Tommy’s mission is urgent and personal: he must defeat savage Heavyweight Champion of the World Jack Dempsey in Montana and, with the spoils of war, heal his beloved wife from the debilitating mental illness that threatens their young family.

Along the way, Tommy navigates a kaleidoscopic parade of long cons, old grudges, unexpected nightmares, and vivid characters (from sportswriters to gamblers, trigger-happy cowboys to heartbroken Indians, as well as vaudevillians, millionaires, and movie stars) — all in hopes of winning a breathtaking showdown with the man-killing Dempsey.

Here, told in full for the first time, Tommy Gibbons’ century-old fight for glory in Shelby, the little Montana town that was nearly knocked out by its impossible dream.