"Fight!" depicts the bout between Jack Dempsey and Tommy Gibbons for the heavyweight title on July 4th, 1923. Being held in Shelby, Montana was an effort by officials to create the city as an economic and tourism center for train travelers headed west to Hollywood for fame and riches. Although the match was a great success for Dempsey, having won each of the 15 rounds unanimously, the event was a complete failure for the city. It is now considered one of the greatest economic disasters in boxing history. Within months after the fight, four banks in Shelby went bankrupt and the town's dreams of prosperity fell as swiftly as Gibbons going down against Dempsey.