Dempsey v. Fish

Age 36, weight 190, onetime heavyweight Champion Jack Dempsey last week climbed into a Chicago ring opposite Harry Krakow ("Kingfish Levinsky"), 21-year-old Maxwell Street fish peddler, rated as the tenth best heavyweight in the U. S. The fight, billed as a four round exhibition bout, had drawn a record crowd of 23,332, most of whom expected Dempsey to win, as he himself had suggested, "with one punch." Instead, tottering a little on legs that are no longer capable of the delicate shifts of balance necessary to a fighter, Dempsey found himself unable to maneuver Levinsky into an opening for his solid left hook. Levinsky forced the fighting. In the fourth round, confident, unhurt, he made a gesture which Chicago fight spectators last saw after Dempsey knocked down Gene Tunney in 1927, a scornful wave of one glove which meant "Come on and fight." There was no official decision, but of 24 sportswriters 18 agreed that Levinsky had won.

When Dempsey last summer announced that he would undertake a series of exhibition bouts to recondition himself for an attempt to regain his title, no one knew exactly what he meant. Skeptics surmised that he had no intention of ever fighting heavyweight Champion Max Schmeling, but mentioned the possibility to increase crowds at his exhibition bouts. After the Levinsky bout, Dempsey was careful, honestly or otherwise, to preserve the uncertainty about his future. Said he: "I know I looked bad last night but I expect to have to take a little the worst of it as I go along to get back into the proper shape. I'm going right on."

Accompanied by Jerry ("Jerry the Greek") Luvadis, his rubber and body servant, and Leonard Sacks, his smooth spoken Hollywood secretary and business manager, Dempsey left to continue his tour in Louisville, Ky. (where Governor Ruby Laffoon was to give him the rank of Colonel on the Governor's staff), and Dayton, Ohio. Since he started his series of exhibition bouts last August, he has attracted record crowds on most of his appearances, won all his fights except last week's, scored 26 knockouts and earned $200,000, of which he has spent half.

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