History was made in 1921 when World Heavyweight Champion, Jack Dempsey, defended his title against World Light Heavyweight Champion, Georges Carpentier, of France. It would be boxings first million dollar gate, referred to as "The Fight of the Century" and marketed as "villain vs hero". More info below...

Jack Dempsey had been World Heavyweight Champion for exactly 2 years at this point in time, having beaten Jess Willard for the title in 1919. He had successfully defended the title twice, a KO in 3 against the previously unstopped Billy Miske, and a KO in 12 against the tough Bill Brennan - both incredibility talented men with Brennan arguably giving Dempsey the toughest fight of his career. Dempsey had a 55-4-9 record heading in against Carpentier, and he was viewed as one of the most exciting heavyweights to ever lace gloves. He had power in both hands, a never say die attitude and he was always looking for the knockout with thuggish aggression. Interestingly, during this particular period of time, Dempsey's popularity out of the ring was in taters. It had recently come to light that he had dodged the draft for WW1, his estranged wife had made charges against him of neglect and rumours abound of his frequency at whorehouses during the early stages of his career. Dempsey was being painted as a villain but the boxing public still wanted to see him defend his title against a "World" class competitor. Miske and Brennan were talented, but not considered the same league as Dempsey.

"The Orchid Man", Georges Carpentier of France, was only one year older than Dempsey but he had been fighting as a professional for twice as long across multiple weight classes. he turned pro in 1908 at 13 years old, in 1909 he won the French Bantamweight title, in 1911 he won both the French and European Welterweight titles, in 1912 he won the European Middleweight title and in 1913 he won both the European Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight titles. Then, in 1914, he won the White Heavyweight Championship of the World from Gunboat Smith and was the last boxer to lay claim to the contentious title. The White Heavyweight title didn't really mean anything, it was bestowed upon white boxers to try and diminish Jack Johnson's legitimate, World Heavyweight title. Due to World War 1, Carpentier didn't compete between the years of 1914 and 1919 as he enlisted in the French Airforce and was awarded the War Cross and Military Medal, two of his country's highest honours for bravery in the armed services. Once his career resumed, he was more popular than ever being rightly regarded as a true war hero. In July 1919 he knocked out Dick Smith to regain his status as European Heavyweight Champion before traveling to America in 1920 and knocking out, Battling Levinsky, to win the World Light Heavyweight title. There was only 1 title more coveted than the Light Heavyweight Championship, and that was the Heavyweight Championship which Carpentier quickly set his sights on. Due to Dempsey's declining popularity, promotor Tex Rickard, smartly played up Carpentier's war achievements to make it a battle of hero vs villain. That impression was unfair on Dempsey but it did generated a lot of interest in the biggest fight since World War 1 had ended.

Carpentier had predicted the fight would last longer the 4 rounds... In Rd 1, Dempsey pushed the action trying to work his way in close to a retreating Carpentier who would occasionally leap forward hoping to catch the incoming Champion. In Rd 2, Carpentier finally found the mark with his right hand and stunned Dempsey, sending him stumbling and then taking clean shots seemingly struggling to protect himself. Unfortunately, in trying to finish Dempsey off, Carpentier broke his right thumb in 2 places and sprained his wrist, limiting his punching power. This allowed Dempsey back into the fight in Rd 3 as he found himself less concerned about getting caught by Carpentiers weakened punches. In Rd 4, Dempsey was back in control and a sharp left right combo dropped Carpentier face first near the corner. Carpentier took the 9 count before rising surprisingly fast and beating the count. Demspey was on him in an instant however and dropped him again after a couple more punches, the final punch being a right uppercut to the side of the abdomen. This time Carpentier couldn't beat the count and Dempsey had to help him to his feet afterwards. It was a big win for Dempsey, but the crowd was displeased with the "villain" winning the showdown and it did nothing to help improve Dempsey's reputation, if anything it made it worse because the boo's of the crowd were heard nation wide over the radio broadcast...