boxer ever to beat Dempsey by a knockout when Dempsey lost to him in the first round (although some boxing historians believe the fight was a "fix"), and Gunboat Smith, (who was a formerly highly ranked contender who had beaten both World Champion Jess Willard and Hall of Famer Sam Langford). Dempsey beat Smith for the third time on a second-round knockout. Dempsey had refused a match with Sam Langford in 1916. According to Dempsey: "I think Sam Langford was the greatest fighter we ever had."
Before he employed the long-experienced Jack Kearns as his manager, Dempsey was first managed by John J. Reisler.
One year later, in 1918, Dempsey fought in 17 matches, going 15–1 with one no-decision. One of those fights was with Flynn, who was knocked out by Dempsey, coincidentally, in the first round. Among other matches won that year were against Light Heavyweight Champion Battling Levinsky, Bill Brennan, Fred Fulton, Carl E. Morris, Billy Miske, heavyweight Lefty Jim McGettigan, and Homer Smith. In 1919, he won five consecutive regular bouts by knockout in the first round as well as a one-round special bout.
On July 4, 1919, Dempsey and world heavyweight champion Jess Willard met at Toledo for the world title. Pro lightweight fighter Benny Leonard predicted a victory for the 6'1", 187-pound Dempsey even though Willard, known as the "Pottawatomie Giant", was 6'6+1⁄2" tall and 245 pounds. Ultimately, Willard was knocked down seven times by Dempsey in the first round.
Accounts of the fight reported that Willard suffered a broken jaw, broken ribs, several broken teeth, and a number of deep fractures to his facial bones. This aroused suspicion that Dempsey had cheated, with some questioning how the force capable of causing such damage had been transmitted through Dempsey's knuckles without fracturing them.
Other reports, however, failed to mention Willard suffered any real injuries. The New York Times' account of the fight described severe swelling visible on one side of Willard's face, but did not mention any broken bones. A still photograph of Willard following the fight appears to show discoloration and swelling on his face.