Labor Day weekend 1920 saw boxing's World Heavyweight Championship defended in Southwest Michigan. And the match was a first for the sport of boxing.

The Jack Dempsey fight was held in Benton Harbor and was the first boxing match ever broadcast on radio.

The fight against Billy Miske was also the first title defense Dempsey fought following winning the belt early in 1919.

For Miskie, the St. Paul Thunderbolt, it was his only shot at the Heavyweight Championship and he only fought two more times in his career.

The Jack Depsey story and countless others of people who have made up the rich history of Southwest Michigan's Twin Cities is related in the book Legendary Locals of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor by Elaine Cotsirilos Thomopoulos, PhD, and recently released by Arcadia Publishing, who provided us with a review copy of the book.

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