The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-02-07

Note This is the fourth of series or articles which Mr. Corbett is writing concerning the pugilistic life of Jack Dempsey-the best loved pugilist in the history of the ring. The next instaliment will appear tomorrow:
 Jack Dempsey fought his first ring bat tie on April z, 1SS3 From that time until the spring of 1885 he engaged in 20 con tests in the east. Not one defeat was charged against him. The showing was all the more remarkable because Demp- sey, then a lightweight fought men ranging well up into the middleweight ranks. It was his theory that good fighter should be able to whip any foe that chose to try conclusions with him.
 In the spring of 1885 Dempsey was of- fered a match with Charles Bixamos, who had made a great reputation in New Orleans. Jack accepted and the bout was put on In the Crescent City-the first ring appearance of Dempsey outside of the New York district. It was Dempsey's fight from start to finish, and Bixamos went down, and stayed there, in the fifth round. This victory served only to add greater prestige and greater fame to the name of Jack Dempsey.
 The boxing fans along the Pacific Slope then began to implore Dempsey to fight in that section. Several splendid offers were made to him. Dempsey at once jumped on train and went to San Francisco and took on men as fast as they could be sent against him. In rapid ha uyIin Do Cleary, Jack Keenan, Billy Manning and Tom Norton. The story of his fight with Keenan shows better than anything else the fact that Dempsey loved boxing more than he loved the money that it would bring him.
 Keenan, then puilgistic idol in San Francisco, and one of the foremost bat tiers of that era, got into an argument one afternoon with Dempsey in a hotel lobby.
 Dempsey for time didn't pay any at- tention to the sneering remarks made by Keenan. That made Keenan all the louder in his denunciation of the eastern fighter. He clinaxed matters by declar- ing before the crowd that Jack Demp- sey was coward; that Jack Dempsey was dITdlQ IO meet nlm. JACK smiled as he answered.:
 "Oh, so you're challenging me, eh? Well, that's something that interests me. You think you are a better man than l. Let's jump into hack right away and go out into the hills and settle this thing
 Keenan, a bit taken back by Dempsey's acceptance of the abrupt challenge then insisted that he wouldn't fight unless there was side bet, and at once flour ished a 5000 roll of bills which he hap pened to have in his possession. Keenan have that much money with him and that he had no friends in the crowd who would stake him to 5000. Dempsey, in the calm way that was his, looked at Keenan's roll. smiled and said:
 So you want to bet that money that you can whip me?"
 T certainly do,'' retorted Keenan.
 T don't like to see you waste your money" Jack returned. If we fight, you'll get good licking and it doesn't seem quite fair for me to take your money and give you beating besides
 Put up or shut up," sneered Keenan,.
 And then Dempsey, to the surprise Of Keenan, dug down into his pockets ant succeeded in extracting $1000. He turned this over to one of the bystanders and said:
 You're the stakeholder Here's my $10oo. Now grab off Keenan's and come along with us and we'll go right out into