Jack Dempsey: The Great White Hope

Jack Dempsey was born on June 24, 1895 in the Mormon village of Manassa, Colorado. As a boy, he worked as a farm hand, miner and cowboy and was taught to box by his older brother. Dempsey's early prize fights were in mining towns around Salt Lake City. But on Independence Day in 1919, Dempsey got his first huge opening at a battle against world heavyweight champion Jess Willard. Nicknamed "The Great White Hope," Willard stood a threatening 6 feet 6 inches tall and tipped the scales at 245 pounds. Nobody in the boxing scene thought the 6'1", 187 pound Dempsey stood a chance against the massive Willard. Regardless of his weakness in size, Dempsey overwhelmed Willard with his heartless strategies and risk taking abilities to knock out Willard