Tunney, Gene (1897-1978), an American boxer, defeated Jack Dempsey in 1926 to become world heavyweight champion. Tunney defended his title twice—against Dempsey in 1927 and Tom Heeney in 1928—and then retired. The second Tunney-Dempsey bout featured a controversial “long count.” Dempsey knocked Tunney down in the seventh round, but refused to go immediately to a neutral corner. The referee delayed starting the count over Tunney for several seconds. Tunney rose at the count of nine and went on to win the fight.
Tunney was born on May 25, 1897, in New York City, New York. He was christened James Joseph but was called “Gene” because that was how his baby sister pronounced “Jim.” Tunney began his professional boxing career in 1915. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1918 and won the American Expeditionary Forces light heavyweight title in Paris in 1919. He defeated Battling Levinsky for the U.S. light heavyweight title in 1922. Tunney lost his title to Harry Greb later in 1922, his only defeat in 77 professional bouts. He regained the title from Greb in 1923. Tunney died on Nov. 7, 1978. John V. Tunney, one of Gene’s sons, served in the United States House of Representatives from 1964 to 1970 and in the U.S. Senate from 1970 to 1976.
