Carpentier was the world Light-Heavyweight champion, having beaten Battling Levinsky by a fourth-round knockout in his previous bout to win the title at Westside Ballpark in Jersey City.

[6] Despite the fact the bout was held in the United States, Dempsey, the American defending champion, was cast as an anti-hero whereas Carpentier, the French challenger, was seen as a hero by fans.

Julius Hopp was a concert organizer at the Madison Square Garden, and he asked Rickard for permission to broadcast the fight live on radio.

John Ringling, Rickard's Madison Square Garden partner, opposed live transmission of the bout, but he relented once a compromise was reached to have radio equipment located outside instead of inside the arena.

It was built by General Electric and set up at the Lackawanna train terminal in Hoboken, from where the bout was transmitted by a temporary station, WJY, operated by the Radio Corporation of America, to theaters, halls and auditoriums in 61 other cities across the United States.

[20] Less than a minute into the fourth round, Dempsey's relentless pressure resulted in Carpentier being floored with a stinging left-right combination from the champion.

However, the fight ended shortly thereafter, at one minute and 16 seconds of round four, when Dempsey knocked out Carpentier with another combination that included a hard right hook to the body.

[4] The Jack Dempsey versus Georges Carpentier bout was the first boxing fight to produce $1,000,000 in revenue, or a "million dollar gate" at a then record of $1,789,238.

This can be attributed to the favorable pre-fight press Carpentier had received in many New York City newspapers that portrayed him as a dashing, handsome and stylish French war hero.

In 1927, Dempsey attempted to regain the title from Tunney in what became known as The Long Count Fight, but again lost by ten rounds decision.