GEORGE BELLOWS (1882-1925)

On July 2, 1921, spectators crowded into "Boyle's Thirty Acres", an enormous outdoor arena in Jersey City constructed specifically for the highly anticipated boxing match, promoted as the "battle of the century". The competitors were French world light-heavyweight champion, Georges Carpentier, and Jack Dempsey, the world heavyweight champion. Carpentier, a decorated pilot in the French Air Force, was favored over the American, Dempsey, who had been accused of being a draft evader by the American Legion. The spectacle that had attracted over 80,000 spectators and generated boxing's first million-dollar gate was short-lived; the French pugilist was knocked out by Dempsey in the fourth round. Bellows, who was employed by the New York World newspaper to record the event, depicts the best part of Carpetier's performance: his "introduction".