It is doubtful they could have accomplished as much on their own. Dempsey's early prize fights were in mining towns around Salt Lake City but on July 4, 1919, he beat Jess Willard "The Great White Hope," and became world heavyweight champion. He defended his title five times but lost to Gene Tunney in 1926. For much of the early 1920s, Dempsey took a kind of vacation from the ring. I learned pretty quick that bigger, older guys really couldnt fight a lick, he said. Dempsey, Jack, with Barbara Piatelli Dempsey. A towering fighter known as the "Pottawatomie Giant," Willard had held the title since 1915, when he had beaten the great Jack Johnson (18781946), the first African American heavyweight champion. The championship match was set for July 4, 1919, in Toledo, Ohio. He passed away from heart failure on May 31, 1983. His rise from hobo to heavyweight champion to Hollywood celebrity not only gave boxing the stamp of legitimacy, but became the prototype for every superstar athlete that followed. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. He began traveling in Pullman cars, not boxcars, and started wearing a suit. Dempsey won a string of fights in the Bay Area when Kearns, a con man from the Alaska gold fields, talked Dempsey into letting him guide his career. With his first real punch Dempsey shattered Willard's cheekbone and knocked him down seven times in the first round. After fourteen hours, thirty-four minutes and about 35 miles (56.32 kilometers) Ederle reached Dover. Why was Jack Dempsey important? Learn Answer Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first million-dollar gate. Karpinski, Aric "Dempsey, Jack Retrieved April 27, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/jack-dempsey. What impact did Jack Dempsey have in the 1920s? Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1979. He was a loud and flamboyant man and the exact opposite of his most successful fighter. In the ring, Dempsey was equipped with a two-fisted attack. He was all muscle and darkness.". Held at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois, this match drew an even larger crowd than the first contest between Dempsey and Tunney. His real name was William Harrison Dempsey. Known for his ruthless, unbridled violence in a prizefight, Dempsey was renowned for his warmth, kindness and generosity outside of the ring. Professional boxer Suster, Gerald. Dempsey's ventures in films, on Broadway and in the restaurant business were made possible because of the American public's unchecked adoration for him. The crowd of 88,000, including many top celebrities like Babe Ruth and Ethel Barrymore, witnessed Dempsey knocking Firpo down seven times before Firpo landed a powerful right that threw him clear out of the ring. In the U.S., too, there are famous Dempseys. One day in 1914, Bernie fell ill, and his younger brother offered to fill in for him. WebThis was the scene was the commonality for many boxers who faced Jack Dempsey in the 1920s. when Dempsey appeared. . His autobiographies include Round by Round (1940), Dempsey (1960), and Dempsey: The Autobiography of Jack Dempsey (1977). Astrological Sign: Cancer, Death Year: 1983, Death date: May 31, 1983, Death State: New York, Death City: New York, Death Country: United States, Article Title: Jack Dempsey Biography, Author: Biography.com Editors, Website Name: The Biography.com website, Url: https://www.biography.com/athletes/jack-dempsey, Publisher: A&E; Television Networks, Last Updated: October 22, 2021, Original Published Date: April 2, 2014. Dempsey's promoters (who now included both Kearns and Rickard) made the most of his draft-dodger reputation for his July 1921 match with Georges Carpentier (18941975).