Dempsey-Firpo Called ‘Fight of All the Ages’

Everyone figured it would be an entertaining fight--two heavyweights, both in their prime, both with go-for-broke, end-it-early styles.

But no one was prepared for what happened.

Seventy-six years ago today, heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey and Argentine challenger Luis Angel Firpo produced a boxing classic, one that writer Frank Menke described 20 years later as, “The fight of all the ages.”

It happened at New York’s Polo Grounds, before 85,800 inside the stadium and 25,000 outside, who rioted when the “sold out” signs went up.

Dempsey had been champion since 1919. Firpo was a crude, powerfully built slugger known as “the Wild Bull of the Pampas.”

The live gate came to $1.25 million--$468,750 going to Dempsey, $156,250 to Firpo.

And never did two fighters earn their paychecks as these two did.

The fight lasted 3 minutes 57 seconds, not even two rounds, but there were nine knockdowns.

Mostly, though, it had what remains one of the most stunning sights of 20th century sports--Jack Dempsey, the invincible heavyweight champion, knocked completely out of the ring.

Firpo had been down three times in a wild first round when he had Dempsey against the ropes. When Firpo hit Dempsey on the chin with a thunderous right hand, Dempsey’s head snapped back and he sailed over the middle rope, landing on his back on sportswriter Jack Lawrence’s typewriter.

Dempsey, dazed and unable to regain his feet, flailed and thrashed about on the press table, while the referee began a count. In one wild lurch, Dempsey inadvertently punched judge Kid McPartland, giving him a black eye.

Reporters helped Dempsey into the ring, where he knocked Firpo down again before the round ended. Then Dempsey dropped Firpo for good with a right hand less than a minute into the second round.

Of Dempsey’s being knocked out of the ring, writer Bugs Baer later wrote:

“If the fight had been held on a barge [a common practice when boxing was illegal in New York], Firpo would be champion because Dempsey would have drowned.”

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Also on this date: In 1968, Denny McLain became baseball’s first 30-game winner in 34 years. He’s also the last pitcher to have won 30. He finished 31-6 that season, with a 1.96 ERA. . . . In 1955, Cleveland pitcher Herb Score broke Grover Cleveland Alexander’s rookie strikeout record with his 235th of the season. He finished with 245.

In 1990, Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. hit consecutive home runs in the first inning off the Angels’ Kirk McCaskill at Anaheim. . . . In 1994, the baseball season, after a 34-day player strike, was canceled. . . . In 1995, the Walter A. Haas Jr. family sold the Oakland A’s to Steve Schott and Ken Hofmann for $85 million. . . . In 1996, Mark McGwire became the 13th player to hit 50 home runs in a season.