Jack Dempsey, Harry Houdini, and Benny Leonard Sparring

 Jack Dempsey, Harry Houdini, and Benny Leonard Spar Boxing

 

 

Harry Houdini
Houdini in 1899
Born	Erik Weisz March 24, 1874 Budapest, Austria-Hungary
Died	October 31, 1926 (aged 52) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Cause of death	Peritonitis[1]
Occupation	Illusionist, magician, escapologist, stunt performer, actor, historian, film producer, pilot, debunker
Years active	1891–1926
Spouse(s)	Wilhelmina Beatrice "Bess" Rahner (m. 1894; his death 1926)[2]
Relatives	Theodore Hardeen (brother)
Signature

Harry Houdini (born Erik Weisz, later Ehrich Weiss or Harry Weiss; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American illusionist and stunt performer, noted for his sensational escape acts. He first attracted notice in vaudeville in the US and then as "Harry Handcuff Houdini" on a tour of Europe, where he challenged police forces to keep him locked up. Soon he extended his repertoire to include chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers, straitjackets under water, and having to escape from and hold his breath inside a sealed milk can with water in it.

 

Harry Houdini preparing to be chained and locked up in a box and lowered into the East River, NYC July 1912.

 

 Dempsey and Firpo, 1924 painting by George Bellows

Dempsey authored a book on boxing titled Championship Fighting: Explosive Punching and Aggressive Defense and published in 1950. The book emphasizes knockout power derived from enabling fast motion from one's heavy bodyweight. Dempsey's book became and remains the recognized treatise in boxing.

 

During World War II while in the Coast Guard, he co-authored How to Fight Tough with professional wrestler Bernard J. Cosneck. The book was used by the Coast Guard to instruct guardsmen on close-quarters hand-to-hand combat, incorporating boxing, wrestling, and jiujitsu.

 Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Dempsey