George Rickard
George "Tex" Rickard was the world's foremost boxing promoter until his death in 1929. Some of his most famous fights included the Jack Johnson-James Jeffries bout on July 4, 1910 in Reno, Nevada. And the Jess Willard-Jack Dempsey world championship match on July 4, 1919 in Toledo, Ohio. He promoted five fights, the first being the 1921 "Battle of the Century," in which heavy-weight champion Jack Dempsey battled "Gorgeous" George Carpenter. The match brought in a crowd of 80,183 and grossed $1,789,238. Rickard handled four other matches in which Dempsey fought, including the one in which Dempsey lost his title to Gene Tunney. Rickard staged the return known for the infamous "Long Count," in which Dempsey failed to regain his title. That bout grossed move than $2 million, at that time the largest live gate in history. Rickard was also the founder and original owner of the New York Rangers hockey team - one of the NHL's "Original Six" franchises. The rodeo arena in Henrietta, Texas where he briefly served as town marshall was also named in his honor Rickard was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1964.