A collection of memorabilia related to 1920s World Heavyweight Champion Gene Tunney is being sold at a British auction house.
Rare boxing memorabilia that was once part of the career and life of former heavyweight champion Gene Tunney is being sold by Bonham’s in Chester, England later this month.
Tunney made boxing history on September 22, 1927 when he beat Jack Dempsey for the second time,
Among the items up for grabs is a ringside ticket for the fight (known as The Long Count Fight) as well as medals, clothing, telegrams, pencil drawings, and photographs. The auction takes place February 24th.
Tunney’s first major boxing prize, a bronze medal, given to him in 1919 is being offered as well as a pair of Tunney’s boxing gloves.
A collection of around 35 photographs of Tunney also features in the sale, many of them with Dempsey, as well as two with his close friend George Bernard Shaw, with whom the famously well-read Tunney once had a Shakespeare ‘quote-off’.
A Christmas card from another famous literary friend, Ernest Hemingway, is among items in a collection of written records, which also includes 17 telegrams from Tunney to Dempsey.
An engraved gold pocket watch given to Tunney in 1922 by the Hotchkiss School , an American Legion cap and a collection of dinner menus from the Sportsmen’s dinner in Vancouver in 1966 signed by Tunney and Bing Crosby are also up for auction.
Tunney died in 1978 at age 81.
Boxing memorabilia on eBay
