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Nonpareil Jack Dempsey
Nonpareil Jack Dempsey
Born	John Edward Kelly December 15, 1862 Curran, County Kildare, Ireland, U.K.
Died	November 1, 1895 (aged 32) Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Nationality	American
	Statistics
Weight(s)	Middleweight
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Stance	Orthodox
	Boxing record
Total fights	67
Wins	51
Wins by KO	23
Losses	3
Draws	11
No contests	1

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.

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]

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

68 fights	50 wins	3 losses
By knockout	23	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
68	Loss	50–3–11 (4)	Tommy Ryan	TKO	3 (15)	Jan 18, 1895	Sea Side A.C., Coney Island
67	Draw	50–2–11 (4)	Billy McCarthy	PTS	20	Sep 5, 1895	Auditorium Club, New Orleans
66	Win	50–2–10 (4)	Billy Keough	PTS	4	Feb 28, 1893	Pastime A.C., Portland
65	Loss	49–2–10 (4)	Bob Fitzsimmons	RTD	13 (?)	Jan 14, 1891	California A.C., San Francisco	Lost world middleweight title
64	Win	49–1–10 (4)	Billy McCarthy	TKO	28 (?)	Feb 18, 1890	California A.C., San Francisco	Retained world middleweight title
63	Loss	48–1–10 (4)	George LaBlanche	KO	32 (?)	Aug 27, 1889	California A.C., San Francisco
62	Win	48–0–10 (4)	Mike Dempsey	KO	7 (?)	Aug 22, 1889	San Francisco
61	Draw	47–0–10 (4)	Mike Donovan	PTS	6	Nov 15, 1888	Palace Rink, Williamsburg
60	Win	47–0–9 (4)	James Stevens	PTS	4	Apr 23, 1888	Grand Theater, Williamsburg
59	Win	46–0–9 (4)	Billy Baker	PTS	10	Feb 18, 1888	Adelphia Theatre, Buffalo
58	Win	45–0–9 (4)	Dominick McCaffrey	PTS	10	Jan 31, 1888	Pavonia Rink, Jersey City
57	Win	44–0–9 (4)	John Reagan	TKO	45 (?)	Dec 13, 1887	Long Island
56	Win	43–0–9 (4)	Bill Gabig	PTS	4	Nov 5, 1887	Grand Central Theater, Wilmington
55	Win	42–0–9 (4)	Denny Kelliher	PTS	4	Nov 3, 1887	Grand Central Theater, Wilmington
54	Win	41–0–9 (4)	Frank Bosworth	PTS	4	Nov 1, 1887	Grand Central Theater, Wilmington
53	Win	40–0–9 (4)	Ned McCann	PTS	4	Oct 31, 1887	Grand Central Theater, Wilmington
52	Win	39–0–9 (4)	Billy Dacey	PTS	4	Oct 15, 1887	Hoboken Casino, Hoboken
51	Win	38–0–9 (4)	Jim McHugh	PTS	4	Oct 13, 1887	Hoboken Casino, Hoboken
50	Win	37–0–9 (4)	Eddie Reede	PTS	6	Oct 10, 1887	Hoboken Casino, Hoboken
49	Draw	36–0–9 (4)	Reddy Gallagher	PTS	6	May 2, 1887	Frankfort St. Gym, Cleveland
48	NC	36–0–8 (4)	Billy Baker	ND	4	Apr 9, 1887	Adelphia Theatre, Buffalo
47	Win	36–0–8 (3)	Denny Killen	PTS	4	Feb 5, 1887	Theatre Comique, Philadelphia
46	Win	35–0–8 (3)	Jack Langdon	PTS	4	Feb 2, 1887	Theatre Comique, Philadelphia
45	Win	34–0–8 (3)	Mike Boded	PTS	10	Jan 31, 1887	Theatre Comique, Philadelphia
44	Draw	33–0–8 (3)	Jack Burke	PTS	10	Nov 22, 1886	Mechanic’s Pavilion, San Francisco
43	Win	33–0–7 (3)	Ed Moehler	PTS	4	May 25, 1886	Leland Rink, Minneapolis
42	Win	32–0–7 (3)	Paddy Norton	TKO	4 (5)	May 20, 1886	Exposition Rink, Saint Paul
41	Win	31–0–7 (3)	Jimmy Ryan	PTS	4	Apr 30, 1886	Philadelphia
40	Win	30–0–7 (3)	Charle McCarthy	PTS	4	Apr 28, 1886	Theatre Comique, Philadelphia
39	Win	29–0–7 (3)	Ned McCann	KO	4 (4)	Apr 26, 1886	Comique Theatre, Philadelphia
38	Win	28–0–7 (3)	George LaBlanche	TKO	13 (?)	Mar 14, 1886	Larchmont	Won inaugural world middleweight title
37	Win	27–0–7 (3)	Pete McCoy	PTS	6	Feb 24, 1886	Oakland Avenue Rink, Jersey City
36	Win	26–0–7 (3)	Jack Fogarty	TKO	27 (?)	Feb 2, 1886	Clarendon Hall, New York
35	Win	25–0–7 (3)	Jim Murray	PTS	4	Jan 15, 1886	Germania Assembly Rooms, New York
34	Win	24–0–7 (3)	Tom Henry	PTS	4	Jan 15, 1886	Germania Assembly Rooms, New York
33	NC	23–0–7 (3)	Mike Donovan	NC	4	Jan 15, 1886	Germania Assembly Rooms, New York
32	Win	23–0–7 (2)	Tom Berry	TKO	6 (10)	Dec 14, 1885	Portland
31	Win	22–0–7 (2)	Dave Campbell	KO	3 (8)	Nov 2, 1885	Portland
30	Win	21–0–7 (2)	Tom Norton	TKO	4 (6)	Sep 12, 1885	Armory Hall, Sacramento
29	Win	20–0–7 (2)	Young Billy Manning	TKO	8 (?)	Aug 29, 1885	Turnverein Hall, Los Angeles
28	Win	19–0–7 (2)	Jack Keenan	KO	2 (?)	Jul 20, 1885	San Francisco
27	Win	18–0–7 (2)	Jim Carr	KO	9 (?)	Jun 5, 1885	Wigwam Theatre, San Francisco
26	Win	17–0–7 (2)	Tommy Cleary	KO	5 (?)	May 11, 1885	Mechanic’s Pavilion, San Francisco
25	Win	16–0–7 (2)	Tom Barry	KO	5 (?)	May 4, 1885	Mechanic’s Pavilion, San Francisco
24	Win	15–0–7 (2)	Charles Bixamos	KO	5 (?)	Mar 19, 1885	Sportsmen’s Park, New Orleans
23	Win	14–0–7 (2)	Jim Fell	PTS	4	Jan 22, 1885	Athletic Hall, New York
22	Draw	13–0–7 (2)	Bill Frazier	PTS	4	Jan 12, 1885	New York
21	Win	13–0–6 (2)	Jimmy Ryan	TKO	4 (4)	Jan 12, 1885	New York
20	Win	12–0–6 (2)	George Wilson	NWS	4	Dec 15, 1884	Clarks Club, Philadelphia
19	Win	12–0–6 (1)	Mike Malone	TKO	2 (?)	Nov 30, 1884	Philadelphia
18	Win	11–0–6 (1)	Bill Frazier	TKO	5 (?)	Nov 20, 1884	New York
17	Win	10–0–6 (1)	Tom Ferguson	PTS	4	Nov 6, 1884	Harry Hill’s, New York
16	Win	9–0–6 (1)	Tom Henry	PTS	6	Oct 24, 1884	Eighth-Street Theatre, New York
15	Win	8–0–6 (1)	Bob Turnbull	PTS	8	Oct 8, 1884	Billy Madden’s Athletic Hall, New York
14	Draw	7–0–6 (1)	Jimmy Ryan	PTS	7	Sep 15, 1884	Clark’s Theatre, Philadelphia
13	Win	7–0–5 (1)	Mike Dempsey	KO	7 (?)	Sep 4, 1884	Rockaway
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