Nonpareil Jack Dempsey

This article is about the 19th-century boxing champion. For the 20th-century boxing champion, see Jack Dempsey. For other uses, see Jack Dempsey (disambiguation).

John Edward Kelly (December 15, 1862 – November 1, 1895) was an Irish-born American boxer, better known as Nonpareil Jack Dempsey, who was the first holder of the World Middleweight Championship (1884–1891). He was nicknamed "Nonpareil" because of his reputation of being unbeatable.

Nonpareil Jack Dempsey
Born	John Edward Kelly (1862-12-15)December 15, 1862 Curran, County Kildare, Ireland, U.K.
Died	November 1, 1895(1895-11-01) (aged 32) Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Nationality	American[1]
Statistics
Weight(s)	Middleweight
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	69; with the inclusion of newspaper decisions
Wins	51 (official); 52 (unofficial)
Wins by KO	24
Losses	3
Draws	11
No contests	3

Biography

Dempsey was born on December 15, 1862, in Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. He won the middleweight title on July 30, 1884, by defeating George Fulljames in Great Kills, Staten Island, New York. He held the title for over six years, defending the title against two fighters during the reign.^[2]

Fitzsimmons knocks down Dempsey in New Orleans, 1891.

In Dempsey's first 65 contests, he lost only three times: to George LaBlanche (a loss he avenged) and to Billy Baker twice (both bouts were fixed to have Baker win).^[3] This ended when Bob Fitzsimmons pummeled him around the ring and begged him to concede before he was hurt any more. Dempsey, the reigning champion, would not give up; the fight continued and Fitzsimmons knocked him out in round 13. In his final bout, Dempsey, suffering from tuberculosis, lost to Tommy Ryan.

Though Dempsey beat his first battle with tuberculosis, he died at age 32 at the Portland, Oregon, home of his wife's parents on November 1, 1895, due to a recurrence of the disease.^[4] He was buried in an initially unmarked grave at Mount Calvary Cemetery. M. James Brady, Dempsey's father-in-law, refused to permit former World Champion John L. Sullivan and John S. Barnes to raise funds to erect a monument over Dempsey's grave. The family believed that a four-foot marble shaft was a sufficient memorial. The matter was thus dropped.^[5]

Dempsey was inducted into the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame in 1954, and into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.^[6]

Professional boxing record

69 fights	51 wins	3 losses
By knockout	24	3
By decision	27	0
Draws	11
No contests	3
Newspaper decisions/draws	1

All newspaper decisions are regarded as "no decision" bouts as they have "resulted in neither boxer winning or losing, and would therefore not count as part of their official fight record."

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
69	Loss	51–3–11 (4)	Tommy Ryan	TKO	3 (15)	Jan 18, 1895	Sea Side A.C., Coney Island
68	Draw	51–2–11 (4)	Billy McCarthy	PTS	20	Sep 5, 1895	Auditorium Club, New Orleans
67	Win	51–2–10 (4)	Billy Keough	PTS	4	Feb 28, 1893	Pastime A.C., Portland
66	Loss	50–2–10 (4)	Bob Fitzsimmons	RTD	13 (?)	Jan 14, 1891	California A.C., San Francisco	Lost world middleweight title
65	Win	50–1–10 (4)	Billy McCarthy	TKO	28 (?)	Feb 18, 1890	California A.C., San Francisco	Retained world middleweight title
64	Loss	49–1–10 (4)	George LaBlanche	KO	32 (?)	Aug 27, 1889	California A.C., San Francisco
63	Win	49–0–10 (4)	Mike Dempsey	KO	7 (?)	Aug 22, 1889	San Francisco
62	Draw	48–0–10 (4)	Mike Donovan	PTS	6	Nov 15, 1888	Palace Rink, Williamsburg
61	Win	48–0–9 (4)	James Stevens	PTS	4	Apr 23, 1888	Grand Theater, Williamsburg
60	Win	47–0–9 (4)	Billy Baker	PTS	10	Feb 18, 1888	Adelphia Theatre, Buffalo
59	Win	46–0–9 (4)	Dominick McCaffrey	PTS	10	Jan 31, 1888	Pavonia Rink, Jersey City
58	Win	45–0–9 (4)	John Reagan	TKO	45 (?)	Dec 13, 1887	Long Island
57	Win	44–0–9 (4)	Bill Gabig	PTS	4	Nov 5, 1887	Grand Central Theater, Wilmington
56	Win	43–0–9 (4)	Denny Kelliher	PTS	4	Nov 3, 1887	Grand Central Theater, Wilmington
55	Win	42–0–9 (4)	Frank Bosworth	PTS	4	Nov 1, 1887	Grand Central Theater, Wilmington
54	Win	41–0–9 (4)	Ned McCann	PTS	4	Oct 31, 1887	Grand Central Theater, Wilmington
53	Win	40–0–9 (4)	Billy Dacey	PTS	4	Oct 15, 1887	Hoboken Casino, Hoboken
52	Win	39–0–9 (4)	Jim McHugh	PTS	4	Oct 13, 1887	Hoboken Casino, Hoboken
51	Win	38–0–9 (4)	Eddie Reede	PTS	6	Oct 10, 1887	Hoboken Casino, Hoboken
50	Draw	37–0–9 (4)	Reddy Gallagher	PTS	6	May 2, 1887	Frankfort St. Gym, Cleveland
49	NC	37–0–8 (4)	Billy Baker	ND	4	Apr 9, 1887	Adelphia Theatre, Buffalo
48	Win	37–0–8 (3)	Denny Killen	PTS	4	Feb 5, 1887	Theatre Comique, Philadelphia
47	Win	36–0–8 (3)	Jack Langdon	PTS	4	Feb 2, 1887	Theatre Comique, Philadelphia
46	Win	35–0–8 (3)	Mike Boded	PTS	10	Jan 31, 1887	Theatre Comique, Philadelphia
45	Draw	34–0–8 (3)	Jack Burke	PTS	10	Nov 22, 1886	Mechanic's Pavilion, San Francisco
44	Win	34–0–7 (3)	Ed Moehler	PTS	4	May 25, 1886	Leland Rink, Minneapolis
43	Win	33–0–7 (3)	Paddy Norton	TKO	4 (5)	May 20, 1886	Exposition Rink, Saint Paul
42	Win	32–0–7 (3)	Jimmy Ryan	PTS	4	Apr 30, 1886	Philadelphia
41	Win	31–0–7 (3)	Charle McCarthy	PTS	4	Apr 28, 1886	Theatre Comique, Philadelphia
40	Win	30–0–7 (3)	Ned McCann	KO	4 (4)	Apr 26, 1886	Comique Theatre, Philadelphia
39	Win	29–0–7 (3)	George LaBlanche	TKO	13 (?)	Mar 14, 1886	Larchmont	Won inaugural world middleweight title
38	Win	28–0–7 (3)	Pete McCoy	PTS	6	Feb 24, 1886	Oakland Avenue Rink, Jersey City
37	Win	27–0–7 (3)	Jack Fogarty	TKO	27 (?)	Feb 2, 1886	Clarendon Hall, New York
36	Win	26–0–7 (3)	Jim Murray	PTS	4	Jan 15, 1886	Germania Assembly Rooms, New York
35	Win	25–0–7 (3)	Tom Henry	PTS	4	Jan 15, 1886	Germania Assembly Rooms, New York
34	NC	24–0–7 (3)	Mike Donovan	NC	4	Jan 15, 1886	Germania Assembly Rooms, New York
33	Win	24–0–7 (2)	Tom Berry	TKO	6 (10)	Dec 14, 1885	Portland
32	Win	23–0–7 (2)	Dave Campbell	KO	3 (8)	Nov 2, 1885	Portland
31	Win	22–0–7 (2)	Tom Norton	TKO	4 (6)	Sep 12, 1885	Armory Hall, Sacramento
30	Win	21–0–7 (2)	Young Billy Manning	TKO	8 (?)	Aug 29, 1885	Turnverein Hall, Los Angeles
29	Win	20–0–7 (2)	Jack Keenan	KO	2 (?)	Jul 20, 1885	San Francisco
28	Win	19–0–7 (2)	Jim Carr	KO	9 (?)	Jun 5, 1885	Wigwam Theatre, San Francisco
27	Win	18–0–7 (2)	Tommy Cleary	KO	5 (?)	May 11, 1885	Mechanic's Pavilion, San Francisco
26	Win	17–0–7 (2)	Tom Barry	KO	5 (?)	May 4, 1885	Mechanic's Pavilion, San Francisco
25	Win	16–0–7 (2)	Charles Bixamos	KO	5 (?)	Mar 19, 1885	Sportsmen's Park, New Orleans
24	Win	15–0–7 (2)	Jim Fell	PTS	4	Jan 22, 1885	Athletic Hall, New York
23	Draw	14–0–7 (2)	Bill Frazier	PTS	4	Jan 12, 1885	New York
22	Win	14–0–6 (2)	Jimmy Ryan	TKO	4 (4)	Jan 12, 1885	New York
21	Win	13–0–6 (2)	George Wilson	NWS	4	Dec 15, 1884	Clarks Club, Philadelphia
20	Win	13–0–6 (1)	Mike Malone	TKO	2 (?)	Nov 30, 1884	Philadelphia
19	Win	12–0–6 (1)	Bill Frazier	TKO	5 (?)	Nov 20, 1884	New York
18	Win	11–0–6 (1)	Tom Ferguson	PTS	4	Nov 6, 1884	Harry Hill's, New York
17	Win	10–0–6 (1)	Tom Henry	PTS	6	Oct 24, 1884	Eighth-Street Theatre, New York
16	Win	9–0–6 (1)	Bob Turnbull	PTS	8	Oct 8, 1884	Billy Madden's Athletic Hall, New York
15	Draw	8–0–6 (1)	Jimmy Ryan	PTS	7	Sep 15, 1884	Clark's Theatre, Philadelphia
14	Win	8–0–5 (1)	Mike Dempsey	KO	7 (?)	Sep 4, 1884	Rockaway
13	Win	7–0–5 (1)	George Fulljames	TKO	21 (?)	July 30, 1884	Staten Island, New York	Claimed world middleweight title
12	Draw	6–0–5 (1)	Tom Henry	PTS	4	Jul 8, 1884	Rockaway Beach, Queens
11	Draw	6–0–4 (1)	Jack Hayes	PTS	6	Apr 25, 1884	New York
10	Win	6–0–3 (1)	Bill Dacey	TKO	9 (?)	Mar 6, 1884	Campbell's Hotel, Coney Island	Won vacant Lightweight Championship of New York Queensberry Rules & hard gloves
9	Win	5–0–3 (1)	Tommy Sullivan	PTS	2	Mar 4, 1884	New York
8	Win	4–0–3 (1)	Joe Hennesey	PTS	4	Mar 2, 1884	New York
7	Win	3–0–3 (1)	Jim Barry	TKO	3 (4)	Feb 28, 1884	Billy Madden's Athletic Hall, New York
6	Win	2–0–3 (1)	Jim Fell	PTS	2	Feb 14, 1884	New York
5	Draw	1–0–3 (1)	Joe Heiser	PTS	8	Feb 10, 1884	Williamsburg, Brooklyn
4	Win	1–0–2 (1)	William Mahoney	KO	3 (?)	Jan 15, 1884	New York
3	Draw	0–0–2 (1)	Bob Turnbull	PTS	7 (4)	Oct 25, 1883	Clarendon Hall, New York
2	Draw	0–0–1 (1)	Tom McAlpine	PTS	4	Sep 17, 1883	Harry Hill's, New York
1	NC	0–0 (1)	Harry Force	NC	11 (?)	Sep 3, 1883	Coney Island, Brooklyn	Police intervened at Blissville (now part of Long Island City) and fight moved to Coney Island. It was never completed