Jack Dempsey Shocked Fred Fulton With 23-Second Knockout

The explosive eliminator victory vaulted Dempsey into a heavyweight title fight and reshaped boxing’s biggest division.

Jack Dempsey stopped Fred Fulton in just 23 seconds on July 27, 1918, ending one of the most anticipated heavyweight eliminators almost as soon as it began. The stunning knockout secured Dempsey’s path to a world title fight with Jess Willard one year later.

Fulton entered the bout as one of boxing’s most respected heavyweights and the betting favorite despite giving away speed to the younger Dempsey. Weighing about 208 pounds to Dempsey’s 188, the towering “Rochester Plasterer” had built a reputation as one of the division’s hardest punchers. Many expected the bigger man to halt Dempsey’s climb toward the top of the heavyweight ranks.

Dempsey exploded from his corner before Fulton could take command with his reach. A left to the body forced Fulton to react. A crushing right hand then landed on his jaw. Fulton crashed to the canvas without landing a meaningful punch. Referee Johnny Eckhardt counted him out, ending the scheduled eight-round eliminator after only 23 seconds.

The result stunned the boxing world because there had been little warning that Fulton could be dismantled so completely. Newspapers treated the knockout as a sensation, and Dempsey suddenly became the fighter every leading heavyweight had to take seriously. In a single exchange, he erased doubts that his aggressive style could succeed against elite opposition.

Dempsey earned $5,000, the largest purse of his career to that point, while Fulton collected $12,500 before a crowd of about 10,000 at Federal League Baseball Park in Harrison, New Jersey.

The victory earned Dempsey a shot at the heavyweight championship the following July. Fulton later insisted the contest had been intended as an exhibition and claimed he had been deceived, an explanation Dempsey rejected outright. One explosive right hand transformed Dempsey from a promising contender into boxing’s next heavyweight champion.