William Harrison Dempsey: Manassa Mauler

William Harrison Dempsey, also known as Manassa Mauler, who was born on June 24th, 1895, was the world’s heavyweight boxing champion from 1919 to 1926. He originated in the Mormon village of Manassa, Colorado on a farm. He dropped out of school by the eighth grade to start working full time to help support his family. By seventeen years old, Jack developed into a quite skilled boxer, which his older brother Bernie taught him, where he earned more money fighting than working. The next five years of his life he traveled town to town for fights wherever he could enter. His local vase was Jackson’s Saloon in Salt Lake City, Utah where he originated his fighting name “Kid Blackie”. His older brother Bernie, who was still boxing, became ill one night, therefore William
By the year 1917, he had gained a widely known reputation and was able to have more prominent fights around the country. So, on the Fourth of July in 1919 he got his first real opportunity to fight a world heavyweight champion, Jess Willard, “The Great White
Dempsey then continued to protect his heavyweight title five times over the next years. He was famous in the ring but not particularly in the public eye because he did not serve in the military during WW1. People thought of it as disrespectful. He then gained the public popularity when he lost his title as the champion. He was defeated by Gene Tunney in front of a crowd of 120,000 people in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His famous words after his opponent disfigured his face when his wife asked what had happened to his face, he said, “I forgot to duck.” Those few words made him a folk legend until the end of time. A year later, he challenged his opponent again for a rematch. This match would go into boxing