Good Luck, Pal: A Father’s Day Recollection

In December 1940, boxer Jack Dempsey — then one of the most famous athletes in America — came to Casper, Wyoming to referee a wrestling match. It was a fundraiser for a local veterans group called the Forty and Eight. The Manassa Mauler (named after his Colorado hometown, no doubt by some ink-stained sportswriter) had retired earlier that year at age 45 with a record of 60-7-8. Fifty of those wins were by knockout. Some argue that Dempsey was the greatest boxer of all time. Those of us who saw Muhammad Ali at his peak fantasize about a match between these boxers of different generations....

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