Jack Dempsey (photo) loved publicity, attention, and the spotlight. Gene Tunney was a teetotaler, known for his gentlemanly demeanor.

In the lead up to the fight Dempsey was drawing 8000 fans a day for his sparring sessions. 5000 fan letters a day arrived for him, including one from his pal Babe Ruth. Dempsey sent a note to his acquaintance Al Capone begging him not to do anything that would embarrass Dempsey.

Al Capone was a big Dempsey fan. He held a $3000 banquet for friends and “colleagues” that night. He bet heavily on Dempsey and the rumor around Soldier Field that night was that the fix was in. Capone had "talked to" the ref and told him that he had bet $50,000 on Dempsey, but he didn't want that to affect his refereeing. All he wanted was “an even break for Jack.”

That ref was replaced at the last second by the Illinois Boxing Commission.

The date was September 22, 1927. The crowd was star-studded. Even the Chicago Cubs went to the highly hyped boxing match as a team after defeating the Phillies 8-4 at Wrigley Field earlier in the day. The win was Charlie Root’s 26th of the season, and no Cubs pitcher has won more games in a season since. Only 4000 people were at Wrigley to see it, but more than 100,000 were at Soldier Field for the fight. (The Cubs were winding down a good, but not great season. They finished 17 games over .500, but in fourth place, 8 ½ games behind the Pirates.)

The Dempsey-Tunney fight turned out to be one of the most controversial fights in history.

Dempsey knocked down Tunney a minute into the seventh round. As Tunney was down, Dempsey stood there despite being ordered to go back into a neutral corner (which was the rule). The ref waited for him to do that, and despite the fact that the time keeper was already at “5” on his countdown, referee Dave Barry started at one. Tunney got up at 9. He had been down for at least a 14 count, and some ringside writers had timed it at 17.

Tunney recovered to win the fight.

It was the highest grossing fight for 50 years ($2.65 million).