Nonpareil Jack Dempsey | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | John Edward Kelly (1862-12-15)December 15, 1862 |
Died | November 1, 1895(1895-11-01) (aged 32) |
Nationality | American |
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 β 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 (1884β1891). He was nicknamed "Nonpareil" because of his reputation of being unbeatable.
Biographyβ»
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."
In Dempsey's first 65 contests, he lost only three times:ββto George LaBlanche (a loss he avenged) andββto Billy Baker twice (both bouts were fixed to have Baker win). 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. 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.
Dempsey was inducted into the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame in 1954. And into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.
Professional boxing recordβ»
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 | 50β3β11 (4) | ![]() |
TKO | 3 (15) | Jan 18, 1895 | ![]() |
|
67 | Draw | 50β2β11 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 20 | Sep 5, 1895 | ![]() |
|
66 | Win | 50β2β10 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Feb 28, 1893 | ![]() |
|
65 | Loss | 49β2β10 (4) | ![]() |
RTD | 13 (?) | Jan 14, 1891 | ![]() |
Lost world middleweight title |
64 | Win | 49β1β10 (4) | ![]() |
TKO | 28 (?) | Feb 18, 1890 | ![]() |
Retained world middleweight title |
63 | Loss | 48β1β10 (4) | ![]() |
KO | 32 (?) | Aug 27, 1889 | ![]() |
|
62 | Win | 48β0β10 (4) | ![]() |
KO | 7 (?) | Aug 22, 1889 | ![]() |
|
61 | Draw | 47β0β10 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 6 | Nov 15, 1888 | ![]() |
|
60 | Win | 47β0β9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Apr 23, 1888 | ![]() |
|
59 | Win | 46β0β9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 10 | Feb 18, 1888 | ![]() |
|
58 | Win | 45β0β9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 10 | Jan 31, 1888 | ![]() |
|
57 | Win | 44β0β9 (4) | ![]() |
TKO | 45 (?) | Dec 13, 1887 | ![]() |
|
56 | Win | 43β0β9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Nov 5, 1887 | ![]() |
|
55 | Win | 42β0β9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Nov 3, 1887 | ![]() |
|
54 | Win | 41β0β9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Nov 1, 1887 | ![]() |
|
53 | Win | 40β0β9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Oct 31, 1887 | ![]() |
|
52 | Win | 39β0β9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Oct 15, 1887 | ![]() |
|
51 | Win | 38β0β9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Oct 13, 1887 | ![]() |
|
50 | Win | 37β0β9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 6 | Oct 10, 1887 | ![]() |
|
49 | Draw | 36β0β9 (4) | ![]() |
PTS | 6 | May 2, 1887 | ![]() |
|
48 | NC | 36β0β8 (4) | ![]() |
ND | 4 | Apr 9, 1887 | ![]() |
|
47 | Win | 36β0β8 (3) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Feb 5, 1887 | ![]() |
|
46 | Win | 35β0β8 (3) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Feb 2, 1887 | ![]() |
|
45 | Win | 34β0β8 (3) | ![]() |
PTS | 10 | Jan 31, 1887 | ![]() |
|
44 | Draw | 33β0β8 (3) | ![]() |
PTS | 10 | Nov 22, 1886 | ![]() |
|
43 | Win | 33β0β7 (3) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | May 25, 1886 | ![]() |
|
42 | Win | 32β0β7 (3) | ![]() |
TKO | 4 (5) | May 20, 1886 | ![]() |
|
41 | Win | 31β0β7 (3) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Apr 30, 1886 | ![]() |
|
40 | Win | 30β0β7 (3) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Apr 28, 1886 | ![]() |
|
39 | Win | 29β0β7 (3) | ![]() |
KO | 4 (4) | Apr 26, 1886 | ![]() |
|
38 | Win | 28β0β7 (3) | ![]() |
TKO | 13 (?) | Mar 14, 1886 | ![]() |
Won inaugural world middleweight title |
37 | Win | 27β0β7 (3) | ![]() |
PTS | 6 | Feb 24, 1886 | ![]() |
|
36 | Win | 26β0β7 (3) | ![]() |
TKO | 27 (?) | Feb 2, 1886 | ![]() |
|
35 | Win | 25β0β7 (3) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Jan 15, 1886 | ![]() |
|
34 | Win | 24β0β7 (3) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Jan 15, 1886 | ![]() |
|
33 | NC | 23β0β7 (3) | ![]() |
NC | 4 | Jan 15, 1886 | ![]() |
|
32 | Win | 23β0β7 (2) | ![]() |
TKO | 6 (10) | Dec 14, 1885 | ![]() |
|
31 | Win | 22β0β7 (2) | ![]() |
KO | 3 (8) | Nov 2, 1885 | ![]() |
|
30 | Win | 21β0β7 (2) | ![]() |
TKO | 4 (6) | Sep 12, 1885 | ![]() |
|
29 | Win | 20β0β7 (2) | ![]() |
TKO | 8 (?) | Aug 29, 1885 | ![]() |
|
28 | Win | 19β0β7 (2) | ![]() |
KO | 2 (?) | Jul 20, 1885 | ![]() |
|
27 | Win | 18β0β7 (2) | ![]() |
KO | 9 (?) | Jun 5, 1885 | ![]() |
|
26 | Win | 17β0β7 (2) | ![]() |
KO | 5 (?) | May 11, 1885 | ![]() |
|
25 | Win | 16β0β7 (2) | ![]() |
KO | 5 (?) | May 4, 1885 | ![]() |
|
24 | Win | 15β0β7 (2) | ![]() |
KO | 5 (?) | Mar 19, 1885 | ![]() |
|
23 | Win | 14β0β7 (2) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Jan 22, 1885 | ![]() |
|
22 | Draw | 13β0β7 (2) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Jan 12, 1885 | ![]() |
|
21 | Win | 13β0β6 (2) | ![]() |
TKO | 4 (4) | Jan 12, 1885 | ![]() |
|
20 | Win | 12β0β6 (2) | ![]() |
NWS | 4 | Dec 15, 1884 | ![]() |
|
19 | Win | 12β0β6 (1) | ![]() |
TKO | 2 (?) | Nov 30, 1884 | ![]() |
|
18 | Win | 11β0β6 (1) | ![]() |
TKO | 5 (?) | Nov 20, 1884 | ![]() |
|
17 | Win | 10β0β6 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Nov 6, 1884 | ![]() |
|
16 | Win | 9β0β6 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 6 | Oct 24, 1884 | ![]() |
|
15 | Win | 8β0β6 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 8 | Oct 8, 1884 | ![]() |
|
14 | Draw | 7β0β6 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 7 | Sep 15, 1884 | ![]() |
|
13 | Win | 7β0β5 (1) | ![]() |
KO | 7 (?) | Sep 4, 1884 | ![]() |
|
12 | Draw | 6β0β5 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Jul 8, 1884 | ![]() |
|
11 | Draw | 6β0β4 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 6 | Apr 25, 1884 | ![]() |
|
10 | Win | 6β0β3 (1) | ![]() |
TKO | 9 (?) | Mar 6, 1884 | ![]() |
Won vacant Lightweight Championship of New York Queensberry Rules & hard gloves |
9 | Win | 5β0β3 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 2 | Mar 4, 1884 | ![]() |
|
8 | Win | 4β0β3 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Mar 2, 1884 | ![]() |
|
7 | Win | 3β0β3 (1) | ![]() |
TKO | 3 (4) | Feb 28, 1884 | ![]() |
|
6 | Win | 2β0β3 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 2 | Feb 14, 1884 | ![]() |
|
5 | Draw | 1β0β3 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 8 | Feb 10, 1884 | ![]() |
|
4 | Win | 1β0β2 (1) | ![]() |
KO | 3 (?) | Jan 15, 1884 | ![]() |
|
3 | Draw | 0β0β2 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 7 (4) | Oct 25, 1883 | ![]() |
|
2 | Draw | 0β0β1 (1) | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Sep 17, 1883 | ![]() |
|
1 | NC | 0β0 (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 |
Referencesβ»
- ^ "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 linksβ»
- Boxing record for Jack Dempsey from BoxRec (registration required)
- Jack 'Nonpareil' Dempsey at Find a Grave
Achievements | ||
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Inaugural Champion | World Middleweight Champion July 30, 1884 – January 14, 1891 |
Succeeded by |