Dempsey Along With His Manager Quickly Got Out Of Town4th of July 1923 in Shelby Montana: Dempsey won a dull 15 round decision from the 34 year old light heavyweight Tommy Gibbons. Kearns, Jack's manager, was able to get a $200,000 dollar advance a lone with $100,000 from the gate receipts, which was payed to him during the fight. Both he and Dempsey quickly left town immediately after the fight as several local banks went under due to lower than expected receipts. Doc Kearns had been a full time fight manager before he managed Dempsey. But before that, he had been a middleweight fighter and played one year of minor league baseball. Like Tex Rickard he had gone to the Klondike where he weighed gold in saloons and both promoted fights and managed boxers. In Seattle he drove a taxi, worked as a bouncer, dealt cards in gambling houses, was a saloon keeper, and manufactured fire extinguishers. The "Wild Bull Of Pampas" Luis Angel Firpo Gave Dempsey A Fight Jack Dempsey had great courage, and many influential friends in boxing, but he had no ethics or morality. 14th September 1923 at the Polo Grounds: 85,000 boxing fans saw one of the all time great fights between the champion and the Wild Bull of Pampas, Luis Angel Firpo. The six feet three inch Argentinean had won 74 straight fights in his home country before coming to the united States, in a continuation his boxing ring career. Most of his wins were early round KOs. Luis Angel Firpo wasn't much of a boxer, but he more than made up for his lack of skill with a devastating right hand and an overpowering desire to end any fight as quickly as possible. This was the second million dollar gate. Most people expected a short exciting fight. None were disappointed. Round1, Jack Dempsey rushed across ring and missed with a wild right. Luis Angel Firpo countered with a left uppercut and Jack Dempsey went down. “Every ounce of the Argentinean, Luis Angelo Firpo's gigantic body was concentrated in that one blow, it was one of the hardest punch ever landed in boxing at that, it buckled the knees of Jack Dempsey. It Was A Great Fight Between Angel Firpo And Jack DempseyThe entire crowd got to Their feet and remained standing for the rest of the fight. Jack Dempsey immediately got up and held Firpo in a clinch with one hand and attacked the mid section of the challenger with the other. At the 30 seconds point Jack Dempsey knocked Firpo down with a right hook to the head. Luis Angel Firpo arose at the count of nine and immediately took a furry of blows sending him to the canvas for the second time. After Firpo got up they exchanged right hands and clinched. As the referee broke the clinch, Dempsey handed a hard uppercut to the chin sending Firpo down for the third time. Again Firpo got up, but immediately Dempsey scored another knockdown with a right uppercut to the heart. When Firpo got up for the forth time, Jack Dempsey attacked from the rear and floored the challenger with another uppercut. This time, Firpo got up swinging and hit Dempsey with a right hook that travelled about four feet. Dempsey fell to his knees, but rose immediately. Angel Firpo Was Knock Down Seven Times In The First RoundThe two fighters exchanged right hands and Firpo went down again, got up, and was knocked down again; this for the seventh time. It was still the first round. Again, to everyone's surprise, Firpo got up. Dempsey landed a hard right to the challenger's ribs. Firpo then launched a looping right from over his head that staggered the champion sending him into the ropes. Firpo landed four more right hands. An Luis Angel Firpo's next right hand, more a push than a blow, resulted in Jack Dempsey sliding through the ropes. With the help of news reporters whom he fell on. But Jack Dempsey feet never left the ring apron, he quickly got back in the ring and regained an upright position before he was counted out. Angel Firpo launched a series of wild punches that Jack Dempsey was able to avoid by bobbing and weaving. At the bell both fighters were throwing wild haymakers. Round 2 This round started like the last one ended, with both fighters trying to end the fight as quickly as possible. |
Argentine Firpo Could Not Rise From The Canvas Jack Dempsey landed a right, clinched, and landed another punch as the referee told them to break. Then Jack Dempsey, missing with a punch, sent Firpo to the canvas with a body block. Firpo arose swinging and ran into a Dempsey left, this time Angel Firpo was down for the last time. Jack Dempsey caught him with a peach of a right hook to the jaw of Luis Angel Firpo. Even the muscular 220 pound Argentine could not rise from the canvas in time to beat the count. Jack Dempsey was a whirlwind that could not be stopped, this was Dempsey's best fight. With no prospects of any large gates in the near future Jack Dempsey's tough durable training days had become a thing of the past. | |
