| Nonpareil Jack Dempsey | |
| Realname: | John Edward Kelly |
| Weight: | Middleweight |
| Height: | 1.73m (05.68feet) |
| Nationality: | American[1] |
| Birth Date: | December 15, 1862 |
| Birth Place: | Curran,, |
| Death Place: | Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Style: | Orthodox |
| Total: | 67 |
| Wins: | 51 |
| Ko: | 23 |
| Losses: | 4 |
| Draws: | 11 |
| No Contests: | 1 |
John Edward Kelly (December 15, 1862 – November 1, 1895) was an Irish-born American boxer, better known as Nonpareil Jack Dempsey, who was the first holder of the World Middleweight Championship (1884–1891). He was nicknamed "Nonpareil" because of his reputation of being unbeatable.
Dempsey was born on December 15, 1862, in Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. He won the middleweight title on July 30, 1884, by defeating George Fulljames in Great Kills, Staten Island, New York. He held the title for over six years, defending the title against two fighters during the reign.[2]
In Dempsey's first 65 contests, he lost only three times: to George LaBlanche (a loss he avenged) and to Billy Baker twice (both bouts were fixed to have Baker win).[3] This ended when Bob Fitzsimmons pummeled him around the ring and begged him to concede before he was hurt any more. Dempsey, the reigning champion, would not give up; the fight continued and Fitzsimmons knocked him out in round 13. In his final bout, Dempsey, suffering from tuberculosis, lost to Tommy Ryan.
Though Dempsey beat his first battle with tuberculosis, he died at age 32 at the Portland, Oregon, home of his wife's parents on November 1, 1895, due to a recurrence of the disease.[4] He was buried in an initially unmarked grave at Mount Calvary Cemetery. M. James Brady, Dempsey's father-in-law, refused to permit former World Champion John L. Sullivan and John S. Barnes to raise funds to erect a monument over Dempsey's grave. The family believed that a four-foot marble shaft was a sufficient memorial. The matter was thus dropped.[5]
Dempsey was inducted into the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame in 1954, and into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.[6]
All newspaper decisions are regarded as "no decision" bouts as they have "resulted in neither boxer winning or losing, and would therefore not count as part of their official fight record."
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round | Date | Location | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 68 | Loss | 50–3–11 |  Tommy Ryan | TKO | 3 (15) | Jan 18, 1895 | | ||
| 67 | Draw | 50–2–11 | Billy McCarthy | PTS | 20 | Sep 5, 1895 | | ||
| 66 | Win | 50–2–10 | Billy Keough | PTS | 4 | Feb 28, 1893 | | ||
| 65 | Loss | 49–2–10 | Bob Fitzsimmons | RTD | 13 (?) | Jan 14, 1891 | | ||
| 64 | Win | 49–1–10 | Billy McCarthy | TKO | 28 (?) | Feb 18, 1890 | | ||
| 63 | Loss | 48–1–10 |  George LaBlanche | KO | 32 (?) | Aug 27, 1889 | | ||
| 62 | Win | 48–0–10 | Mike Dempsey | KO | 7 (?) | Aug 22, 1889 | | ||
| 61 | Draw | 47–0–10 | Mike Donovan | PTS | 6 | Nov 15, 1888 | | ||
| 60 | Win | 47–0–9 | James Stevens | PTS | 4 | Apr 23, 1888 | | ||
| 59 | Win | 46–0–9 | Billy Baker | PTS | 10 | Feb 18, 1888 | | ||
| 58 | Win | 45–0–9 | Dominick McCaffrey | PTS | 10 | Jan 31, 1888 | | ||
| 57 | Win | 44–0–9 | John Reagan | TKO | 45 (?) | Dec 13, 1887 | | ||
| 56 | Win | 43–0–9 | Bill Gabig | PTS | 4 | Nov 5, 1887 | | ||
| 55 | Win | 42–0–9 | Denny Kelliher | PTS | 4 | Nov 3, 1887 | | ||
| 54 | Win | 41–0–9 | Frank Bosworth | PTS | 4 | Nov 1, 1887 | | ||
| 53 | Win | 40–0–9 | Ned McCann | PTS | 4 | Oct 31, 1887 | | ||
| 52 | Win | 39–0–9 | Billy Dacey | PTS | 4 | Oct 15, 1887 | | ||
| 51 | Win | 38–0–9 | Jim McHugh | PTS | 4 | Oct 13, 1887 | | ||
| 50 | Win | 37–0–9 | Eddie Reede | PTS | 6 | Oct 10, 1887 | | ||
| 49 | Draw | 36–0–9 | Reddy Gallagher | PTS | 6 | May 2, 1887 | | ||
| 48 | 36–0–8 | Billy Baker | ND | 4 | Apr 9, 1887 | | |||
| 47 | Win | 36–0–8 | Denny Killen | PTS | 4 | Feb 5, 1887 | | ||
| 46 | Win | 35–0–8 | Jack Langdon | PTS | 4 | Feb 2, 1887 | | ||
| 45 | Win | 34–0–8 | Mike Boded | PTS | 10 | Jan 31, 1887 | | ||
| 44 | Draw | 33–0–8 | Jack Burke | PTS | 10 | Nov 22, 1886 | | ||
| 43 | Win | 33–0–7 | Ed Moehler | PTS | 4 | May 25, 1886 | | ||
| 42 | Win | 32–0–7 | Paddy Norton | TKO | 4 (5) | May 20, 1886 | | ||
| 41 | Win | 31–0–7 | Jimmy Ryan | PTS | 4 | Apr 30, 1886 | | ||
| 40 | Win | 30–0–7 | Charle McCarthy | PTS | 4 | Apr 28, 1886 | | ||
| 39 | Win | 29–0–7 | Ned McCann | KO | 4 (4) | Apr 26, 1886 | | ||
| 38 | Win | 28–0–7 | George LaBlanche | TKO | 13 (?) | Mar 14, 1886 | | ||
| 37 | Win | 27–0–7 | Pete McCoy | PTS | 6 | Feb 24, 1886 | | ||
| 36 | Win | 26–0–7 | Jack Fogarty | TKO | 27 (?) | Feb 2, 1886 | | ||
| 35 | Win | 25–0–7 | Jim Murray | PTS | 4 | Jan 15, 1886 | | ||
| 34 | Win | 24–0–7 | Tom Henry | PTS | 4 | Jan 15, 1886 | | ||
| 33 | 23–0–7 | Mike Donovan | NC | 4 | Jan 15, 1886 | | |||
| 32 | Win | 23–0–7 | Tom Berry | TKO | 6 (10) | Dec 14, 1885 | | ||
| 31 | Win | 22–0–7 | Dave Campbell | KO | 3 (8) | Nov 2, 1885 | | ||
| 30 | Win | 21–0–7 | Tom Norton | TKO | 4 (6) | Sep 12, 1885 | | ||
| 29 | Win | 20–0–7 | Young Billy Manning | TKO | 8 (?) | Aug 29, 1885 | | ||
| 28 | Win | 19–0–7 | Jack Keenan | KO | 2 (?) | Jul 20, 1885 | | ||
| 27 | Win | 18–0–7 | Jim Carr | KO | 9 (?) | Jun 5, 1885 | | ||
| 26 | Win | 17–0–7 | Tommy Cleary | KO | 5 (?) | May 11, 1885 | | ||
| 25 | Win | 16–0–7 | Tom Barry | KO | 5 (?) | May 4, 1885 | | ||
| 24 | Win | 15–0–7 | Charles Bixamos | KO | 5 (?) | Mar 19, 1885 | | ||
| 23 | Win | 14–0–7 | Jim Fell | PTS | 4 | Jan 22, 1885 | | ||
| 22 | Draw | 13–0–7 | Bill Frazier | PTS | 4 | Jan 12, 1885 | | ||
| 21 | Win | 13–0–6 | Jimmy Ryan | TKO | 4 (4) | Jan 12, 1885 | | ||
| 20 | Win | 12–0–6 | George Wilson | NWS | 4 | Dec 15, 1884 | | ||
| 19 | Win | 12–0–6 | Mike Malone | TKO | 2 (?) | Nov 30, 1884 | | ||
| 18 | Win | 11–0–6 | Bill Frazier | TKO | 5 (?) | Nov 20, 1884 | | ||
| 17 | Win | 10–0–6 | Tom Ferguson | PTS | 4 | Nov 6, 1884 | | ||
| 16 | Win | 9–0–6 | Tom Henry | PTS | 6 | Oct 24, 1884 | | ||
| 15 | Win | 8–0–6 | Bob Turnbull | PTS | 8 | Oct 8, 1884 | | ||
| 14 | Draw | 7–0–6 | Jimmy Ryan | PTS | 7 | Sep 15, 1884 | | ||
| 13 | Win | 7–0–5 | Mike Dempsey | KO | 7 (?) | Sep 4, 1884 | | ||
| 12 | Draw | 6–0–5 | Tom Henry | PTS | 4 | Jul 8, 1884 | | ||
| 11 | Draw | 6–0–4 | Jack Hayes | PTS | 6 | Apr 25, 1884 | | ||
| 10 | Win | 6–0–3 | Bill Dacey | TKO | 9 (?) | Mar 6, 1884 | | ||
| 9 | Win | 5–0–3 | Tommy Sullivan | PTS | 2 | Mar 4, 1884 | | ||
| 8 | Win | 4–0–3 | Joe Hennesey | PTS | 4 | Mar 2, 1884 | | ||
| 7 | Win | 3–0–3 | Jim Barry | TKO | 3 (4) | Feb 28, 1884 | | ||
| 6 | Win | 2–0–3 | Jim Fell | PTS | 2 | Feb 14, 1884 | | ||
| 5 | Draw | 1–0–3 | Joe Heiser | PTS | 8 | Feb 10, 1884 | | ||
| 4 | Win | 1–0–2 | William Mahoney | KO | 3 (?) | Jan 15, 1884 | | ||
| 3 | Draw | 0–0–2 | Bob Turnbull | PTS | 7 (4) | Oct 25, 1883 | | ||
| 2 | Draw | 0–0–1 | Tom McAlpine | PTS | 4 | Sep 17, 1883 | | ||
| 1 | 0–0 | Harry Force | NC | 11 (?) | Sep 3, 1883 | |
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