Jack (Nonpareil) Dempsey

John Edward Kelly (1862–1896) was an Irish-born boxer. Better known as Jack (Nonpareil) Dempsey, called "Nonpareil", because no one could defeat him. He was defeated only three times out of 65 contests. [Ring Sports Magazine. (Reno, Nevada) April 1994.] This ended when Bob Fitzsimmons pummelled him around the ring and begged him to concede before he was hurt any more. But Dempsey, the reigning champion, wouldn't give up so Fitzsimmons knocked him out.

Dempsey was born on December 15, 1862 in Curran, County Kildare, Ireland. [cite web
title="Nonpareil" Jack Dempsey…slick and quick
first=Tracy
last=Callis
work=Cyber Boxing Zone Journal
url=http://cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/box1-99.htm#dempsey
date=January 1999]

Dempsey died of tuberculosis at age 33, on November 11896, at the Portland, Oregon, United States home of his wife's parents. [ [http://www.oregonvos.net/~clenzen/MtCalvary.html#_ftn19 Mt. Calvary Cemetery ] ] He was buried in an unmarked grave at Mt. 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 the four-foot marble shaft was a sufficient memorial. The matter was thus dropped. [Tacoma Daily Times (Tacoma, Washington), March 13, 1909.]

Dempsey was inducted into the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame in 1954, and into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.cite web
title="Nonpareil" Jack Dempsey (John Edward Kelly)
first=Tracy
last=Callis
work=Cyber Boxing Zone Journal
url=http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/non-jack.htm Cyber Boxing Zone]

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External links

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* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=14954727 Dempsey info at Find A Grave]