Jack Dempsey, the Manassa Mauler, began boxing as a 16-year-old in mining towns where he would make extra money by challenging all comers. He would become the key sporting figure of the 1920s, having won the world heavyweight title in 1919, beating Jess Willard. He didn't fight often but each fight became legend: Dempsey versus Carpentier (1921) was the first $1 million dollar gate; in Dempsey versus Firpo (1923), Firpo was knocked down seven times in two minutes; and the second of two losing bouts with Gene Tunney (1927) yielded a $2 million gate and a long count controversy which still burns today.