Dempsey, Liston, Holyfield, Frazier.

The Dempsey Firpo fight drew the second million dollar gate in history.

 

Lets look at the facts.

Dempsy Carpintier was the first million dollar gate.

Dempsey Firpo was the second.

Louis Schmeling II did not quite make it as I remember.

There must have been momentum behind this match?

 

Firpo was a square-shouldered slab of mass who, at over six feet, two inches tall towered above most men of his generation. He drew crowds more as a freak show than as a prize fighter, but audiences loved to gawk at him and he became a draw in the New York area. Thus he came to the attention of Tex Rickard, the foremost promoter in boxing at the time, who looked to cash in on rising interest in the fighter by pitting him against other big names. On March 12, 1923, Firpo was matched with his first world class heavyweight, former title challenger Bill "K.O." Brennan, a hard-hitting fighter who was also a big draw in New York and had twice fought Dempsey. Though over-the-hill as fighters go, Brennan was still a tough character. Still, Firpo's strength and power proved too much and K.O. Brennan was knocked-out himself in the twelfth round.

After a quick demolition of overmatched Jim Hibbard in Brooklyn, Firpo was matched with undefeated Jack McAuliffe II at Yankee Stadium. Though McAuliffe was a near novice and Firpo had yet to take on a prime heavyweight contender, the Argentinean sensation (with help from the Rickard promotional machine) still managed to attract an amazing 80,000 fans to watch the fight. In June 1923, Luis knocked two fighters of little significance in two rounds each in a period of one week before returning to New Jersey for his most anticipated fight yet. The genius Rickard had put together a bout between Firpo and Jess Willard, the former heavyweight champion who stood over six and a half feet tall and was attempting a comeback. Rickard billed the fight as the "Battle of the Giants" and hinted to the press that the winner would get a shot at Dempsey's championship. On July 12, 1923, somewhere between 75,000 and 85,000 people showed up at

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in Jersey to see these goliaths clash. -boxrec.

 

But Firpo- built up or not- was the biggest draw in boxing outside of Dempsey himself. 80,000 and 85,000 were watching Firpo in non title fights in NewYork.