In July 1921 Harry was commissioned by his friend Lord Dalziel to report on the Carpentier-Dempsey fight in the United States, the Heavyweight Championship of the World. His very good friend and travelling companion Jeffery Farnol was reporting the fight for the Daily Mail.
The ‘Fight of the Century‘ became the first ‘million dollar gate‘ in boxing history (i.e. the first-ever boxing fight to produce $1,000,000 dollars in revenue). It saw the largest crowd ever assembled in America for any sporting event. Ringside were British and American personalities, including Henry Ford and Douglas Fairbanks. It was the first world championship bout ever broadcast live over the radio.
The Frenchman Georges Carpentier displayed the ‘Verdun spirit’ when after giving his all in a spirited attack on the larger and heavier American ‘fighting machine’, and despite inflicting considerable damage, realised that Dempsey was not going to ‘go down’. With a thumb broken in two places and a sprained wrist, he battled on through further punishment to final annihilation.
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