Jack Dempsey, The Nonpareil- by Bert Sugar

As we all know Bert passed away recently, and here's a specific tribute to him,and a thought to all the others suffering with the illness too.
As with Charley Burley, I must admit to knowing little about the original Jack Dempsey, so looking at his book "Boxing's Greatest Fighters" (again) I see that Sugar has him at number 83 in his all time great list.This is what he says.

In one of those little tricks history continually plays on us to see if we are really paying attention-we tend to forget that there were two Jack Dempseys.
without the second one,the original might well have enjoyed timeless fame as one of the greatest fighters of all time;instead,he is known only as the second -greatest fighter named Jack Dempsey,if known at all.And yet this boxer whom very few know, over and above boxing's hardcore cognoscenti,was acclaimed as "the greatest fighter" of his time-which was back in boxing's antediluvian days,the 1880s-and by many of those who saw him and are no longer around to depend their opinions,as the "greatest fighter of the modern times".At his peak, he was without peer, and accorded the nickname "the nonpareil", meaning matchless or unrivaled, a name which so far had been the unpoached reserve of the great English bareknuckle champ, Jack Randall.

The career of Jack Dempsey The Nonpareil was rooted in the boyhood camaraderie of four boxing-minded friends in a barrel making plant in Brooklyn.Lunchtime was boxing time for the four.After wolfing down bowls of soup,they would wrap their aprons around their hands as makeshift gloves and have a go at it, all four emulating the moves of Jem Mace ,the then-bareknuckle champion.The four,all of whom would go on to play leading roles in the world of boxing,were Jim Browne, who would become a prominent promoter, Jack Shelley, who would later fight for the featherweight championship against the great George Dixon in his first professional fight;Jack McAuliffe,the undefeated American lightweight champion,and Dempsey.

Actually this was not his real name any more than it was the real name of "The Manassa Mauler", The Nonpareil's christened name being John Kelly.But for the purposes of wrestling,he had adopted his stepfather's name,first using it to form a wrestling team with his brother ,appropriately called "The Dempsey Brothers".
His first fight was against Eddie McDonald, an experienced fighter,but one who was notorious for not going into the ring until he knew the probable planned result.Nothing happened for five rounds,and then McDonald whispered in a clinch to Dempsey,"Time for you to lay down,boy."Dempsey laughed in his face.McDonald suddenly realised that no arrangements had been made with the Irish lad in front of him.On his own for once, McDonald held out until the twentieth round when Dempsey finally knocked him out.
Within fifteen months he had become the American lightweight champion-and the world's middleweight titleholder as well.Having fought sixty three consecutive fights without a loss, he took on George LaBlanche, "The Marine", in a title defence in August of 1889.Warned by those in the know that LaBlanche might resort to some sort of surprise maneuver, the haughty Dempsey ignored their warnings and went ahead with business as usual during altercations,using his lightning-like hands to war upon the features of "The Marine" for thirty one rounds.
But then,in the thirty-second,La Blanche spun completely around.Gaining momentum ,his arm straight out,he caught Dempsey with a perfectly executed pivot punch;or more correctly stated,he gave him the back of his hand, literally.Dempsey went down like a barrel filled with cement,out cold.But the referee disqualified LaBlanche for an illegal blow and Dempsey continued to be recognised as the legitimate champion.
That recognition would continue for another seventeen months until he fought Bob Fitzsimmons at the famed Olympic Club in New Orleans for a purse of $12,000- £11,000 to the winner, and $1,000 to the loser-the largest purse offered for a fight up to that time.The fight,however,was no fight, as Fitz established his mastery right from the start and began beating Dempsey to the punch and to the floor with equal frequency,knocking him down seven times in the eleventh.After the seventh knockdown Fitz begged The Peerless One to resign."If you want me to," Dempsey had snarled,"you'll have to knock me out".Two rounds later Fitz accommodated Dempsey.

Dempsey was to fight three more times in the next four years.In this last fight, an exhibition against the up-and-coming Tomhmy Ryan,his weight had dropped to a startling 135 pounds.Something was drastically wrong with the man who had once possessed the finest physical equipment in boxing.That June, the sporting life of New York ,now aware of Dempsey's declining condition and his losing batle with consumption,gave him a benefit.The Nonpareil cried with unashamed tears.Shortly afterwards he left the East Coast to settle in Portland to live his last few years out.He was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.

Lovely stuff Andy, have read a bit about Dempsey and feel it is a real tragedy to many he is known mainly for dumping his middleweight title to Ruby Rob, when all reports suggest for a good period before that he was regarded in a field all his own and for a good number of years was considered nigh on unbeatable. May be wrong on this but think prior to going in with Fitz Demspey was something like 51-1 which is extraordinary given the era and conditions fought under.