The Long Count Fight
 The two boxers at Soldier Field on September 22, 1927 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | September 22, 1927 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Soldier Field in Chicago, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | World heavyweight championship | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Long Count Fight, or the Battle of the Long Count, was a professional boxing 10-round rematch between world heavyweight champion Gene Tunney and former champion Jack Dempsey, which Tunney won in a unanimous decision. It took place on September 22, 1927, at Soldier Field in Chicago. "Long Count" is applied to the fight because, when Tunney was knocked down in the seventh round, the count was delayed due to Dempsey's failure to go to and remain in a neutral corner. Whether this "long count" actually affected the outcome remains a subject of debate.
Just 364 days before, on September 23, 1926, Tunney had beaten Dempsey in ten rounds by unanimous decision to lift the world heavyweight title, at
The rematch was held at Chicago's Soldier Field, and would draw a gate of $2,658,660 (equivalent to $46,634,000 in 2023). It was the first $2 million gate in entertainment history.[citation needed] The match was broadcast by announcers Graham McNamee and Phillips Carlin to more than 60 NBC radio stations.[1]
Despite the fact that Tunney had won the first fight by a wide margin on the scorecards, the prospect of a second bout created tremendous public interest. Dempsey was one of the so-called "big five" sports legends of the 1920s,[citation needed] and it was widely rumored that he had refused to join the military during World War I.[citation needed] He actually had attempted to enlist in the Army, but had been turned down; a jury later exonerated Dempsey of draft evasion. Tunney, who enjoyed literature and the arts, was a former member of the United States Marine Corps. His nickname was "The Fighting Marine".
The fight took place under new rules regarding knockdowns: the fallen fighter would have 10 seconds to rise to his feet under his own power after his opponent had moved to a neutral corner (i.e., one with no trainers). The Dempsey camp requested the new rule, which was not yet universal, be used.[2] Dempsey, in the final days of training prior to the rematch, apparently ignored the setting of the new rule. Also, the fight was staged inside a 20-foot ring,[3] which favored the boxer with superior footwork, in this case Tunney. Dempsey liked to crowd his opponents, and normally fought in a 16-foot ring that offered less space to maneuver.
The fight
Tunney was, by most accounts, dominating the fight from rounds one to six, using his familiar style of boxing from a distance while looking for openings and, at the same time, building a points lead. Up until the end of round six, nothing indicated this fight would be far different from their original meeting.
In round seven, however, the 104,943[3] in attendance witnessed a moment that would live on in boxing history. With Tunney trapped against the ropes and near a corner, Dempsey unleashed a combination of punches that floored the champion. Two rights and two lefts landed on Tunney's chin and staggered him, and four more punches put him on the canvas. It was the first time in Tunney's career that he had been knocked down.
Apparently dizzy and disoriented, Tunney grabbed on to the ring's top rope with his left hand. Dempsey, who often stood over downed opponents and rushed back at them after they got up, looked down on Tunney. Referee
By the eighth round, Tunney had resumed boxing from a distance, and he floored Dempsey with a punch. This time, however, the referee started counting right away, before Tunney had moved to a neutral corner. Tunney then dominated the final two rounds and went on to retain the world title by a unanimous decision. After the fight, Dempsey lifted Tunney's arm and said, "You were best. You fought a smart fight, kid." It was Dempsey's last career fight, and Tunney's next-to-last.
Controversy
Controversy over the match promptly erupted. A significant factor in prolonging the controversy was that, at the time, U.S. law prohibited the transportation of boxing match movies across state lines (the law had been passed in 1912 in reaction to
To this day, however, boxing fans argue over whether Dempsey could or should have won the fight. What is not in dispute is that the public's affection for Dempsey grew in the wake of his two losses to Tunney. "In defeat, he gained more stature," wrote the
Tunney said that he had picked up the referee's count at "two," and could have gotten up at any point after that, preferring to wait until "nine" for obvious tactical reasons. Dempsey said, "I have no reason not to believe him. Gene's a great guy."
Dempsey later joined the United States Coast Guard, and he and Tunney became good friends who visited each other frequently. Tunney and Dempsey are both members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. In March 2011, the family of Gene Tunney donated the gloves he wore in the fight to The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.[5]
References
- ^ "Tunney-Dempsey Match Tonight at 10 O'Clock". The Boston Globe. September 22, 1927. p. 22.
- ^ "Jack Dempsey - The Idol of Fistiana by Nat Fleischer". Archived from the original on 2007-03-14.
- ^ a b "The Time Tunnel: 75th Anniversary of "The Long Count"".
- ^ Tim Goodman, "Boxing champ faced worst adversary outside the ring — "racism". San Francisco Chronicle, January 17, 2005.
- ^ Curry, John. "Gene Tunney’s Boxing Gloves from ‘The Long Count’ Donated", 3MoreRounds.com, March 21, 2011