Born: James Joseph Tunney
Heavyweight Champion 1926-28
Gene Tunney-bright, good-looking, and an acknowledged pillar of the 1920's "Golden Age of Sports"-was never as popular among boxing fans as the man he defeated to become heavyweight champion of the world. Tunney outfought Jack Dempsey in 1926, and he retained the title in the famous "long count" rematch a year later. Tunney's relative intellectualism, reticence in public, and scientific boxing style distanced him from fight fans and the press. Despite this lack of contemporary acclaim, Tunney is remembered as a great fighter who lost only once in his career and was the first heavyweight champion to retire-and stay retired-as the titleholder.
The Boxing Register