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1920's Boxing
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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