Early Years
Born William Harrison Dempsey on June 24, 1895, in Manassa, Colorado, Jack Dempsey's parents, Hyrum and Celia Dempsey, were originally from West Virginia, where his father had worked as a school teacher. Around 1880, a missionary group of Latter-Day Saints visited his parents and converted them to Mormonism. They then moved west to the tiny Mormon village of Manassa in southern Colorado, where Dempsey was born.
Although his father had abandoned Mormonism, Dempsey's mother remained faithful and observant throughout her life, and Jack Dempsey was raised in the church. He later described his own religions beliefs: "I'm proud to be a Mormon. And ashamed to be the Jack Mormon that I am."
After moving from West Virginia, Dempsey's father and his two older brothers worked as miners, and the family moved frequently around Colorado and Utah in pursuit of mining jobs. When Jack turned 8, he took his first job picking crops on a farm near Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Over the next few years, he worked as a farm hand, miner and cowboy to help support his family. As an adult, Dempsey often said that he loved three kinds of work-boxing,mining and cowboying-and would have been equally happy doing any of the three. During these years, Dempsey's older brother, Bernie, earned extra money as a prizefighter in the saloons of hardscrabble Rocky mountain towns. Bernie was the one who taught Jack how to fight by instructing him to chew pine tar gum to strengthen his jaw and soak his face in brine to toughen his skin.
When Dempsey was 12, his family settled in Provo, Utah where he attended Lakeview Elementary School. He dropped out of school after 8th grade to begin working full time. He shined shoes, picked crops, and worked at a sugar refinery, unloading beets for a measly ten cents per ton. By the time he was 17, Dempsey had developed into a skilled young boxer, and decided that he could make more money fighting than working.
Over the next five years, from 1911-16, Dempsey traveled from one mining town to another, picking up fights wherever he could. His home turf was Peter Jackson's Saloon in Salt Lake City, where a local organizer named Hardy Downey arranged his fights. Going by the name of "Kid Blackie," in his Salt Lake City Debut, Dempsey knocked out his opponent, a boxer by the name of "One Punch Hancock," ironically with one punch.
Bernie was still prizefighting at the time, calling himself Jack Dempsey, after the great 19th century boxer jack "Nonpareil" Dempsey. One day in 1914, Bernie became sick, and his younger brother offered to fill in for him. Assuming the name Jack Dempsey for the first time that night, he won his brother's fight decisively and never relinquished the name. By 1917, Dempsey had earned enough of a reputation to book more prominent and better-paying fights in San Francisco and on the East Coast.
Although his father had abandoned Mormonism, Dempsey's mother remained faithful and observant throughout her life, and Jack Dempsey was raised in the church. He later described his own religions beliefs: "I'm proud to be a Mormon. And ashamed to be the Jack Mormon that I am."
After moving from West Virginia, Dempsey's father and his two older brothers worked as miners, and the family moved frequently around Colorado and Utah in pursuit of mining jobs. When Jack turned 8, he took his first job picking crops on a farm near Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Over the next few years, he worked as a farm hand, miner and cowboy to help support his family. As an adult, Dempsey often said that he loved three kinds of work-boxing,mining and cowboying-and would have been equally happy doing any of the three. During these years, Dempsey's older brother, Bernie, earned extra money as a prizefighter in the saloons of hardscrabble Rocky mountain towns. Bernie was the one who taught Jack how to fight by instructing him to chew pine tar gum to strengthen his jaw and soak his face in brine to toughen his skin.
When Dempsey was 12, his family settled in Provo, Utah where he attended Lakeview Elementary School. He dropped out of school after 8th grade to begin working full time. He shined shoes, picked crops, and worked at a sugar refinery, unloading beets for a measly ten cents per ton. By the time he was 17, Dempsey had developed into a skilled young boxer, and decided that he could make more money fighting than working.
Over the next five years, from 1911-16, Dempsey traveled from one mining town to another, picking up fights wherever he could. His home turf was Peter Jackson's Saloon in Salt Lake City, where a local organizer named Hardy Downey arranged his fights. Going by the name of "Kid Blackie," in his Salt Lake City Debut, Dempsey knocked out his opponent, a boxer by the name of "One Punch Hancock," ironically with one punch.
Bernie was still prizefighting at the time, calling himself Jack Dempsey, after the great 19th century boxer jack "Nonpareil" Dempsey. One day in 1914, Bernie became sick, and his younger brother offered to fill in for him. Assuming the name Jack Dempsey for the first time that night, he won his brother's fight decisively and never relinquished the name. By 1917, Dempsey had earned enough of a reputation to book more prominent and better-paying fights in San Francisco and on the East Coast.
Rise to glory
On July 4th, 1919, Dempsey got his first big opportunity: A fight against the world heavyweight champion Jess Willard. Nicknamed "The Great White Hope," Willard stood a giant 6' 6" and weighed in at 245 pounds compared to the small 6' 1", 187-pound Dempsey. Despite the size disadvantage, Dempsey dominated Willard with his superior quickness and ruthless tactics, knocking Willard out in the third round to earn the title of world heavyweight champion.
The loaded glove
The Willard-Dempsey fight became the subject of controversy in 1964, when Dempsey's former manager, Jack Kearns-who, by the time, had fallen out with Dempsey-claimed that he had "loaded" Dempsey's gloves with Plaster of Paris. The "loaded glove" theory held some credence because of the seemingly extraordinary amount of damage dealt upon Willard's face. Film evidence revealed Willard inspecting Dempsey's gloves before the fight, making it highly improbably that the fighter could have cheated.
As the champ
Dempsey defended his heavyweight title five times over the next six years, which is considered one of the greatest runs in boxing history. Regardless of his success during the period, Dempsey was still not particularly popular with the public. He had not served in the military when the US entered World War I in 1917, leading some to view him as a slacker and draft dodger. Furthermore, an infamous and widely ridiculed photograph showed Dempsey at a Philadelphia shipyard, supposedly hard at work, but wearing shiny patent-leather shoes.
end of the reign
Strangely, Dempsey achieved widespread popularity when he lost his championship title. On September 23, 1926, he was defeated by challenger Gene Tunney before a record crowd of 120,000 fans in Philadelphia. When Dempsey returned to his hotel the night he lost, his wife, shocked at his gruesome appearance, asked him what happened. "Honey," Dempsey answered. "I forgot to duck." The hilarious and self-effacing anecdote made Dempsey something of a folk legend for the rest of his life.
A year later, in 1927, Dempsey challenged Tunney to a rematch in a fight that would become one of the most controversial in boxing history. Dempsey knocked down Tunney in the 7th round, but forgot a new rule that required him to return to a neutral corner while the referee counted, extending the pause and gave more time for Tunney to recover from the down. Tunney eventually won the fight, although Dempsey fans argue that he would have won if it wasn't for the "long count," Tunney maintained that he was in control throughout the fight.
A year later, in 1927, Dempsey challenged Tunney to a rematch in a fight that would become one of the most controversial in boxing history. Dempsey knocked down Tunney in the 7th round, but forgot a new rule that required him to return to a neutral corner while the referee counted, extending the pause and gave more time for Tunney to recover from the down. Tunney eventually won the fight, although Dempsey fans argue that he would have won if it wasn't for the "long count," Tunney maintained that he was in control throughout the fight.