Ulman 1

Austin Ulman
Mrs. Baker
Literature Analysis
April 9, 2014
Dempsey
Jack Dempsey, was born on June 24, 1895, but his original name wasnt always Jack
Dempsey. He was born as William Dempsey. In his young years he worked as a farmer, miner,
and cowboy. In his older year, he kept on fighting and fighting; never letting anyone bring him
down. He continued to box until 1927, retiring after losing his second fight to Gene Tunney
(Biography). Boxing in the early to late 1920s attracted a large amount of audience, and was
well known as a normally watched sport at the time.
In his early years on boxing William went as the name Kid Blackie. Hardy Downey
had William work for him, and he arranged Wills fights for him. Hardy also paid him for his
winning fights. In one of his first fights in Salt Lake City, Will went against a boxer that went by
the name of One Punch Hancock (Biography). Will won this fight due to knockout, in one
punch. Hardy was upset that Will had won so fast, he decided to pay him after his next fight.
Wills older brother Bernie, who was prizefighting at the same time Will was, fell ill. Bernie
went by the name of Jack Dempsey. Not knowing if Bernie would get better he offered to take
his part in prizefighting (Roger Kahn 27). He then received the name his brother had chosen.
In the 1920s, boxing was sky-rocketing to its highest its been in years. Boxing bought in
a lot of audience then ever before. The adrenaline people got from watching boxing is more than
likely what made it so popular, that and the posed challenges boxers had. Dempseys contributed

Ulman 2

to the popularity of boxing in the 1920s by ranking heavy weight champion in 1919, sparking the
audience to watch (Jess Williard). Dempsey completed to rank heavyweight champion fives
more times in a row. Weirdly Dempsey got most of his popularity when he lost his fight to
Tunney, another heavyweight boxer (Biography). The reason so many people became fans is
because when Jack knocked him out he forgot the new rule that stated when the referee counted
he had to stay in his neutral corner (Biography). Not doing so cause Tunney another extra 5
seconds to recover. Later in the fight Tunney won by knockout.
Jack finally got the best gig in his career on Independence Day of 1919. Jack was up
against heavyweight champion Jess Williard. Jess went by the name "The Great White Hope."
This fight was the most memoriable for Jack's boxing career, because he solidly knocked Jess out
and dominated him in all 3 rounds fought (Biography). There was a lot of speculation to this
fight because of Jess Willard's cheek. His cheek was cut more than it should of been in an
original fight. Referees and coaches thought and inspected Jack's gloves were cut on purpose to
inflict a bigger blow. They concluded that his glove wasn't tampered with and gave him the
heavyweight championship (Biography). Later in his boxing career Jack was offered another
heavyweight title against Gene Tunney. In his fight against him again, Jack lost, but this fight
brought more fame to Jack because he retired after it.
After Jacks first fight and win against Jess, he continued to fight and fight. Jack inspired a
lot of audiences by giving them the message of, even though you lose or win put in all the effort
you can. This inspired not only the audience, but other fellow boxers who weren't in his class to
stay focused and keep on fighting (Roger Kahn 32). Although Jack wasn't the only boxer in his
time he influenced a lot of people to get into boxing, or to start watching it. Without his fans I
still think he would of been good, but with them he was great.

Ulman 3