A boxer that interested me was Gene Tunney, what I liked about him is he is not your standard boxer of the era. Tuney was refined, he read poetry and Shakespere excelling in English and drama. Tunney was not a slugger of the era, he was a strategist. As an era, the roaring 20s was an interesting time for the sport of boxing – some argue a golden age.

The average boxer of that era was less of a boxer and more of a brawler. The fighters of that age were left with limited options in life, instead fighting weekly to scratch out a living. As opposed to the fighters of the 1920 and 1930s, Tunney could box, he wasn’t a brawler and to the surprise of everyone, he knocked off favourite Jack Dempsey. That is Tunny’s main claim to fame, taking on Dempsey and beating him when nobody gave him a chance.

Gene was a guy that could box, Tunney was a tactical boxer when boxing was less studied, there was no technology around to train boxers. Tunney saw boxing more as a game of chess, he could jab and move, however, when he needed to go toe-to-toe, he could. A boxer of that period was impoverished, this was a means to sustain themselves, to earn a living in a pretty hard period. Tunney was clearly from the poor side of town, but knew how to engage in combat.

Whilst Gene Tunney was a less respected fighter of that period, he fought the toughest fighters of that period and he was successful in that era. He may not have necessarily been an iconic boxer in a age of sluggers, Tunney was an effective boxer who could hold his own. What interests me is Tunney was knocked down once in 88 fights, was never knocked out and only lost one of those fights. Yeah, Gene Tunney was under-rated all right.