Jack Dempsey vs. Tommy Gibbons
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The Jack Dempsey vs. Tommy Gibbons fight was a bout for boxing's world Heavyweight title. It was held on July 4, 1923, in the town of Shelby, Montana.
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[edit] Before the fight
In 1922, oil was discovered in Shelby, making it the only city in northern Montana to have the material.
The Great Depression had begun in the United States, particulalrly affecting the Eastern and Southern areas of that country. California economy, meanwhile, continued on growing, in part because of the influence of the Hollywood film industry, and many people traveled West with dreams of becoming rich and famous, a trend that still keeps on going on.
Shelby had train service, and the town's officials thought it would be wise to try to make the city an economical and touristic center. The money to be used for these purposes would be provided by the revenues that the oil found in the area would bring. Multiple bank branches had opened there since the discovery, and many families would move in, or, at least, pass by and spend their money as tourists, according to plans.
The first stage on this plan, which ultimately failed in great part because of the Dempsey vs. Gibbons fight, was to bring a fight for the world's Heavyweight boxing title into town. Dempsey was a member of the so called Big Five, alongside Red Grange, Bobby Jones, Bill Tilden and Babe Ruth. Being an idol practically all over the states made Dempsey an attraction. The fact that his manager, Jack Kearns, and his promoter, Tex Rickard, to whom many refer today as the Don King of his era, were also somewhat famous, made the city's officials become even more convinced that a large crowd would visit Shelby for the fight, in hopes of seeing Kearns and Rickard in person as well as the fight itself. Shelby officials also figured that people would be attracted to the idea of possibly running into Dempsey as he was in town, or maybe another member of the Big Five, should they make it to Montana to see the fight. There were no television networks back then, so whoever wanted to see the fight live would have to go to Shelby.
Officials chose Tommy Gibbons, whose brother Mike was better known as a former world champion, to challenge Dempsey. But choosing Tommy Gibbons proved to be the plan's first failure, as he was virtually unknown, except inside boxing circles and to hardcore boxing fans. Gibbons was strong, but not considered by many to be in Dempsey's boxing level.
Thinking that patriotism would play a large part in the fight's promotional stage, the city's officials chose July 4, the United States' independence day, to hold the fight. A very large arena was built for the fight over what once was a farm. As a matter of a fact, that area is now known as the Champion's Field, because, even as it almost led to Shelby's downfall, the fight has given the current residents of Shelby a sense of history, because Jack Dempsey has been considered one of boxing's greatest Heavyweight champions in history and also because the fight itself became so infamous, that it gave Shelby one of its few claims to fame.
Kearns asked Shelby officials to guarantee him and the champion an advance for their traveling costs, as airplanes were available at the time, but not very safe, and train travel to Montana from the more populated areas of the United States, much like air travel then, took many days, sometimes up to a week, to complete (it is said that Dempsey and Kearns took a week to get there by train). He also asked for the champion to have a guaranteed purse: in other words, Shelby officials had to give Dempsey and Kearns an exact estimate of the amount of money the champion was going to keep, after all deductibles were accounted for. A businessman, Rickard liked the idea as well. So Kearns and Rickard convinced the city of Shelby to commit to an amount of money, or the fight would take place somewhere else.
Gibbons, while not a champion, was also a professional boxer, and he needed money as well. He did not earn a sum as large as Dempsey's but he reportedly took 150,000 dollars to fight against Dempsey.
Shelby officials, once again, believing they would be the beneficiaries of the event, agreed to every demand made by both boxers and their management and promotional teams. Area banks were to provide the money to stage the event. Dempsey was received at the local train station by thousands of enthusiastic Shelby residents, which gave the city officials even more hope that the fight would be a complete economical success.
[edit] The Fight
The fight was scheduled for the then almost regular distance of fifteen rounds (some world title fights were still fought for more than fifteen rounds, as demonstrated almost two decades later by the first Joe Louis versus Abe Simon world Heavyweight championship bout, scheduled for twenty rounds and which Louis won by a thirteenth round knockout).
Dempsey was considered an aggressor: He had dropped Jess Willard seven times in the first round before winning the title from Willard by stopping him in round four, retaining the title with knockouts over Bill Squires and Georges Carpentier, among others. Because of this, the fight was thought to be a possible action bout.
It turned out to be a fight that many historians consider to be among the most boring fights in history instead. Dempsey constantly threw punches to Gibbons' head, with Gibbons trying to attack Dempsey's body. As a consequence, Gibbons was able to duck many of Dempsey's shots. Dempsey's mobility, however, made it hard for Gibbons to effectively connect many hard punches to Dempsey's stomach and ribs area.
There were some, mostly isolated, moments of action: Dempsey is said to have had Gibbons very hurt in round seven, but he could not score a knockout then. Gibbons, for his part, landed some hard punches to Dempsey's chin every once in a while, but Dempsey shrugged those punches off. In the end, Dempsey retained the title with a fifteen round unanimous decision.
[edit] Aftermatch
The aftermatch of the fight was worse than the fight itself for the town of Shelby: a very large arena, about the size of a football field, had been built for the match. Since most of Shelby's residents (and those of nearby cities) could not afford the ticket prizes set so that the city could come with the money amounts guaranteed to the participants, their teams and promoters, only 7,702 paying fans showed up, making the fight one of the biggest economical disasters in boxing history. An estimated crowd of 13,000 people managed to see the fight for free.
Four banks in Shelby went bankrupt in the months following the fight. The town's dreams of prosperity, it could be said, went away with it as well.
Shelby, Montana still exists, but it is currently a small town that is mostly remembered for the Dempsey-Gibbons fight.
