A legendary town honored a boxing legend by, you guessed it, having a boxing tournament.

Cripple Creek hosted its first Jack Dempsey Days June 19-21. The three-day festival celebrated the 1915 fight at the Lyric Opera House where William Harrison “Kid Blackie” Dempsey first fought under the name Jack Dempsey.

The event, held at the Double Eagle Hotel & Casino Ballroom, was a USA Boxing–sanctioned pro-am festival featuring amateur and professional boxing cards, historical reenactments, exhibits, food and vendors.

Before the famed boxer became a champion, he made a living working the mines around Cripple Creek and Victor. Dempsey attended school, getting through the eighth grade, and had jobs at the Portland Mine in Victor and Mollie Kathleen in Cripple Creek while training for his boxing career. At the completion of his workdays in the mines, he would fight for money, though most of these early fights under the moniker “Kid Blackie” are not listed as part of his official fight log.

According to legend, “Kid Blackie” became Jack Dempseyat Lyric Opera House in Cripple Creek. That was the night his brother Bernie — who was “pushing 40” — asked his kid brother to fight George Coplen in his place. Bernie registered his brother as “Jack Dempsey,” the name of a deceased middleweight champion. Dempsey knocked out opponent George Coplen in the sixth round.

“The event honors Dempsey’s humble origins in Cripple Creek and celebrates the grit, transformation and community spirit that launched the ‘Manassa Mauler’ toward the 1919 Heavyweight Championship,” event organizers said.