His parents were Mary Celia (née Smoot) and Hiram Dempsey, and his ancestry included Scottish, Irish, Cherokee, and a Jewish paternal great-great-grandmother.

[7] Hiram Dempsey and his family returned to Logan County when Jack was a small boy where he was raised until shortly before commencement of his boxing career.

Jack remained here until a young man, having been employed by the Gay Coal and Coke Company as late as 1913, and then went west alone to seek pugilistic fortune.

He met Jack Kearns on the Pacific coast, from which point his spectacular climb to the pinnacle of the heavyweight division furnished the sport with one of its most romantic episodes.

Avis, sports editor of The Banner, used to set up pins in a bowling alley on the Main street corner now occupied by the Logan garage.

After his death, Mrs. Smoot (Jack Dempsey's grandmother) married Simpson Ellis, who died but a few years ago, after serving a long period on the county court.

Her departure yielded an additional story: By the time they reached Sharples, Mrs. Dempsey missed a hatbox containing a $3500 watch, a gift from her famous son, and two valuable rings.

[15] For a short time, Dempsey was a part-time bodyguard for Thomas F. Kearns, president of The Salt Lake Tribune and son of Utah's U.S.

Upon learning Copelin had sparred with then current world heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, and given Bernie Dempsey was nearing 40 years of age, he strategically decided to back out of the fight.

The promoter reluctantly permitted the fight to commence, and in his first outing as "Jack Dempsey", the future champion downed Copelin six times in the first round and twice in the second.

During this early part of his career, Dempsey campaigned in Utah, frequently entering fights in towns in the Wasatch Mountain Range region.

This remained a black mark on his reputation until 1920, when evidence produced showed he had registered with the U.S. Army, but been exempted due to hardship (having a dependent wife).

Pro lightweight fighter Benny Leonard predicted a victory for the 6'1", 187-pound Dempsey even though Willard, known as the "Pottawatamie Giant", was 6'6+1⁄2" tall and 245 pounds.

[22] After being fired by Dempsey, manager Jack Kearns gave an account of the fight in the January 20, 1964, issue of Sports Illustrated that has become known as the "loaded gloves theory".

Deforest himself said that he regarded the stories of Dempsey's gloves being loaded as libel, calling them "trash", and said he did not apply any foreign substance to them, "which I can verify since I watched the taping.

[22] In the Los Angeles Times on July 3, 1979, Joe Stone, an ex-referee and boxing writer, asserted that in a film taken of the fight, an object on the canvas could be seen after the final knockdown.

During this time away from competitive fighting, Dempsey married actress Estelle Taylor in 1925 and fired his long-time trainer/manager Jack "Doc" Kearns.

"[29] Fifty-five years later president Ronald Reagan borrowed this quote when his wife Nancy visited him in the emergency room after the attempt on his life.

It was during this time period that tragedy struck his family when his brother, John Dempsey, shot his estranged wife Edna (aged 21) and then killed himself in a murder–suicide, leaving behind a two-year-old son, Bruce.

[44] Dempsey was losing the fight on points when in the seventh round he knocked Tunney down with a left hook to the chin then landed several more punches.

In June 1932, he sponsored the "Ride of Champions" bucking horse event at Reno, Nevada, with the "Dempsey Trophy" going to legendary bronc rider Pete Knight.

In 1933, Dempsey was approached by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to portray a boxer in the film, The Prizefighter and the Lady, directed by W. S. Van Dyke and co-starring Myrna Loy.

[46] The Riviera del Pacifico Cultural and Convention Center in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, built in 1930, was a gambling casino supposedly financed by Al Capone and managed by Dempsey.

[47] Its clientele included George Raft, Errol Flynn, Myrna Loy, Lana Turner, Rita Hayworth, and Dolores del Río.

He reported for duty in June 1942 at Coast Guard Training Station, Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, New York, where he was assigned as "Director of Physical Education".

Six years later, on October 18, 1937, he refereed an entire show at the Jaffa Mosque in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where the main event was between Wally Dusek and Ray Steele.

[53] He famously refereed a match on June 21, 1950, between "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers and the NWA World's Heavyweight Champion Lou Thesz.

Thesz won the bout after getting Rogers stuck between the top and middle ropes in a choke hold, which prompted Dempsey to do a 10 count to signal a stoppage.

The 63 year old Dempsey took a shot to the back of the head, which prompted a scare for the promoter and ring-side crew, but did not have any major or life-threatening injuries as a result.

[59] He recounted an incident where he was assaulted while walking home at night, telling the press in 1971 that the two young muggers attempted to grab his arms, but he broke free and laid them both out cold on the sidewalk.