July 2, 1921: Dempsey vs. Carpentier

On July 2, 1921, more than 90,000 people packed into Boyle's Thirty Acres in New Jersey to watch American Jack Dempsey defend his title against Frenchman George Carpentier in what was billed as "The Fight of the Century", it would hardly live up to the billing as most experts believed Dempsey would dominate and they were right. From the second the match started Dempsey was on the offensive, he worked the body of his opponent at every opportunity to take away Carpentier's strength which was more of a long range style of fighting. Dempsey who was known as "The Manassa Mauler" absolutely mauled his opponent as the fight continued until the fourth round when he finally put him away. Just one minute and sixteen seconds into the fourth Dempsey rocked Carpentier with a combo that sent him crashing to the canvas, he would regain his footing at the count of nine, he looked like he was ready to continue but that would only last a couple seconds. Carpentier hardly had a chance as Dempsey came at him with a hard right to the ribs, then a crushing right hook to the jaw, Carpentier hit the canvas once again, at the count of eight he made a feeble attempt at getting off the mat but just couldn't do it. Dempsey would retain the title he had held since July 4th of 1919. The match produced a number of firsts, it was the first to feature a legitimate European challenger, the first to be nationally broadcast on radio, and the first to bring in more than 1 million dollars at the gate. Dempsey held the title until 1926 when he lost to Gene Tunney.