Of the great heavyweight fighters in history Gene Tunney barely gets a mention. Fighting as a light heavyweight for much of his career, Tunney won the title late in his career only defended his belt twice, beating Jack Dempsey a second time and then capping his career with a victory over Tom Heeney. Tunney would lose only once in his career.

Known as the “Fighting Marine” for his non-combat service during The First World War, Tunney was a unique fighter, known for his defensive style and boxing skills inside the ring and for his cerebral nature and his well-rounded intellect outside of the ring. As Paul Beston noted in The Boxing Kings, Tunney’s love of serious literature and the reading of Shakespeare made him unique among heavyweight boxers but didn’t necessarily endear him to the 1920’s fight crowd.

Sportswriter Paul Gallico, best known for his famous short story The Snow Goose, who said of Tunney, “I think Tunney has hurt his own game with this cultural nonsense.”

Heavyweight boxer Jack Dempsey was the biggest sports figure of the roaring twenties, arguably Boxing’s first superstar. Dempsey’s two late career losses to the “Fighting Marine” Gene Tunney, the second defeat via the controversial “long count” bout, drew over 100,000 fans in Philadelphia and Chicago respectively, attendance numbers unrivaled in boxing history.

On July 21, 1927 Dempsey fought the heavily favored Jack Sharkey at Yankee Stadium in front of 82,000 fans. A crowd that size to see two heavyweight contenders battle is indicative of how much of a draw Dempsey was.

Here is the pivotal moment in the fight as described by Roger Kahn in his excellent book A Flame of Pure Fire: Jack Dempsey and the Roaring ‘20s.

As described by Kahn:

Plato and Gene Tunney: Cultivating the Mind and Exercising the Intellect

Let Your Guard Down