Georges Carpentier
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Georges Carpentier (January 12, 1894 – October 28, 1975) was a French boxer. He fought mainly as a light heavyweight and heavyweight in a career lasting from 1908-26. Nicknamed the "Orchid Man", he stood 5 ft 11½ in (1.82 m) but his fighting weight ranged from 125 to 175 lb (57 to 79 kg). Carpentier was known for his speed, his excellent boxing skills and his extremely hard punch.
Born in Liévin near Lens, Pas-de-Calais, Carpentier began his career by progressing up through the weight divisions, fighting in every division from welterweight upwards. With his first professional bout at age 14, he was Welterweight Champion of France and of Europe in 1911, Middleweight Champion of Europe in 1912, and Light Heavyweight Champion of Europe in 1913. On June 1, 1913 he beat "Bombardier" Billy Wells in Ghent, Belgium to become Heavyweight Champion of Europe. He defended his title in December against Wells, in January 1914 against Pat O'Keefe and in London on July 16 he contentiously beat Ed "Gunboat" Smith to add the White Heavyweight Championship of the World to his European title. Carpentier was also a referee during the early stages of his career, supervising a number of fights including the world title bout between Jack Johnson and Frank Moran in June 1914. Carpentier was an aviator during World War I and was awarded two of the highest French military honors, the Croix de Guerre and the Médaille Militaire. This served to heighten his already phenomenal popularity, no only in France but in the United States and England as well.
Carpentier defended his title twice again in 1919 before dropping down a weight to challenge Battling Levinsky for the Light Heavyweight Championship of the World. The fight took place on October 12, 1920 in Jersey City and Levinsky was KO'd in the fourth. Carpentier's attempt at the Heavyweight Championship of the World came on July 2, 1921, again in Jersey City, when he faced Jack Dempsey in front of boxing's first million dollar gate. Carpentier was badly beaten around before suffering a knock-out in the second minute of the fourth round. Carpentier never fought again for that belt. He lost his world Light Heavyweight title and his European heavyweight and Light heavyweight titles the following year, on September 24, 1922, in a bout with Senegalese fighter Battling Siki, a fight widely reputed to be a fix. His last truly noteworthy fight was on July 24, 1924 with Gene Tunney at the Polo Grounds in New York; Carpentier lost the bout by TKO after fifteen rounds. He retired from the ring after a final exhibition bout in 1927.
Following his retirement from boxing, Carpentier spent a number of years a vaudeville song-and-dance man, mostly in England and the US. He also appeared in half a dozen motion pictures, starring in both silent films and talkies. He made three films in Hollywood, one for director J. Stuart Blackton in the England and two in his native France. His last screen appearance was in 1934. Soon after, he became proprietor of an upscale bar, Chez Georges Carpentier, in a chic Paris neighborhood. In several different locations, this is the profession he would exercise until shortly before his death.
Beginning in 1921 and continuing throughout the rest of their lives, he and one-time opponent Jack Dempsey would remain close friends, visiting back and forth in New York and Paris, getting together to commemorate anniversary of their famous bout and exchanging birthday greetings.
Carpentier died in 1975 and was buried in the Cimetiere de Vaires-sur Marne, Seine-et-Marne, France.
He was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991.
| Preceded by: Battling Levinsky |
World Light Heavyweight Champion 12 Oct 1920–24 Sep 1922 |
Succeeded by: Battling Siki |
