In 1921 Doc Kearns and George Lewis “Tex” Rickard, a fight promoter, set up a match for the world heavyweight championship with Dempsey and Georges Carpentier, the European champion.  The boxing committee considered Atlantic City for the location of the fight. New Jersey State Boxing Commissioner John S. Smith thought a temporary stadium could be built in time at the airport, but the decision for the location of the match was Jersey City, New Jersey. The date was set for July 2, 1921.

Carpentier’s training camp was set up in secluded Manhasset, Long Island. Dempsey started training in Long Hill, New Jersey near Summit, but Atlantic City offered a location at its new airport and erected a grandstand so fans could watch his workouts. Dempsey and his entourage arrived in Atlantic City on May 6, 1921, and checked in to the Hotel Alamac. At City Hall, Mayor Edward L. Bader presented him with the ceremonial key to the city. Dempsey’s training camp at the airport became a popular site as the public came to watch his daily workout sessions. Doc Kearns charged admission as the daily crowds numbered 1,000, collecting one dollar per person. Dempsey’s training also included Boardwalk strolls and running on the beach. He had many different sparring partners during the months he trained in Atlantic City.

On June 29, 1921 he concluded his training and left the city soon after, aboard a chartered Pullman coach attached to a Reading Railroad train. He headed for the fight at Jersey City accompanied by Teddy Hayes, his trainer, Trant, his bodyguard and Mayor Bader, who had become Dempsey’s friend and who hoped to attract future boxing matches to Atlantic City. The championship fight, called “the battle of the century,” took place in Boyle’s Thirty Acres Stadium in Jersey City, and Jack Dempsey knocked out Georges Carpentier in the fourth round. The champ returned to Atlantic City in August 1921 for rest and relaxation.

Five years later Dempsey returned to Atlantic City again to train for his 1926 fight against Gene Tunney. He and his bride, Estelle Taylor, went quietly to the Ambassador Hotel, avoiding crowds and fanfare. The Dempseys then rented a bungalow on the Fox tract at 205 Florence Avenue, West Atlantic City. His training facility was set up at Greyhound Park at Absecon Boulevard and North Carolina Avenue. This time the public was barred from the sessions. When it rained, Dempsey worked out at the gym at the Elks Lodge.

The Dempsey-Tunney fight was held at the Sesquicentennial Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia on September 23, 1926. It rained throughout the bout, and Tunney defeated Dempsey in ten rounds. The boxing camp at the Atlantic City dog track was dismantled and the area returned to greyhounds chasing an electrical rabbit.

Jack Dempsey opened a restaurant in New York after his retirement. He died on May 31, 1983.