Before the NBA became a phenomenal sport success, before television broadcasting made better NFL’s national appeal, boxing was the most revered and lucrative sport in the world, especially on 1920s. Nations have competed on the sport of boxing, and famous boxers are earning more than any sports characters or even media personalities will make in a year.
1920’s boxing also saw the most colorful characters in history. Almost everyone then has heard of William Harrison “Jack” Dempsey and how he dominated both inside and the outside of the ring with an explosive attitude and a relentless skill in the ring. And Filipinos have reason to rejoice with their cult icon Pancho Villa, who stood only 5 feet tall but was regarded as the best flyweight puncher in the whole world. Of course, with the recent film Cinderella Man by Miramax, many have known who James Walter Braddock was.
1920’s boxing really have shown a wealth of superstars, who, barring natural circumstances (like age and death), can make a substantial challenge with today’s superstar. That is because unlike soccer football, unlike basketball, unlike any other sport, boxing has centuries to evolve, and even still, the latent skills that every boxing legend has displayed on the ring, in his time are purely his own. As much as technique and team play is critical in other team sport, boxing is a test of character, of personality, of gritty determination. And the 1920’s boxing has wealth to show on that.
For the personalities of 1920’s boxing, here’s a few of the best known:
“Jack” Dempsey
(June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983)
Jack Dempsey was a showman in every sense. Just like Muhammad Ali, Jack loved attention, and he matched it with a heavy hitting fist and a colorful personality. He was an American boxer who, during his prime held world heavyweight title from 1919 and 1926, known then as the “Manassa Mauler”, for his love in initiating bar brawls where everyone would place a wager on any fighter.
Jack Dempsey was one of the 1920’s boxing great, and one of the most loved athletes during this era. And his book, written post boxing, was praised as being the finest treatise on boxing. The title is Championship Fighting: Explosive Punching and Aggressive Defence, which was published in 1950.
The Cinderella Man
(June 7, 1905 – November 29, 1974)
He was called the Cinderella Man because he was, unlike most boxing greats, a relative failure at the start of his pro career. His record then was 34-5-7 and when he lost to Tommy Loughran. He went further into decline, following the Great Depression he had to stop fighting to support his family since winning only a handful won‘t be enough to support his family.
On 1934, he had a second chance to redeem his status, though many didn’t see it that way. James Braddock won the greatest upset victory on June 14, 1934, which would culminate to numerous winning achievements including the World Heavyweight Champ Max Baer.
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