Jack Dempsey vs Georges Carpentier

Jack Dempsey vs. Georges Carpentier, 2nd July 1921

The Start of Something New

Before the 20’s, boxing  matches were simply known as ‘the fights’. Then came the intuition of the acquisitive money makers, Tex Rickard and ‘Doc’ Kearns, and then the fights were upgraded to events, with glamour and prestige that demanded international attention and intrigue. The first match to trigger this pattern was the bout between the heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey and light heavyweight champion Georges Carpentier.

Trendsetting

Tex Rickard was the man responsible for enforcing security at boxing matches making it a place for women and children to attend, rather than simply being a place for testosterone-filled men to go to as an alternative to the bar. Rickard also started to enforce seating regulations to fights in order to install that event-type feeling. He made giant strives with the Dempsey-Carpentier fight by making it available on radio broadcasting, which had never been done before. Smart promotion always transcends the perception of sports with creative use of the media, and whilst it may not seem impressive today, it certainly was at the time.

Significance

If you look at history’s biggest fights, and most famous boxers, what you’ll realise is that they represent symbols and values to evoke emotions in the public to create bigger interest. The fight between Dempsey and Carpentier was one of the earliest match ups in which promoters starting manipulating the images of fighters to embody certain values and connect to massive audiences. The fight was even billed as good vs. evil, `due to the fact Dempsey hadn’t joined the army, whilst Carpentier was a respected former military pilot. Such was the interest that the Tex managed to create, Americans swarmed to public spaces, such as in Times Square, to see the fight.

Record Breaking Numbers

The fight was the first ever boxing match to generate 1 million dollars at the gate The third ‘Fight of the Century’ saw Dempsey guaranteed $300,000 and Carpentier $200,000, with each man receiving 25% of the motion picture rights. Rickard borrowed $250,000 to build a 91,000 capacity stadium which sold out and would include a host of celebrities in attendance.

The Fight

As the fight got underway, Carpentier broke his hand whilst hitting a Dempsey. Needless to say, fighting the savage Dempsey with one hand may be a close alternative to suicide. Dempsey put Carpentier down in the fourth round, ending the fight to retain his title. Dempsey managed to charm over the public by helping Carpentier to his feet after he knocked him out. Dempsey’s career catapulted afterwards, and he enjoyed life as a celebrity in the limelight starring in several Hollywood productions after, that all started with a piece of promotional magic that would change the course of boxing forever.