Nonpareil Jack Dempsey
Nonpareil Jack Dempsey | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | John Edward Kelly December 15, 1862 |
Died | November 1, 1895 | (aged 32)
Nationality | American[1] |
Statistics | |
Weight(s) | Middleweight |
Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) |
Stance | Orthodox |
Boxing record | |
Total fights | 67 |
Wins | 51 |
Wins by KO | 23 |
Losses | 4 |
Draws | 11 |
No contests | 1 |
John Edward Kelly (December 15, 1862 – November 1, 1895) was an Irish-born American boxer, better known as Nonpareil Jack Dempsey, who was the first holder of the World Middleweight Championship (1884–1891). He was nicknamed "Nonpareil" because of his reputation of being unbeatable.
Biography
[edit]Dempsey was born on December 15, 1862, in Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. He won the middleweight title on July 30, 1884, by defeating George Fulljames in Great Kills, Staten Island, New York. He held the title for over six years, defending the title against two fighters during the reign.[2]
In Dempsey's first 65 contests, he lost only three times: to George LaBlanche (a loss he avenged) and to Billy Baker twice (both bouts were fixed to have Baker win).[3] This ended when Bob Fitzsimmons pummeled him around the ring and begged him to concede before he was hurt any more. Dempsey, the reigning champion, would not give up; the fight continued and Fitzsimmons knocked him out in round 13. In his final bout, Dempsey, suffering from tuberculosis, lost to Tommy Ryan.
Though Dempsey beat his first battle with tuberculosis, he died at age 32 at the Portland, Oregon, home of his wife's parents on November 1, 1895, due to a recurrence of the disease.[4] He was buried in an initially unmarked grave at Mount Calvary Cemetery. M. James Brady, Dempsey's father-in-law, refused to permit former World Champion John L. Sullivan and John S. Barnes to raise funds to erect a monument over Dempsey's grave. The family believed that a four-foot marble shaft was a sufficient memorial. The matter was thus dropped.[5]
Dempsey was inducted into the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame in 1954, and into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.[6]
Professional boxing record
[edit]68 fights | 50 wins | 3 losses |
---|---|---|
By knockout | 23 | 3 |
By decision | 27 | 0 |
Draws | 11 | |
No contests | 3 | |
Newspaper decisions/draws | 1 |
All newspaper decisions are regarded as "no decision" bouts as they have "resulted in neither boxer winning or losing, and would therefore not count as part of their official fight record."
No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
68 | Loss | 50–3–11 (4) | ![]() |
TKO | 3 (15) | Jan 18, 1895 | ![]() |
|
67 | Draw | 50–2–11 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 20 | Sep 5, 1895 | ![]() |
|
66 | Win | 50–2–10 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Feb 28, 1893 | ![]() |
|
65 | Loss | 49–2–10 (4) | ![]() |
RTD | 13 (?) | Jan 14, 1891 | ![]() |
Lost world middleweight title |
64 | Win | 49–1–10 (4) | ![]() |
TKO | 28 (?) | Feb 18, 1890 | ![]() |
Retained world middleweight title |
63 | Loss | 48–1–10 (4) | ![]() |
KO | 32 (?) | Aug 27, 1889 | ![]() |
|
62 | Win | 48–0–10 (4) | ![]() |
KO | 7 (?) | Aug 22, 1889 | ![]() |
|
61 | Draw | 47–0–10 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 6 | Nov 15, 1888 | ![]() |
|
60 | Win | 47–0–9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Apr 23, 1888 | ![]() |
|
59 | Win | 46–0–9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 10 | Feb 18, 1888 | ![]() |
|
58 | Win | 45–0–9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 10 | Jan 31, 1888 | ![]() |
|
57 | Win | 44–0–9 (4) | ![]() |
TKO | 45 (?) | Dec 13, 1887 | ![]() |
|
56 | Win | 43–0–9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Nov 5, 1887 | ![]() |
|
55 | Win | 42–0–9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Nov 3, 1887 | ![]() |
|
54 | Win | 41–0–9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Nov 1, 1887 | ![]() |
|
53 | Win | 40–0–9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Oct 31, 1887 | ![]() |
|
52 | Win | 39–0–9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Oct 15, 1887 | ![]() |
|
51 | Win | 38–0–9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Oct 13, 1887 | ![]() |
|
50 | Win | 37–0–9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 6 | Oct 10, 1887 | ![]() |
|
49 | Draw | 36–0–9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 6 | May 2, 1887 | ![]() |
|
48 | NC | 36–0–8 (4) | ![]() |
ND | 4 | Apr 9, 1887 | ![]() |
|
47 | Win | 36–0–8 (3) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Feb 5, 1887 | ![]() |
|
46 | Win | 35–0–8 (3) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Feb 2, 1887 | ![]() |
|
45 | Win | 34–0–8 (3) | ![]() |
PTS | 10 | Jan 31, 1887 | ![]() |
|
44 | Draw | 33–0–8 (3) | ![]() |
PTS | 10 | Nov 22, 1886 | ![]() |
|
43 | Win | 33–0–7 (3) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | May 25, 1886 | ![]() |
|
42 | Win | 32–0–7 (3) | ![]() |
TKO | 4 (5) | May 20, 1886 | ![]() |
|
41 | Win | 31–0–7 (3) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Apr 30, 1886 | ![]() |
|
40 | Win | 30–0–7 (3) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Apr 28, 1886 | ![]() |
|
39 | Win | 29–0–7 (3) | ![]() |
KO | 4 (4) | Apr 26, 1886 | ![]() |
|
38 | Win | 28–0–7 (3) | ![]() |
TKO | 13 (?) | Mar 14, 1886 | ![]() |
Won inaugural world middleweight title |
37 | Win | 27–0–7 (3) | ![]() |
PTS | 6 | Feb 24, 1886 | ![]() |
|
36 | Win | 26–0–7 (3) | ![]() |
TKO | 27 (?) | Feb 2, 1886 | ![]() |
|
35 | Win | 25–0–7 (3) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Jan 15, 1886 | ![]() |
|
34 | Win | 24–0–7 (3) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Jan 15, 1886 | ![]() |
|
33 | NC | 23–0–7 (3) | ![]() |
NC | 4 | Jan 15, 1886 | ![]() |
|
32 | Win | 23–0–7 (2) | ![]() |
TKO | 6 (10) | Dec 14, 1885 | ![]() |
|
31 | Win | 22–0–7 (2) | ![]() |
KO | 3 (8) | Nov 2, 1885 | ![]() |
|
30 | Win | 21–0–7 (2) | ![]() |
TKO | 4 (6) | Sep 12, 1885 | ![]() |
|
29 | Win | 20–0–7 (2) | ![]() |
TKO | 8 (?) | Aug 29, 1885 | ![]() |
|
28 | Win | 19–0–7 (2) | ![]() |
KO | 2 (?) | Jul 20, 1885 | ![]() |
|
27 | Win | 18–0–7 (2) | ![]() |
KO | 9 (?) | Jun 5, 1885 | ![]() |
|
26 | Win | 17–0–7 (2) | ![]() |
KO | 5 (?) | May 11, 1885 | ![]() |
|
25 | Win | 16–0–7 (2) | ![]() |
KO | 5 (?) | May 4, 1885 | ![]() |
|
24 | Win | 15–0–7 (2) | ![]() |
KO | 5 (?) | Mar 19, 1885 | ![]() |
|
23 | Win | 14–0–7 (2) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Jan 22, 1885 | ![]() |
|
22 | Draw | 13–0–7 (2) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Jan 12, 1885 | ![]() |
|
21 | Win | 13–0–6 (2) | ![]() |
TKO | 4 (4) | Jan 12, 1885 | ![]() |
|
20 | Win | 12–0–6 (2) | ![]() |
NWS | 4 | Dec 15, 1884 | ![]() |
|
19 | Win | 12–0–6 (1) | ![]() |
TKO | 2 (?) | Nov 30, 1884 | ![]() |
|
18 | Win | 11–0–6 (1) | ![]() |
TKO | 5 (?) | Nov 20, 1884 | ![]() |
|
17 | Win | 10–0–6 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Nov 6, 1884 | ![]() |
|
16 | Win | 9–0–6 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 6 | Oct 24, 1884 | ![]() |
|
15 | Win | 8–0–6 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 8 | Oct 8, 1884 | ![]() |
|
14 | Draw | 7–0–6 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 7 | Sep 15, 1884 | ![]() |
|
13 | Win | 7–0–5 (1) | ![]() |
KO | 7 (?) | Sep 4, 1884 | ![]() |
|
12 | Draw | 6–0–5 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Jul 8, 1884 | ![]() |
|
11 | Draw | 6–0–4 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 6 | Apr 25, 1884 | ![]() |
|
10 | Win | 6–0–3 (1) | ![]() |
TKO | 9 (?) | Mar 6, 1884 | ![]() |
Won vacant Lightweight Championship of New York Queensberry Rules & hard gloves |
9 | Win | 5–0–3 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 2 | Mar 4, 1884 | ![]() |
|
8 | Win | 4–0–3 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Mar 2, 1884 | ![]() |
|
7 | Win | 3–0–3 (1) | ![]() |
TKO | 3 (4) | Feb 28, 1884 | ![]() |
|
6 | Win | 2–0–3 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 2 | Feb 14, 1884 | ![]() |
|
5 | Draw | 1–0–3 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 8 | Feb 10, 1884 | ![]() |
|
4 | Win | 1–0–2 (1) | ![]() |
KO | 3 (?) | Jan 15, 1884 | ![]() |
|
3 | Draw | 0–0–2 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 7 (4) | Oct 25, 1883 | ![]() |
|
2 | Draw | 0–0–1 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Sep 17, 1883 | ![]() |
|
1 | NC | 0–0 (1) | ![]() |
NC | 11 (?) | Sep 3, 1883 | ![]() |
Police intervened at Blissville (now part of Long Island City) and fight moved to Coney Island. It was never completed |
References
[edit]- ^ "Nonpareil Jack Dempsey". Britannica.com. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
- ^ "George Fulljames". Cyber Boxing Zone.
- ^ Ring Sports Magazine. (Reno, Nevada) April 1994.
- ^ Lenzen, Connie. "Mount Calvary Cemetery; Portland, Oregon", June 1994.
- ^ Tacoma Daily Times, Tacoma, Washington, March 13, 1909.
- ^ Callis, Tracy. "'Nonpareil' Jack Dempsey (John Edward Kelly)". Cyber Boxing Zone Journal.
External links
[edit]- Boxing record for Jack Dempsey from BoxRec (registration required)
- Jack 'Nonpareil' Dempsey at Find a Grave
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