The Day in Sports : COUNTDOWN TO 2000 / A day-by-day recap of some of the most important sports moments of the 20th Century: SEPT. 22, 1927 : Tunney Survived When It Counted the Most

Because he perceived boxing as science and art, and because on this night he was smarter than his opponent, Gene Tunney held onto the heavyweight championship.

It’s been called both “the Fight of the Century” and “the Long Count Fight.”

But on the night Tunney survived a brutal knockdown and went on to convincingly beat Jack Dempsey, most conversation was about money. Attendance at Chicago’s Soldier Field has been variously estimated at 104,000 to 150,000.

The live gate came to $2,658,660, an astounding sum for 1927. In fact, it would hold up as a boxing record until the 1978 Ali-Spinks II fight drew $4.8 million.

Tunney-Dempsey II was a rematch of their 1926 fight, when, before 120,757 in Philadelphia, in a driving rain, Tunney won a decision. A ringside seat that night: $27.50. One year later: $40.

For the Chicago bout, a new rule was used: A fighter scoring a knockdown had to go to a neutral corner during the count.

Dempsey forgot. Huge mistake.

In the seventh round, a combination by Dempsey hurt Tunney on the ropes and a finishing hard right to the jaw put him on the deck. When the referee, Dave Barry, started to count, Dempsey hovered nearby. Barry stopped the count and took several seconds to remind Dempsey to go to a neutral corner.

Tunney, hurt badly, had what many estimated to be a 14-count to recover. He got up, survived the round on rubber legs, but finished strong and won the fight.

Tunney’s share of the purse was $990,000. He wrote a $10,000 check to promoter Tex Rickard, and Rickard then wrote him one for $1,000,000. Dempsey received $450,000.

Also on this date: In 1969, Willie Mays hit his 600th home run, at San Diego. . . . In 1993, the Rangers’ Nolan Ryan, 46, made his final baseball appearance and yielded a grand slam to Dann Howitt of Seattle, then later left the game with a torn elbow ligament. . . . In 1996, at Seattle, Mark McGwire hit two home runs in the fifth inning, the first a solo 473-foot blast, followed by a 481-foot grand slam, his 51st and 52nd homers.