Editing Jack Dempsey (section)

===Kid Blackie===

Because his father had difficulty finding work, the family traveled often and Dempsey dropped out of elementary school to work and left home at the age of 16. Due to his lack of money, he frequently [[Freighthopping#Riding the rods|rode the rods]] and slept in [[hobo]] camps.<ref name="sfhm">{{Cite news |url=http://historymiamiarchives.org/pdfs/sfh-1991-2.pdf |title=The champ fights back |last=Moore |first=Jack B. |date=1992 |work=South Florida History Magazine |access-date=November 17, 2017 |issue=2 |pages=4–7, 25–6 |via=[[HistoryMiami]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313044853/http://historymiamiarchives.org/pdfs/sfh-1991-2.pdf |archive-date=March 13, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Desperate for money, Dempsey would occasionally visit saloons and challenge for fights, saying "I can't sing and I can't dance, but I can lick any [[Bitch (slang)#Son of a bitch|SOB]] in the house." If anyone accepted the challenge, bets would be made. According to Dempsey's autobiography, he rarely lost these bar room brawls.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://worldinsport.com/jack-dempsey-the-manassa-mauler/ |title=Jack Dempsey The Manassa Mauler |date=January 12, 2014 |publisher=worldinsport.com |access-date= January 23, 2014}}</ref> For a short time, Dempsey was a part-time bodyguard for Thomas F. Kearns, president of ''[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]'' and son of Utah's U.S. Senator [[Thomas Kearns]].<ref>{{citation |mode=cs1 |url= http://prezi.com/pqx9umqm24q9/roaring-20s-the-life-of-jack-dempsey/ |title=Roaring 20s: The Life of Jack Dempsey |first= Sabrina |last= Boxer |date= December 10, 2012 |access-date= October 4, 2014}}</ref>

Dempsey often fought under the pseudonym, "Kid Blackie", although during his stint in the [[Salt Lake City]] area, he went by "Young Dempsey".<ref name="Round by Round An Autobiography">{{cite book|last1=Dempsey|first1=Jack|title=Round by Round (An Autobiography)|date=1940|publisher=Whittlesey House/McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.|location=New York/London|page=84|edition=pre-ISBN First}}</ref> Much of his early career is not recorded, and stated thus, in ''The Ring Record Book'' as compiled by [[Nat Fleischer]].