Boxing’s Greats of the States | Colorado: Jack Dempsey

Boxers come from every corner of the globe. Sometimes, fighters are products of their environment, favoring styles prevalent in the country or state from which they hail. Various regions of the United States are considered factories for great fighters, though that certainly is not the case with each state. In this weekly Sherdog.com series, the spotlight will shine on the best boxer of all-time from each of the 50 states. Fighters do not necessarily need to be born in a given state to represent it; they simply need to be associated with it. For example, all-time great heavyweight legend Joe Louis was born in Alabama, but he is identified almost universally with Detroit.

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It may not be that well-known, but Colorado has a rich history in boxing. Some great pugilists have come through the Centennial State, but none had more of an impact on the Sweet Science than Jack Dempsey.

Considered one of the hardest punchers of all-time, Dempsey has long been revered as one of the greatest heavyweights the sport has ever seen. He ruled boxing and was second only to Babe Ruth in terms of stardom in America in the 1920s. He captured the heavyweight championship in 1919 and held onto it until 1926 -- a reign of terror that saw him compete in some of the highest-profile bouts in history to that point.

Nicknamed for the Colorado town in which he was born, “The Manassa Mauler” scored wins over icons Jess Willard, Jack Sharkey, Luis Firpo, Billy Miske and Georges Carpentier, knocking out all of them. Dempsey was defeated in his two legendary brawls with fellow all-time great Gene Tunney in 1926 and 1927, losing both battles by decision. Some of his fights were so massive that they filled up Yankee Stadium, Soldier Field, the Polo Grounds and, of course, Madison Square Garden.

Dempsey retired with an overall record of 65-6-11 with 51 KOs. After his fighting career was over, he became a philanthropist and even joined the Coast Guard to help fight in World War II. To this day, old-time boxing historians claim Dempsey, small for a heavyweight by today’s standards, could have easily knocked out everybody from Muhammad Ali to Mike Tyson.

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