Nonpareil Jack Dempsey

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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.

Nonpareil Jack Dempsey
Born
John Edward Kelly

(1862-12-15)December 15, 1862
DiedNovember 1, 1895(1895-11-01) (aged 32)
NationalityAmerican[1]
Statistics
Weight(s)Middleweight
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights67
Wins51
Wins by KO23
Losses3
Draws11
No contests1

Biography

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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]

 
Fitzsimmons knocks down Dempsey in New Orleans, 1891.

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

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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)   Tommy Ryan TKO 3 (15) Jan 18, 1895   Sea Side A.C., Coney Island
67 Draw 50–2–11 (4)   Billy McCarthy PTS 20 Sep 5, 1895   Auditorium Club, New Orleans
66 Win 50–2–10 (4)   Billy Keough PTS 4 Feb 28, 1893   Pastime A.C., Portland
65 Loss 49–2–10 (4)   Bob Fitzsimmons RTD 13 (?) Jan 14, 1891   California A.C., San Francisco Lost world middleweight title
64 Win 49–1–10 (4)   Billy McCarthy TKO 28 (?) Feb 18, 1890   California A.C., San Francisco Retained world middleweight title
63 Loss 48–1–10 (4)   George LaBlanche KO 32 (?) Aug 27, 1889   California A.C., San Francisco
62 Win 48–0–10 (4)   Mike Dempsey KO 7 (?) Aug 22, 1889   San Francisco
61 Draw 47–0–10 (4)   Mike Donovan PTS 6 Nov 15, 1888   Palace Rink, Williamsburg
60 Win 47–0–9 (4)   James Stevens PTS 4 Apr 23, 1888   Grand Theater, Williamsburg
59 Win 46–0–9 (4)   Billy Baker PTS 10 Feb 18, 1888   Adelphia Theatre, Buffalo
58 Win 45–0–9 (4)   Dominick McCaffrey PTS 10 Jan 31, 1888   Pavonia Rink, Jersey City
57 Win 44–0–9 (4)   John Reagan TKO 45 (?) Dec 13, 1887   Long Island
56 Win 43–0–9 (4)   Bill Gabig PTS 4 Nov 5, 1887   Grand Central Theater, Wilmington
55 Win 42–0–9 (4)   Denny Kelliher PTS 4 Nov 3, 1887   Grand Central Theater, Wilmington
54 Win 41–0–9 (4)   Frank Bosworth PTS 4 Nov 1, 1887   Grand Central Theater, Wilmington
53 Win 40–0–9 (4)   Ned McCann PTS 4 Oct 31, 1887   Grand Central Theater, Wilmington
52 Win 39–0–9 (4)   Billy Dacey PTS 4 Oct 15, 1887   Hoboken Casino, Hoboken
51 Win 38–0–9 (4)   Jim McHugh PTS 4 Oct 13, 1887   Hoboken Casino, Hoboken
50 Win 37–0–9 (4)   Eddie Reede PTS 6 Oct 10, 1887   Hoboken Casino, Hoboken
49 Draw 36–0–9 (4)   Reddy Gallagher PTS 6 May 2, 1887   Frankfort St. Gym, Cleveland
48 NC 36–0–8 (4)   Billy Baker ND 4 Apr 9, 1887   Adelphia Theatre, Buffalo
47 Win 36–0–8 (3)   Denny Killen PTS 4 Feb 5, 1887   Theatre Comique, Philadelphia
46 Win 35–0–8 (3)   Jack Langdon PTS 4 Feb 2, 1887   Theatre Comique, Philadelphia
45 Win 34–0–8 (3)   Mike Boded PTS 10 Jan 31, 1887   Theatre Comique, Philadelphia
44 Draw 33–0–8 (3)   Jack Burke PTS 10 Nov 22, 1886   Mechanic's Pavilion, San Francisco
43 Win 33–0–7 (3)   Ed Moehler PTS 4 May 25, 1886   Leland Rink, Minneapolis
42 Win 32–0–7 (3)   Paddy Norton TKO 4 (5) May 20, 1886   Exposition Rink, Saint Paul
41 Win 31–0–7 (3)   Jimmy Ryan PTS 4 Apr 30, 1886   Philadelphia
40 Win 30–0–7 (3)   Charle McCarthy PTS 4 Apr 28, 1886   Theatre Comique, Philadelphia
39 Win 29–0–7 (3)   Ned McCann KO 4 (4) Apr 26, 1886   Comique Theatre, Philadelphia
38 Win 28–0–7 (3)   George LaBlanche TKO 13 (?) Mar 14, 1886   Larchmont Won inaugural world middleweight title
37 Win 27–0–7 (3)   Pete McCoy PTS 6 Feb 24, 1886   Oakland Avenue Rink, Jersey City
36 Win 26–0–7 (3)   Jack Fogarty TKO 27 (?) Feb 2, 1886   Clarendon Hall, New York
35 Win 25–0–7 (3)   Jim Murray PTS 4 Jan 15, 1886   Germania Assembly Rooms, New York
34 Win 24–0–7 (3)   Tom Henry PTS 4 Jan 15, 1886   Germania Assembly Rooms, New York
33 NC 23–0–7 (3)   Mike Donovan NC 4 Jan 15, 1886   Germania Assembly Rooms, New York
32 Win 23–0–7 (2)   Tom Berry TKO 6 (10) Dec 14, 1885   Portland
31 Win 22–0–7 (2)   Dave Campbell KO 3 (8) Nov 2, 1885   Portland
30 Win 21–0–7 (2)   Tom Norton TKO 4 (6) Sep 12, 1885   Armory Hall, Sacramento
29 Win 20–0–7 (2)   Young Billy Manning TKO 8 (?) Aug 29, 1885   Turnverein Hall, Los Angeles
28 Win 19–0–7 (2)   Jack Keenan KO 2 (?) Jul 20, 1885   San Francisco
27 Win 18–0–7 (2)   Jim Carr KO 9 (?) Jun 5, 1885   Wigwam Theatre, San Francisco
26 Win 17–0–7 (2)   Tommy Cleary KO 5 (?) May 11, 1885   Mechanic's Pavilion, San Francisco
25 Win 16–0–7 (2)   Tom Barry KO 5 (?) May 4, 1885   Mechanic's Pavilion, San Francisco
24 Win 15–0–7 (2)   Charles Bixamos KO 5 (?) Mar 19, 1885   Sportsmen's Park, New Orleans
23 Win 14–0–7 (2)   Jim Fell PTS 4 Jan 22, 1885   Athletic Hall, New York
22 Draw 13–0–7 (2)   Bill Frazier PTS 4 Jan 12, 1885   New York
21 Win 13–0–6 (2)   Jimmy Ryan TKO 4 (4) Jan 12, 1885   New York
20 Win 12–0–6 (2)   George Wilson NWS 4 Dec 15, 1884   Clarks Club, Philadelphia
19 Win 12–0–6 (1)   Mike Malone TKO 2 (?) Nov 30, 1884   Philadelphia
18 Win 11–0–6 (1)   Bill Frazier TKO 5 (?) Nov 20, 1884   New York
17 Win 10–0–6 (1)   Tom Ferguson PTS 4 Nov 6, 1884   Harry Hill's, New York
16 Win 9–0–6 (1)   Tom Henry PTS 6 Oct 24, 1884   Eighth-Street Theatre, New York
15 Win 8–0–6 (1)   Bob Turnbull PTS 8 Oct 8, 1884   Billy Madden's Athletic Hall, New York
14 Draw 7–0–6 (1)   Jimmy Ryan PTS 7 Sep 15, 1884   Clark's Theatre, Philadelphia
13 Win 7–0–5 (1)   Mike Dempsey KO 7 (?) Sep 4, 1884   Rockaway
12 Draw 6–0–5 (1)   Tom Henry PTS 4 Jul 8, 1884   Rockaway Beach, Queens
11 Draw 6–0–4 (1)   Jack Hayes PTS 6 Apr 25, 1884   New York
10 Win 6–0–3 (1)   Bill Dacey TKO 9 (?) Mar 6, 1884   Campbell's Hotel, Coney Island Won vacant Lightweight Championship of New York
Queensberry Rules & hard gloves
9 Win 5–0–3 (1)   Tommy Sullivan PTS 2 Mar 4, 1884   New York
8 Win 4–0–3 (1)   Joe Hennesey PTS 4 Mar 2, 1884   New York
7 Win 3–0–3 (1)   Jim Barry TKO 3 (4) Feb 28, 1884   Billy Madden's Athletic Hall, New York
6 Win 2–0–3 (1)   Jim Fell PTS 2 Feb 14, 1884   New York
5 Draw 1–0–3 (1)   Joe Heiser PTS 8 Feb 10, 1884   Williamsburg, Brooklyn
4 Win 1–0–2 (1)   William Mahoney KO 3 (?) Jan 15, 1884   New York
3 Draw 0–0–2 (1)   Bob Turnbull PTS 7 (4) Oct 25, 1883   Clarendon Hall, New York
2 Draw 0–0–1 (1)   Tom McAlpine PTS 4 Sep 17, 1883   Harry Hill's, New York
1 NC 0–0 (1)   Harry Force NC 11 (?) Sep 3, 1883   Coney Island, Brooklyn Police intervened at Blissville (now part of Long Island City) and fight moved to Coney Island. It was never completed

References

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  1. ^ "Nonpareil Jack Dempsey". Britannica.com. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  2. ^ "George Fulljames". Cyber Boxing Zone.
  3. ^ Ring Sports Magazine. (Reno, Nevada) April 1994.
  4. ^ Lenzen, Connie. "Mount Calvary Cemetery; Portland, Oregon", June 1994.
  5. ^ Tacoma Daily Times, Tacoma, Washington, March 13, 1909.
  6. ^ Callis, Tracy. "'Nonpareil' Jack Dempsey (John Edward Kelly)". Cyber Boxing Zone Journal.
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Achievements
Inaugural Champion World Middleweight Champion
July 30, 1884 – January 14, 1891
Succeeded by