User:Maxgeyer/Denver Jack Geyer

John “Jack” Lewis Geyer was a professional heavyweight boxer, who fought under the name of “Denver Jack.” He was born on October 23, 1883, in Monroe Township, Putnam County, Ohio, to parents Charles G. Geyer and Hulda (Myers) Geyer. Jack Geyer died on January 27, 1953, in Detroit, Michigan. Family members who survived him were his second wife, Florence E. (Donahue) Geyer, and his two sons: Howard Martin Geyer and Richard Geyer. His first wife was Clacie Mae (Johnson) Geyer, with whom he had sons Howard and Richard. Jack spent most of his childhood in the town of Leipsic, Putnam County, Ohio. It is believed he began his professional boxing career in 1909, the year of his earliest recorded fights. Early in his career he moved to Denver, Colorado, and began boxing under the moniker of “Denver”Jack. During a distinguished boxing career, which spanned more than a decade and a half, he fought such notable pugilists as Carl Morris, Frank Moran, and “Gunboat” Smith. Frank Moran (whom Jack fought and beat in 1912) is best known for his 20-round fight with Jack Johnson on 27 June 1914 and his fight with Jess Willard in 1916. As a measure of “Denver” Jack’s exceptional fighting ability when he was at “the top of his game,” one need only consider his three fights with Ed “Gunboat” Smith. “Denver” Jack Geyer fought Ed “Gunboat” Smith three times and defeated him twice. On 24 May 1910, in Oakland, California, Jack lost (by decision) in his first 10-round match with Smith. In the return engagement, held on 15 August 1911, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Jack knocked out “Gunboat” in the ninth round. In their final fight, on 5 January 1912 in San Francisco, California, Jack decisioned Smith in a 10-round contest. It should be noted that “Gunboat” Smith was a very highly regarded and rated heavyweight contender during the peak of his boxing career. For a period of time in 1914, “Gunboat” held the title of “White Heavyweight Champion of the World.” (Much of the white population of this era did not want to recognize Jack Johnson, the true Heavyweight Champion, because he was black, and many considered him to be overly arrogant.) The following paragraph, from Roger Kahn’s book, “A Flame of Pure Fire, Jack Dempsey and the Roaring ‘20s,” as told in Jack Dempsey’s own words, is a testament to how dangerous it was to face “Gunboat” Smith in the squared circle: “I have had to come up through a very hard school where I was fighting not to win but for my existence. I think that’s why in the early days, I could come back after being knocked down three or four times. Gunboat Smith hit me squarely on the chin with so much force that all I remember is starting to fall forward. I felt my knees giving way and that is about all. Some instinct from the hard early days kept me going and I won. I don’t remember that. I know I won only because they told me.” In the summer of 1910, Jack Geyer served as a sparring partner for Jack Johnson, the World’s Heavyweight Champion at the time, who was preparing to defend his championship against the retired, undefeated ex-champ and “White Hope," Jim Jeffries.	According to the 1950 Lima News (Lima, Ohio) newspaper interview with him, “Denver” Jack received $13,000 in 1917 (an enormous sum at the time) for his fight with Carl Morris in Madison Square Garden. 	Jack, while still an active boxer, served as a member of the Columbus, Ohio, police force during the 1917-1919 period. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, he spent six years as bodyguard for Tom Mix, the western-movie actor, while traveling with Mix’s Sell-Floto circus.	He served out his later years as a plant guard at the Ford Motor Co. in Detroit, Michigan. It is said that Jack and Henry Ford, Sr., became good friends over the years, and that Mr. Ford gave Jack land in Michigan, upon which he established a catfish farm. In the 1920 Franklin County, Columbus, Ohio, census, Jack Geyer (age 34) was recorded as head-of-household in a rented home at 348 Harrison Avenue. Also in the home were his wife, Clacie (28 years), son Howard (6 years), and son Richard (1 yr., 2 mo.). Jack’s occupation was listed as “Pugilist.” Jack Geyer’s obituary appeared in the 29 January 1953 issue of the Detroit News. It reads as follows: “GEYER - Jack L., Jan. 27. Beloved husband of Florence E., dear father of Howard and Richard, and brother of Fred and Cleo. Services at Burrell Funeral Home, 8737 Fenkell, Friday at 2.”

NOTE: The professional boxing record of "Denver" Jack Geyer" can be found at www.cyberboxingzone.com