... started out as a light heavyweight. He made his professional debut in 1915, and became American Champion in January 1922. He successfully defended the title four times in the next three months, but in May 1922 he lost it to Harry Greb. This was his 50th professional fight, and his only defeat.
Tunney and Greb fought four times in total. Tunney won the American light heavyweight title back from Greb in February 1923. Greb made two attempts to regain it – in December 1923 and March 1925 – but was unsuccessful on both occasions.
In 1924, Tunney beat the French former world light heavyweight champion Georges Carpentier, in what The Ring magazine named as its Fight of the Year. After that he fought as a heavyweight. He fought 15 heavyweight bouts, and became world champion in 1926 by beating Jack Dempsey. Dempsey had been world champion since 1919; he is described by Wikipedia as "A cultural icon of the 1920s [whose] aggressive fighting style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history."
It was after losing the world heavyweight title to Tunney that Jack Dempsey said to his wife, "Honey, I forgot to duck" – a line famously quoted by Ronald Reagan after John Hinckley Jr.'s failed assassination attempt in 1981. Dempsey never fought again, and Tunney fought just once more – a successful defence against the New Zealander Tom Heeney. According to a 2007 biography, Tunney promised his wife Polly that he would retire after the Heeney fight.
Tunney's second victory over Jack Dempsey is known as the Long Count Fight. With Tunney on the canvas, Dempsey was slow in retiring to a neutral corner as the new rule required, giving Tunney an extra five seconds or so to recover.
Tunney was undefeated as a heavyweight, but his one loss to Harry Greb means that Rocky Marciano was the first world heavyweight champion to retire without losing a professional fight.
© Haydn Thompson 2017