Jack dempsey biography video of alberta

(1895-1983)

Who Was Jack Dempsey?

As a boy, Jack Dempsey he worked as a farm hand, miner and cowboy and was taught to box by his older brother. Dempsey's early prize fights were in mining towns around Salt Lake City but on July 4, 1919, he beat Jess Willard "The Great White Hope," and became world heavyweight champion.

He defended his title five times but lost to Gene Tunney in 1926.

Early Years

Born William Harrison Dempsey on June 24, 1895, in Manassa, Colorado, Dempsey's parents, Hyrum and Celia Dempsey, were originally from West Virginia, where his father had worked as a schoolteacher.

Around 1880, a missionary group of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints visited Dempsey's parents and converted them. Soon after, they moved west to the tiny Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints village of Manassa in southern Colorado, where Dempsey was born.

Although Hyrum later abandoned the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Sain