Be Poignant! Reference Boxing Part II
By Stephen Turk
There are several Jack Dempsey’s in the history of boxing. The first was a champion in the late 1800s. Later there was a second, Bernie Dempsey, who assumed the name Jack as either a way to gain notoriety, revere the former champ, or just sound tougher. I don’t really know which. Bernie had a little brother, Harry. Harry boxed under the name Kid Blackie.
Bernie trained his little brother Harry. At age eleven, Harry was soaking his face in brine and crewing pine tar gum, all in an effort to toughen up. Soon after the family settled out west and Harry dropped out of school.
He was a hardscrabble kid coming up in rural America. He traveled throughout Colorado, Utah, and Nevada by means of hanging on railroad cars to get into barroom fights. Eventually, he got a manager who would get him fights on a circuit that specialized in fights in hard mining towns, a circuit similar to what his brother Bernie/Jack Dempsey fought in.
In 1914 Bernie fell ill. Harry, or Kid Blackie, substituted in a fight for his brother. Saving a measure of 
confusing, he fought under his brother’s name, Jack Dempsey. The fight ended in a draw, but the new Jack would go on to knock out six guys in a row. The name stuck, Kid Blackie was gone, and the new Jack Dempsey was to stay.
Some nine years later he would be sent out of the ring in a moment that would be captured forever in a painting. He would be the heavyweight champion and would get himself back into the ring and defend and retain his title.
Of course, in the world of sports all things must pass. Dempsey would eventually lose the title and retire, but he was the pinnacle of sports celebrity at the time, right up there with the likes of Babe Ruth. He would be in terrible movies and be a successful restaurantuer. And that’s the brief history of an American sports legend. It’s a great story, one that has seen numerous revisions with other boxers.
So where did boxing go?
Dempsey info from: http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/from_war_to_war/jackdempseylovedfighting.html
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