Nickname #10 -- January 24, 2012

Nonpareil Jack Dempsey was a Nineteenth Century boxer who mostly fought as a middleweight. He started out fighting bare knuckle and later wore gloves.  He earned the nickname Nonpareil because we won something like 50 fights before his first defeat.  His original family name was Kelly.  He was a smart boxer with a good punch using either hand.  He won the world middleweight title in 1890 in San Francisco against Professor Billy McCarthy, and lost it the next year in New Orleans to Bob Fitzsimmons, who was later heavyweight champion.

The Twentieth Century heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey took his name from the Nonpareil.

Nonpareil Jack Dempsey died of tuberculosis in 1895.  He was 33 years old.  The image above shows him with his children.  It is from the 02-November-1895 San Francisco Call.

I enjoyed President Obama's State of the Union address tonight: "This nation is great because we built it together. This nation is great because we work as a team. This nation is great because we get each other's back."