Seven British heavyweights, including Dillian Whyte and emerging contenders Joe Joyce and Daniel Dubois, are in action later this month.
Coincidence? Maybe. Or they might just be honouring one of the all-time greats, Jack Dempsey.
It is impossible to overstate the significance of Dempsey to boxing at the turn of the 20th century. In those days before television, he was talked about more than the president of the United States.
Thursday, July 4, marked the 100th anniversary of his emphatic victory over Jess Willard in Toledo.
More than 200 reporters were ringside for what was regarded as the biggest sporting event the United States had seen.
Dempsey had Willard over inside 30 seconds, breaking his jaw and feeding the frenzy building around him.
Willard was down SEVEN times in that first round and the fight was over in four, crowning Dempsey the ninth world heavyweight champion following John L Sullivan, James Corbett, Bob Fitzsimmons, James Jeffries, Marvin Hart, Tommy Burns, Jack Johnson and Willard.
The title was, though, unofficial.
Two years later, Dempsey defended against French dandy Georges Carpentier in what was the first world title fight sanctioned by an official body, the National Boxing Association — later to become the WBA.
The clamour for the fight was off the scale. Carpentier was a glamorous figure, the world light heavyweight champion who had seen action in the First World War. As a result he was cast as the hero.
They built a one-off, pop-up arena in New Jersey to meet the demand. A crowd of more than 80,000 generated gate receipts of $1.7m, the first million-dollar take in the history of the sport. Deploying the biggest radio transmitter ever built, the fight was broadcast to 61 American cities.
We had just entered the gloved era, giving the sport legitimacy.
Dempsey had spent half his career riding the railways and fist fighting. Nicknamed the Manassa Mauler after his Colorado hometown, he was terrifically exciting and reckless.
Carpentier weighed in at today’s super middleweight limit of 168 pounds. He was giving away a stone and a half, and wouldn’t get near a heavyweight title shot today.
Dempsey weighed in at only 188 pounds (13st 4lbs) and was 6ft 1in tall. The guy wouldn’t even be a cruiserweight now.
It begs the question how he would go against our 21st century behemoths. Well, he demolished Willard, who was 6ft 6in and 245lb (albeit, at 35, he was also 11 years older). And look at a peak Mike Tyson. Under 6ft, but could beat anybody.
Dempsey blew through Carpentier in four rounds — the star of a new golden age.
Follow Barry on Twitter at @ClonesCyclone @McGuigans_Gym @CyclonePromo
