DEMPSEY, JACK-COWBOY LUTTRELL STUBLESS TICKET (1940)

On July 1, 1940 at Ponce De Leon Park in Atlanta, Georgia former world heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey fought a comeback fight against wrestler Cowboy Luttrell. Dempsey knocked Luttrell out in the secon round. From Sports Illustrated-In 1940 Jack Dempsey was 45 years old and desperately in need of money. A notorious soft touch, he had spent, given away and been cheated out of the millions of dollars he had earned during his flamboyant boxing career. His restaurant in New York City would not become profitable for a few years. And among Dempsey's other troubles, he had separated from his third wife, Hannah Williams. Enter Max Waxman, the fighter's fast-talking, pastrami-craving business manager. Waxman was keeping Dempsey afloat by booking personal appearances for him, mostly as a wrestling referee. One day in May, perhaps befogged by his own cigar smoke, Waxman concocted an extraordinary plan: The Manassa Mauler, the boxing hero of the Golden Age of Sport, would box again. Would the public buy it? Waxman figured it was worth a try. One evening later that month, while Dempsey was refereeing a wrestling match in Atlanta, he got into an argument with a notorious mat villain, Clarence (Cowboy) Luttrell. The two exchanged words and swings, and a few days later, the fortyish Luttrell issued a challenge. ``I've licked tougher guys than Jack Dempsey,'' he bragged to a reporter. ``There's never been a boxer who could beat a good wrestler. I want to be known as the guy who K.O.'d Dempsey.'' The fight was booked for the night of July 1 at Atlanta's Ponce de Leon Park. ``We'll try out the show here, boys,'' Waxman told Georgia sportswriters. ``We might work our way up to a fight with Joe Louis [the reigning heavyweight champ].'' When Dempsey returned to Atlanta a few days before the match, thousands greeted him at Terminal Station. There followed a boisterous, police-escorted parade through town. On fight night a crowd of 12,000 showed up at the stadium. People cheered as the paunchy, 205-pound Dempsey, who hadn't trained a minute for the match, made his way to the ring. But the man who had drawn the first million-dollar gate, in 1921, and had packed Sesquicentennial Stadium in Philadelphia with 120,757 fans for his first bout with Gene Tunney, in 1926, now found that his corner stool was an empty beer crate. The bout was as quick as it was brutal. Dempsey, his foot and hand speed gone, nonetheless pounded the clumsy 226-pound Luttrell to the canvas four times, battering his face into a bloody mask. Early in the second round, an exhausted Dempsey caught Luttrell flush on the jaw with a left hook, knocking him head over heels through the ropes and into the first row, where he struck his head on a camera case and lost consciousness. The crowd roared. Dempsey, gasping for breath, was exhilarated; he had earned only $4,000, but he had the old feeling. As for Luttrell, he woke up in the hospital an hour later, $800 richer. Offered here is an original, on site, stubless, unused ticket for this event.
This is an original, stubless, unused, Working Press ticket which names the fighters, pictures Dempsey and has a seat number. Bold color and print and bold, clear image. Clean front and back. ten small hole punches. Stub is attached on right side, but missing stub on left side. Clean. No back damage. Minor edge wear. 2 1/4" x 6." Exceedingly rare.