After more than nine decades, it can be hard to appreciate the impact of the legendary Dempsey vs. Firpo fight and how it transformed the public image of the king of heavyweights Jack Dempsey, also known as The Manassa Mauler. This is because many forget that Dempsey was, in fact, quite an unpopular figure for most of his championship reign. The likable and endearing American celebrity version of Dempsey didn’t emerge until the later years of the grand champion’s career.
Before his legendary battle with Firpo, Dempsey’s fame, not to mention the huge doors of his fights, had as much to do with scandal and the dark side of human nature as it did with the popularity of boxing. After winning the world title in 1919, Dempsey was sued for divorce by Maxine Cates, a woman of less than high moral standing, to put it mildly, whom Jack had married during the time he was riding the rails, fighting in bars and lived. in tramp camps and brothels. The trial and its revelations became a full-fledged scandal, as they not only brought Dempsey’s sordid background to light, but suggested that the world heavyweight champion might not entirely deserve his reprieve to avoid compulsory military service during the First World War.
Thus, Dempsey became the ‘bad guy’ and shrewd promoter Tex Rickard took full advantage of it, most notably in Jack’s fight with French war hero Georges Carpentier. That clash of good and evil created the first million-dollar gate, but did nothing to rehabilitate the image of the heavyweight champion. For three full years, Jack Dempsey, while arguably the biggest name in American sports, had to endure disapproval from the general public, not to mention the taunts of “Slacker!” wherever he went. That changed after his do-or-die fight with Luis Firpo.
No one questioned Firpo as a legitimate Dempsey challenger, though few gave him a chance to win. Big and tough, the Argentine strongman had defeated Jess Willard and Gunboat Smith, among others, to establish himself as a top contender. Eighty thousand packed the Polo Grounds to witness Dempsey’s fifth title defense and after the referee gave his instructions and the fighters removed their towels and robes, the crowd immediately saw the difference in size between the two men. Firpo was 25 pounds heavier than the champion and had a much larger upper body. Some wondered if Dempsey might finally have a serious challenge on his hands.
At the sound of the bell, the champion attacked. A wild left missed and Firpo, backing away from Dempsey’s attack, answered with a right that landed flush and dropped Dempsey to a knee. The huge crowd roared, rising as one; no one would sit down again until the fierce battle was over.
Dempsey got to his feet and the two warriors collided again in the center of the ring, squeezing each other before finding room to strike and unleashing wild blows, both men connecting. Twenty seconds later, Dempsey landed a hard left hand from him and the hook sent Firpo to the canvas. The challenger got up and they immediately picked up where they left off, grappling and punching, each punch thrown with the intention of knocking the other man unconscious, the massive crowd going wild as the fighters attacked, grappled and punched.
Firpo, while bigger and perhaps stronger, lacked Dempsey’s agility and footwork and this proved key in the knockdowns the champion scored. As he lunged and fired with both fists, Dempsey continually twisted and turned, spinning Firpo on clinch then punching while the challenger was off balance. Dempsey’s ferocious body attack was also factored in, with two takedowns courtesy of hard punches to the belly from Firpo. Seven times the challenger hit the canvas and more than once he seemed sure he was finished, but the headstrong “Raging Bull of the Pampas” kept getting up and fighting, even though Dempsey was allowed to float after each knockdown and punch. Firpo with the second his gloves left the canvas.
Surprisingly, after the seventh knockdown, and with less than a minute left in the round, Firpo somehow pulled himself together and launched a ferocious counterattack that nearly ended the fight. To everyone’s amazement, he put Dempsey on the run with a barrage of powerful right hands, driving the champion into the ropes, where a final right hand detonated to Jack’s jaw and hurled him out of the ring. Few could believe their eyes when Dempsey, feet in the air, landed on his back in the press section. For one shocking moment, it seemed that Firpo, who seconds ago was getting up from the floor, would triumph.
There were no aprons in boxing rings at the time, and Dempsey landed directly on the press table in the ring. Several reporters tried to push him back through the ropes, frantically working to get him out of their typewriters so they could continue recording what was happening. Back in the ring and on his feet, a dazed Dempsey backed away as Firpo resumed his attack. The Argentine hammered desperately with a right hand from him, but the champion survived and surprisingly returned fire with two hard right hands just before the bell finally rang.
In their corners, both fighters suffered the effects of perhaps the wildest round in ring history. Legend has it that a dazed Dempsey, sitting on his stool, was virtually catatonic until Jack Kearns found the smelling salts and shoved them under the champion’s nose. Dempsey blinked at his handlers, who were frantically slapping and spraying him with water, and asked, “Which round did I get knocked out in?”
But when the bell for the second round rang out in the New York night, it soon became clear that it was Firpo, not Dempsey, who was about to be knocked out. Wild Bull’s legs seemed barely strong enough to support his weight and his punches were powerless. The champion quickly put Firpo on the defensive and a barrage of left hooks dropped the challenger for the eighth time. The Argentinian warrior of the game got to his feet once more and attempted one last right hand before Dempsey struck with a hard one-two, the final blow coming with a right to the jaw as Firpo was already going down. The gallant challenger looked like a man taking a nap as he slowly rolled onto his back; this time he couldn’t get up.
Barely four minutes long, the brief but electrifying fight provided more excitement than all of Jack’s previous title defenses combined. And the shock of seeing the king of heavyweights slammed into the ropes left quite an impression, earning new respect from “The Manassa Mauler.” For years he had been the invincible champion that no one could relate to or care about, especially after his divorce scandal and the accusations that he was a fugitive. But seeing him come so close to defeat made him human again.
Over the next three years, Dempsey polished that more attractive image while staying out of the awards ring and instead became a full-time celebrity, appearing in various exhibitions, plays, and movies, and later marrying the beautiful movie star Estelle Taylor. He was more popular than ever when he finally fought again in 1926 and, in fact, his losses to Gene Tunney only served to endear him to an American public that couldn’t relate to the distant new champion. And by the time Dempsey retired in 1928, he had become not just a star of boxing and the Roaring Twenties, but an icon of American culture. – Michael Carbert
