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Article: Dempsey-Tunney bout wages after 60 years // Fight won't go down for count
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- September 27, 1987
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright (null) Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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Sixty years ago, two fighters met in Chicago in the biggest
sporting event of the year, a drama that brought together all the
characters and currents of the whirling, dazzling Roaring '20s.
The "Long Count" fight between champion Gene Tunney and former
champion Jack Dempsey on Sept. 22, 1927, was an extravaganza in an
extravagant age, gilded by the richest gate in history and featuring
Hollywood stars, politicians and gangsters among 145,000 fans in
Soldier Field.
Neither boxer is around today to recall the epic struggle -
Tunney died in 1979 and Dempsey in 1983 - but history has recorded it
well.
It was the second battle between Dempsey, the scowling,
black-jawed "Manassa Mauler," ...