Jack Dempsey

Jack Dempsey was an American world heavyweight champion (1919-1926) renowned for his aggressive style and status as a cultural icon of 1920s boxing.

William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey was born on 24 June 1895 in Manassa, Colorado, and began his boxing career fighting in mining camps and saloons across the American West under the name "Kid Blackie" before rising through the professional ranks. He developed into one of the most ferocious and popular heavyweights in boxing history, renowned for his relentless, all-action fighting style. Dempsey won the world heavyweight championship on 4 July 1919, brutally knocking down the much larger Jess Willard seven times in the first round alone, a performance so violent that rumours persisted for years that Dempsey's gloves had been tampered with. Nicknamed "The Manassa Mauler," he became one of the first genuine sporting superstars of the 1920s, drawing boxing's first million-dollar gates. Dempsey lost his title to Gene Tunney in 1926, and their 1927 rematch, the legendary "Long Count Fight" at Chicago's Soldier Field in front of more than 120,000 spectators, remains one of the most famous and controversial bouts in the sport's history, with Dempsey narrowly failing to capitalise on a knockdown after a delayed count. Dempsey retired in 1927 with a career record of 68 wins, six losses, and ten draws, and remained a beloved figure in American sport for decades afterward, running a popular Manhattan restaurant that bore his name. He died on 31 May 1983, at age 87, in New York City, remembered as one of the most transformative and popular champions in boxing history.

Aggressive swarmer with devastating left hook and relentless pressure

One of boxing's first major celebrities who helped popularize the sport in the 1920s

• International Boxing Hall of Fame