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Jack Dempsey “From the small boy to big man on campus.” “From geek to sheik”. “From hobo to champion.” These phrases have been used to describe thousands of people across the world who have defied the odds and made themselves into successful celebrities. But only the third phrase fits the one man that accomplished this task: Jack Dempsey. Known under many monikers (The Manassas Mauler, Kid Blackie, The Hobo Warrior), Dempsey would compile one of the greatest records in boxing history. Fighting a total of 80 official fights( not including over 50 exhibitions after his retirement), he won 60, lost six, drew eight, and won over 80 percent by way of knockout. He also participated in many historical bouts, fighting with the likes of Jess Willard, Jack Sharkey, Gene Tunnney, Gunboat Smith, and Jim Flynn. He even bankrupted the town of Shelby, Montana in 1925 when fighting Tom Gibbons. But it all started back in a small mining town in Colorado. William Harrison Dempsey was born on June 24, 1895 in Manassa, Colorado. One of eleven children, Dempsey didn’t really have that much of a childhood. He spent his time working mostly with his father in the coal mines, making just enough money to get by. At the age of 16, Dempse