The first stage on this plan, which failed in great part because of the Dempsey vs. Gibbons fight, was to bring a fight for the world heavyweight boxing title to town. Dempsey was a member of the "Big Five", alongside Red Grange, Bobby Jones, Bill Tilden and Babe Ruth. Being an idol all over the United States made Dempsey an attraction. The fact that his manager, Jack Kearns, and his promoter, Tex Rickard, to whom many refer today as " the Don King of his era", were also famous, made city officials even more convinced that a large crowd would visit Shelby for the fight, in hopes of seeing Kearns and Rickard as well as the fight. Shelby also figured people would be attracted to running into Dempsey in town, or maybe another member of the "Big Five", should they make it to Montana to see the fight. There were no television networks so whoever wanted to see the fight live would have to go to Shelby.