By Daniel Hughes: The heavyweight championship of the world, the richest prize in sport as often quite rightly spoken of back in the day, bygone days of boxing making both front and back page news transatlantic wide. The heavyweight champion, like a president, known worldwide the vastly underrated Jack Johnson who on the aptly named boxing day 1908 created history for many reasons, the template of knowing his worth once he reached the boxing summit.
He had ability, avoided by fear and politics, but when he became champion he also became a fighter that developed his marketability the first of many that would follow. Many despised him for no other reason for the color of his skin, no one could ignore his skill set, he made money, he dressed well and lived life to the full, you couldn’t ignore him and at the time the world he lived in he gave hope to many.
Jack Johnson by 1915 had of course lost his title to Jess Willard a changing of the guard a revered champion gone and replaced by a fighter who let’s just say fitted a lot of agendas of the time a whole lot better.
The next great marketable heavyweight fighter was also on show the same day Johnson lost his world title, Jack Dempsey 5th April 1915 in his 9th professional fight he lost a four round contest in Salt Lake City to Jack Downey.
Jack Dempsey went from losing a bottom of the card four round fight to eventually becoming world champion, his fortunes changed when he met a guy that saw the potential in him Doc Kearns. The manager was flamboyant, egotistical and took a big percentage of Dempsey’s purses. He was worth every dollar.
Dempsey was always in exciting fights aggressive, crowd pleasing with a vicious streak, invincible no, but great to watch. He was also a fighter that was a crossover personality to many with no real interest in boxing. He had children wanting to be him, men admiring his boxing feats and women hoping he wouldn’t get hurt, film star looks and his manager knew to play on that and to always keep him in the public eye.
In the way boxing life can almost always cross over, Dempsey beat Willard to become world champion, Willard had made Dempsey sign a contract asking he not be liable for the injuries Dempsey would supposedly suffer, really it should of been the other way around. Dempsey at his punishing best winning by TKO 3rd round.
He had won the world title in 1917 and lost it on points to Gene Tunney in 1926 a great run, Tunney who went on beat Dempsey on points a second time the following year. Tunney a forgotten great it seems when the historical heavyweights are spoken of. He never captured the hearts of a nation in the way Jack had.
Jack Dempsey, he almost printed money at his peak to the point he had the first million-dollar boxing gate. Kearns knew he had a fighting and money making machine. It’s worth looking up and reading the story of Shelby the fight that ruined a town everyone wanted a piece of Dempsey, the fighter and manager that always made people believe it was that easy to make money. The reality different a great fighter that knew his worth, timeless.
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