Georges Carpentier Georges Carpentier ( pronounced " car - pont - yay " ) ( January 12 , 1894 – October 28 , 1975 ) was a French boxer and actor . He fought mainly as a light heavyweight and heavyweight in a career lasting from 1908 - 26 . Nicknamed the " Orchid Man " , he stood and his fighting weight ranged from . Carpentier was known for his speed , his excellent boxing skills and his extremely hard punch . Halle Georges Carpentier is named after him . Biography . Born in Liévin near Lens , Pas - de - Calais , Carpentier began his career by progressing up through the weight divisions , fighting in every division from welterweight upwards . With his first professional bout at age 14 , he was welterweight champion of France and of Europe in 1911 , middleweight champion of Europe in 1912 , and light heavyweight champion of Europe in 1913 . On June 1 , 1913 , he beat " Bombardier " Billy Wells in Ghent , Belgium to become heavyweight champion of Europe . He defended his title in December against Wells , in January 1914 against Pat O ' Keefe and in London on July 16 he beat Ed " Gunboat " Smith to add the " White Heavyweight Champion of the World " to his European title . The white heavyweight title bout sported a purse worth 9 , 000 pounds sterling ( equivalent to approximately $ in today ' s funds ) . Carpentier was also a referee during the early stages of his career , supervising a number of fights including the world title bout between Jack Johnson and Frank Moran in June 1914 . Carpentier was an aviator during World War I and was awarded two of the highest French military honors , the Croix de Guerre and the Médaille Militaire . This served to heighten his already exceptional popularity , not only in France but in the United States and England as well . Carpentier defended his title twice again in 1919 before dropping down a weight to challenge Battling Levinsky for the light heavyweight championship of the world . The fight took place on October 12 , 1920 , in Jersey City and Levinsky was knocked out in the fourth . Carpentier ' s attempt at the heavyweight Championship of the world came on July 2 , 1921 , again in Jersey City , when he faced Jack Dempsey in front of boxing ' s first million dollar gate ( equivalent to approximately $ in today ' s funds ) . Carpentier was badly beaten around before suffering a knockout in the second minute of the fourth round . Carpentier never fought again for that title . He lost his world light heavyweight title and his European heavyweight and light heavyweight titles the following year , on September 24 , 1922 , in a controversial bout with Senegalese fighter Battling Siki . His last truly noteworthy fight was on July 24 , 1924 , with Gene Tunney at the Polo Grounds in New York ; Carpentier lost the bout by TKO after fifteen rounds . He retired from the ring after a final exhibition bout in 1927 . Following his retirement from boxing , Carpentier spent a number of years a vaudeville song - and - dance man , mostly in England and the US . He is the author of a boxing novel , " Brothers of the Brown Owl a story of the boxing ring " published c1920 by Cassell and Company ( being a volume in the uniform Cassell ' s Empire Library ) . He also appeared in half a dozen motion pictures , starring in both silent films and talkies . He made three films in Hollywood , one for director J . Stuart Blackton in England and two in his native France . His last screen appearance was in 1934 . Soon after , he became proprietor of an upmarket bar , Chez Georges Carpentier , in a chic Paris neighborhood . In several different locations , this is the profession he would exercise until shortly before his death . Beginning in 1921 and continuing throughout the rest of their lives , he and one - time opponent Jack Dempsey would remain close friends , visiting back and forth in New York and Paris , getting together to commemorate anniversary of their famous bout and exchanging birthday greetings . Death . Carpentier died in Paris in 1975 of a heart attack , and was buried in the cimetière de Vaires - sur - Marne , Seine - et - Marne , France . Legacy . He was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991 .