World Heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey was one of the most important fighters of this era. He won the title in 1919 , keeping it until 1926 . He lost the title to Gene Tunney in 1926, but many of his fights were historic, such as his defenses against Georges Carpentier , Luis Firpo and Tom Gibbons , a fight which almost left the town of Shelby, Montana bankrupt. His 1927 rematch against Tunney became known in boxing history as '' The Long Count Fight ''. Dempsey became a household name, and he dated and married Hollywood actresses. He was, along with '' Babe Ruth '', Red Grange , Bill Tilden and Bobby Jones , one of the so-called ''Big five of sports''.
Other important boxers included Benny Lynch and '' Panama Al Brown ''. the first Hispanic to be a world champion.
Because Airline s lacked the structured schedules of the modern days, many boxers had to make their way to important fights by Train .
In 1921 , the National Boxing Association was formed. It was the predecessor of what is known now as the WBA . Tex Rickard was the leading promoter of the day, and he has been compared to P.T. Barnum and Don King . Ray Arcel was one of boxing's most well known trainers; he would retire as a trainer during this decade and then return fifty years later, to train Roberto Duran .
- March 17 - Mike McTigue of Ireland wins the world Light-Heavyweight title with a twenty round decision over '' Battling Siki '', in Dublin, Ireland .
- May 30 - Jack Bernstein wins the world Jr. Lightweight title with a fifteen round decision over Johnny Dundee , at New York .
- June 2 - French Eugene Criqui , who had sustained a shot on his mouth during World War I action, becomes the world Featherweight champion, beating Johnny Kilbane by a sixth round knockout in New York. Doctors had told Criqui he would never fight again after he was shot.
- June 18 - Pancho Villa becomes the Philippines first world boxing champion in history, knocking out world Flyweight champion Jimmy Wilde in seven rounds, at New York.
- July 4 - In one of boxing's most economically disastrous fights, Jack Dempsey retained his world Heavyweight crown with a fifteen round decision over Tommy Gibbons in Shelby, Montana . Dempsey's manager, Jack Kearns , had requested for the champion to be paid $300,000 Dollars , an amount that the 2,000 residents of Shelby could barely come up with. As a result, Shelby was declared bankrupt at the time.
- July 23 - Benny Leonard retains the world Lightweight title with a fifteen round decision over Lew Tendler in New York.
- September 14 - In one of boxing's most famous fights, Luis Firpo of Argentina comes within a second of becoming the first Hispanic world Heavyweight champion in history, dropping Jack Dempsey out of the ring and for a nine second count, but Firpo is himself dropped ten times as Dempsey retains the crown with a second round knockout, in New York.
- December 17 - Johnny Dundee recovers the world Jr. Lightweight title, with a fifteen round decision over Jack Bernstein, in their New York rematch.
- January 18 - Harry Greb regains the world Light-Heavyweight championship, with a fifteen round unanimous decision over champion Johnny Wilson , at New York .
- March 21 - Abe Goldstein , a Newspaper Writer turned boxer, wins the world Bantamweight title, with a fifteen round decision over Joe Lynch , at New York.
- June 2 - Mickey Walker retains the world Welterweight title, with a ten round decision over Lew Tendler , in Philadelphia .
- August 1 - world Lightweight champion Benny Leonard fights to a ten round no-decision with Pat Moran in a non-title bout at New York in what would be, at his mother's request, his last fight until 1931 .
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