Jack Dempsey’s rise to the heavyweight championship didn’t begin when he defeated Jess Willard for the title. It began one 12 months earlier on July 27, 1918, when he demolished Fred Fulton in one in every of the quickest and most influential knockouts in heavyweight history. There was barely enough time for either man to determine himself before the fight was over.
Fulton entered the bout as one in every of boxing’s most respected heavyweights and the betting favorite despite giving freely speed to the younger Dempsey. Weighing about 208 kilos to Dempsey’s 188, the towering “Rochester Plasterer” had built a status as one in every of the division’s hardest punchers. Many expected the larger man to halt Dempsey’s climb toward the highest of the heavyweight ranks.
Dempsey exploded from his corner before Fulton could take command together with his reach. A left to the body forced Fulton to react. A crushing right hand then landed on his jaw. Fulton crashed to the canvas without landing a meaningful punch. Referee Johnny Eckhardt counted him out, ending the scheduled eight-round eliminator after only 23 seconds.
The result stunned the boxing world because there had been little warning that Fulton may very well be dismantled so completely. Newspapers treated the knockout as a sensation, and Dempsey suddenly became the fighter every leading heavyweight needed to take seriously. In a single exchange, he erased doubts that his aggressive style could succeed against elite opposition.
Dempsey earned $5,000, the biggest purse of his profession to that time, while Fulton collected $12,500 before a crowd of about 10,000 at Federal League Baseball Park in Harrison, Recent Jersey.
The victory earned Dempsey a shot on the heavyweight championship the next July. Fulton later insisted the competition had been intended as an exhibition and claimed he had been deceived, an evidence Dempsey rejected outright. One explosive right hand transformed Dempsey from a promising contender into boxing’s next heavyweight champion.
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Last Updated on 2026/07/27 at 4:56 AM