Announcement

**max baer** · 06-27-2023, 05:22 PM

In 1916, Rickard returned to the United States. On February 3, agreed to Rickard's offer to fight in . The fight was held on March 17, 1916, at , then in its second incarnation, at and in . The $152,000 in gate receipts set a new record for an indoor event and the purse was the largest ever awarded for a no decision.

Rickard promoted the July 4, 1919, fight between world heavyweight champion Jess Willard and in . The fight only drew 20,000 to 21,000 spectators (the area seated 80,000) and the total receipts were estimated to be $452,000. After expenses, Rickard made a profit of $100,000.

After the Willard–Dempsey fight, Rickard began bidding for a title match between Dempsey and . The fight took place on July 2, 1921, in a in . The bout, which drew a record crowd of 90,000, was the first-ever boxing fight to produce a million dollar gate (at a then record of $1,789,238) as well as the first world title fight to be carried over on radio. Rickard's profit on the fight was reported to be $550,000.

On July 12, 1920, shortly after the reestablished legal boxing in the state of New York, Rickard secured a ten-year lease of Madison Square Garden from its owner, the . He promoted a number of championship as well as amateur boxing bouts at the Garden. His largest gate at the Garden came from the Jack Dempsey– fight on December 14, 1920. The –Ritchie Mitchell and – fights also drew well. In addition to boxing, Rickard hosted a number of other events, including six-day bicycle races, and constructed the world's largest indoor swimming pool at the Garden.

On February 17, 1922, Rickard was indicted on charges of abducting and sexually assaulting four underage girls. He lost his license to make and promote boxing matches in New York State and gave up control of the Garden. Rickard was found not guilty on one of the indictments on March 29, 1922, and the others were dropped as a result. After the trial, Rickard's attorney, , accused two workers of the of demanding $50,000 from Rickard in exchange for the girls changing their testimony at trial; however, the district attorney could not find any evidence to corroborate this claim.

On May 12, 1923, Rickard promoted the first boxing card at . It drew 60,000 spectators (a then-record crowd for a boxing bout in New York state) and made $182,903.26, which was donated to 's Milk Fund.

On September 14, 1923, Rickard promoted his second million dollar gate when around 100,000 people attended the fight at the .

In September 1924, Rickard promoted the fight between and in Jersey City. The fight was attended by 60,000, but the paid attendance was only 48,500. Rickard lost $5,005 on the bout.

On March 19, 1925, Rickard was convicted of violating a federal law that prevented the interstate transportation of fight films. He faced jail time, but was instead fined $7,000.

In 1926, Rickard promoted the Jack Dempsey– fight at in . The bout attracted a world record crowd of 135,000 and brought in a record gate of $1.895 million. He also promoted the rematch, now known as , which was held on September 22, 1927, at in Chicago. This fight brought in the first $2 million gate ($2.658 million) and was the first of feature a $1 million purse. Rickard reported that between 1924 and 1926 his gate receipts totaled $7.79 million, if which he kept 80% after taxes. Madison Square Garden[]

On May 31, 1923, Rickard filed incorporation papers for the New Madison Square Garden Corporation, a company formed for the purpose of building and operating a in New York City. In 1924 he purchased a car barn block on between and . He acquired the rights to the name Madison Square Garden, as the building's owners planned on tearing it down and replacing it with an office building. was selected to design the new building. Destruction of the car barns began on January 9, 1925. The new arena opened on November 28, 1925. The first event was the preliminaries for the annual six-day bicycle race. It hosted its first major event on December 11, 1925, when a record indoor crowd of 20,000 attended the - fight. The $148,155 gate broke the record for an indoor boxing event.

In January 1926, Rickard purchased WWGL radio, which he moved to the Garden and renamed WMSG.

Following the success of the in the Garden's first year, the Madison Square Garden Corporation decided to establish a second team, this one controlled by the corporation itself. The new team was nicknamed "Tex's Rangers" and later became known as the . Other ventures[]

Rickard sought to repeat the success of the Madison Square Garden by building seven "Madison Square Gardens" around the country. In 1927, a group led by Rickard signed a 25-year lease for a sports arena at the new facility in . The opened on November 17, 1928.

In 1929, Rickard and George R. K. Carter opened the Miami Beach Kennel Club greyhound track. They also planned a number of other ventures, including a jai-alai grounds adjacent to the kennel club and a horse track on an island in . Rickard also hoped to someday to build a hotel and casino that would rival those in . Personal life[]

Rickard met Maxine Hodges, a former actress 33 years his junior at the Dempsey–Firpo fight. The couple married on October 7, 1926, in . On June 7, 1927, the couple's daughter, Maxine Texas Rickard, was born.

The grave of Tex Rickard in
On December 26, 1928, Rickard left New York for , where he was completing arrangements for a fight between and and attending the opening of the Miami Beach Kennel Club. On New Year's Eve, Rickard was stricken with appendicitis and was operated on. Rickard died on January 6, 1929, due to complications from his appendectomy. He was interred at , , .

**max baer** · 06-27-2023, 05:23 PM

Donald King (born August 20, 1931) is an American , known for his involvement in several historic boxing matchups. He has been a controversial figure, partly due to a manslaughter conviction and civil cases against him, as well as allegations of dishonest business practices by numerous boxers.

King's career highlights include, among multiple other enterprises, promoting "" and the "". King has promoted some of the most prominent names in boxing, including , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and . Some of these boxers sued him for allegedly defrauding them. Most of the lawsuits were settled out of court. Mike Tyson was quoted as saying, “He did more bad to black fighters than any white promoter ever in the history of boxing.”

King has been charged with killing two people in incidents 13 years apart. In 1954, King shot a man in the back after spotting him trying to rob one of his ******** houses; this incident was ruled a . In 1967, King was convicted of for stomping one of his employees to death. For this, he served three years and eleven months in prison. Early life[]

King was born in , Ohio, where he attended school and graduated from in 1951. After dropping out of , he ran an illegal operation out of the basement of a record store on , and was charged with killing two men in incidents 13 years apart. The first was determined to be after it was found that King shot Hillary Brown in the back and killed him while he was attempting to rob one of King's ******** houses in 1954. In 1967, King was convicted of for the second killing after he was found guilty of stomping to death an employee, Sam Garrett, who owed him $600. While he served his term at the , he began self-education; according to his own words, he read everything in the he could get his hands on.

Having been released in 1972, King was pardoned in 1983 by Ohio Governor , with letters from , , , , and , among others, being written in support of King. Career[]

King entered the boxing world after convincing to box in a charity exhibition for a local hospital in Cleveland with the help of singer . Early on he formed a partnership with a local promoter named Don Elbaum, who already had a stable of fighters in Cleveland and years of experience in boxing. In 1974, King negotiated to promote a heavyweight championship fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in , popularly known as "". The fight between Ali and Foreman was a much-anticipated event. King's rivals all sought to promote the bout, but King was able to secure the then-record $10 million purse through an arrangement with the government of Zaire.

King arranged Ali's . It is widely believed the fight inspired to write the screenplay for (1976).

King solidified his position as one of boxing's preeminent promoters the following year with the third fight between Ali and in , the capital of the , which King deemed the "". Aside from promoting the premier heavyweight fights of the 1970s, King was also busy expanding his boxing empire. Throughout the decade, he compiled an impressive roster of fighters, many of whom would finish their career with Hall of Fame credentials. Fighters including , , , , , and would all fight under the Don King Productions promotional banner in the 1970s.

For the next two decades, King continued to be among boxing's most successful promoters. Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Julio C�sar Ch�vez, , , , F�lix Trinidad, , , , Andrew Gołota, , , , Marco Antonio Barrera, , , and are some of the boxers who chose King to promote many of their biggest fights.

Outside of boxing, he was the for ' 1984 . In 1998, King purchased a Cleveland-based serving the African-American community in Ohio, the , and as of 2011 continued as its publisher.

King was elected to the in 2008. Personal life[]

King with in 2008, after his win over
Don King's wife, Henrietta, died on December 2, 2010, at the age as one biological daughter, Debbie, a son, Eric and adopted son Carl, five grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

King is politically active and supported in the and presidential elections. During the , he had made media appearances promoting , which had included attendance at the in New York City.

On June 10, 1987, King was made a '' by '[[Grand Master Odes J. Kyle Jr. of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall '' of Ohio, thereby making him a . In the following year, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane letters degree from in , by University President Dr. Arthur E. Thomas.

King with an rocket launcher in 2007

King has conducted an annual giveaway each Christmas for several years, in which he distributes two thousand free turkeys to needy South Floridians. Controversies[]

King has been investigated for possible connections with . During a 1992 investigation, King invoked the when questioned about his connection to mobster .

When president Robert W. "Bobby" Lee, Sr. was indicted for racketeering in 1999, King was not indicted, nor did he testify at Lee's trial, though prosecutors reportedly "called him an unindicted co-conspirator who was the principal beneficiary of Lee's machinations." Lawsuits and prosecutions[]

Muhammad Ali[]

King has been involved in many fraud litigation cases with boxers. In 1982, he was sued by for underpaying him $1.1 million for a fight with . King called in an old friend of Ali, Jeremiah Shabazz, and handed him a suitcase containing $50,000 in cash and a letter ending Ali's lawsuit against King. He asked Shabazz to visit Ali (who was in the hospital due to his failing health) and get him to sign the letter and then give Ali the $50,000. Ali signed. The letter even gave King the right to promote any future Ali fights. According to Shabazz, "Ali was ailing by then and mumbling a lot. I guess he needed the money." Shabazz later regretted helping King. Ali's lawyer cried when he learned that Ali had ended the lawsuit without telling him. Larry Holmes[]

Larry Holmes has alleged that over the course of his career King cheated him out of $10 million in fight purses, including claiming 25% of his purses as a hidden manager. Holmes says he received only $150,000 of a contracted $500,000 for his fight with , and $50,000 of $200,000 for facing , and claims King cut his purses for bouts with , , and , underpaying him $2 million, $700,000, and $250,000, respectively. Holmes sued King over the accounting and auditing for , charging that he was underpaid by $2 to $3 million. Holmes sued King after King deducted a $300,000 'finder's fee' from his fight purse against ; Holmes settled for $150,000 and also signed a legal agreement pledging not to give any more negative information about King to reporters. Tim Witherspoon[]

was threatened with being blackballed if he did not sign exclusive contracts with King and his stepson Carl. Not permitted to have his own lawyer present, he signed four "contracts of servitude" (according to ). One was an exclusive promotional contract with Don King, two were managerial contracts with Carl King, identical except one was "for show" that gave Carl King 33% of Witherspoon's purses and the other gave King a 50% share, more than is allowed by many boxing commissions. The fourth contract was completely blank.

Other examples include Witherspoon being promised $150,000 for his fight with Larry Holmes, but receiving only $52,750. King's son Carl took 50% of Witherspoon's purse, illegal under Nevada rules, and the WBC sanctioning fee was also deducted from his purse. He was forced to train at King's own training camp at Orwell, Ohio, instead of which Ali allowed Witherspoon to use for free. For his fight with he received a net amount of $44,460 from his guaranteed purse of $250,000. King had deducted money for training expenses, sparring partners, fight and airplane tickets for his friends and family. Witherspoon was never paid a stipulated $100,000 for his training expenses and instead was billed $150 a day for using King's training camp. Carl King again received 50% of his purse, despite Don King Productions falsely claiming he had only been paid 33%. HBO paid King $1,700,000 for Witherspoon to fight . Witherspoon got a purse of $500,000, but received only $90,000 after King's deductions. Carl King received $275,000. In 1987, Witherspoon sued King for $25 million in damages. He eventually settled for $1 million out of court. Mike Tyson[]

Former undisputed World Heavyweight Boxing Champion has described King, his former promoter, as "ruthless", "deplorable", and "greedy". In 1998, Tyson sued King for $100 million, alleging that the boxing promoter had cheated him out of millions over more than a decade. The lawsuit was later settled out of court, with Tyson receiving $14 million. Terry Norris[]

In 1996, sued King, alleging that King had stolen money from him and conspired with his manager to underpay him for fights. The case went to trial, but King settled out of court for $7.5 million in 2003. King also acceded to Norris's demand that the settlement be made public. ESPN[]

King at Madison Square Garden in October 2001

In 2005, King launched a $2.5 billion defamation suit against the –owned , the makers of , after a documentary alleged that King had "killed, not once, but twice", threatened to break ' legs, had a hospital invest into a film that was never made, cheated out of $1 million, and then threatened to have Taylor killed. Though the documentary repeated many claims that were already made, King said he had now had enough. King's attorney said "It was slanted to show Don in the worst way. It was one-sided from day one, Don is a strong man, but he has been hurt by this."

The case was dismissed on with a finding that King could not show "actual malice" from the defendants, and that King had failed to prove that any of the challenged statements were false. The judgment also pointed out that the studio had tried on a number of occasions to interview King for the documentary, but he had declined; while not suggesting that King had a legal obligation to do so, the court sympathized with ESPN's circumstances on those grounds. King appealed the decision and, 3 years later, the Second District Court of Appeals upheld the summary judgment, but disagreed with the original finding that none of the statements were false. In any case, Judge Dorian Damoorgian ruled, "Nothing in the record shows that ESPN purposefully made false statements about King in order to bolster the theme of the program or to inflict harm on King". Lennox Lewis[]

In May 2003, King was sued by , who wanted $385 million from the promoter, claiming King used threats to pull Tyson away from a rematch with Lewis. Chris Byrd[]

In early 2006, sued Don King for breach of contract, and the two eventually settled out of court under the condition that Byrd would be released from his contract with King. Donald Trump[]

On September 21, 2016, King caused controversy when introducing at a event at a black church in by using the word "" seemingly by accident. In King's speech, he expressed his view that black people cannot achieve success in the United States by acting like white people, stating: "If you're poor, you are a poor negro -- I would use the n-word -- but if you're rich, you are a rich negro. If you are intelligent, intellectual, you are intellectual negro. If you are a dancing and sliding and gliding ***** -- I mean negro -- you are a dancing and sliding and gliding negro."

**max baer** · 06-27-2023, 05:25 PM

In 1962, Arum was assigned by the to confiscate proceeds from the September 25, 1962 vs. ; during which he met (CCTV) pioneer and former vice-president Lester M. Malitz (1907 – July 24, 1965) of Lester M. Malitz Inc. Malitz was the promoter of the 1965 Terrell–Chuvalo bout, during which he retained Arum to represent him. In 1966, subsequent to a suggestion by , whom Arum had secured for Malitz as the fight's announcer, Arum became a . In 2016, Brown recalled that Arum had seen a televised fight in 1965, as "The first fight Arum ever saw was –, and he watched that from the television truck." Arum credits Brown with introducing him to Muhammad Ali, and Ali with teaching him how to be a boxing promoter.

Arum became a vice-president and secretary of Ali's promotion company, Main Bout. Mike Malitz, son of Lester, like Arum, owned 20 percent of the company and became its vice-president. Jim Brown owned 10 percent of the company and served as its vice-president in charge of publicity. Referencing his first live fight viewing, Arum was reported as saying that he "had never seen a boxing match before the first fight I did with ", referring to the 1966 bout.

During the 1980s, Arum became a driving force behind the sport, rivaling . Arum organized superfights including and . Arum mounted the Hagler–, Hearns– doubleheader in Las Vegas in April, 1986. After the Hearns–Shuler fight, Shuler, who had lost by in the first round, showed up at Arum's hotel room to thank him for the opportunity to fight Hearns.^[] ten days after that bout, Shuler died in a motorcycle accident.

Arum kept producing big-scale undercards and superfights, including the – bout, the 1989 rematch, vs. , and many others. Some of Arum's superstars from the 1990s include former world flyweight champion , six-division world champion , , and three-division world champion . Arum also promoted the legendary champion in his later years of boxing.

Arum has concentrated largely on promoting Hispanic fighters in recent years, citing surveys which show boxing is among the most popular sports within the Hispanic community. He has concentrated many of his shows in the Southwestern portion of the U.S., in cities with large Spanish-speaking populations. He is also the promoter of many of the cards on Telefutura, a Spanish language network. He has had great success with Puerto Rican , who won world titles at the 140, 147, 154, 160-pound weight divisions; Mexican-American , who held a 147-pound belt from 2002 to 2007; Mexican-American , the former WBC and WBO light welterweight world champion; Honduran-American , the former lightweight world champion; and Mexican , the former WBC super featherweight world champion.

Arum was inducted into the in 1999. In 2003 he was inducted into the . Controversies[]

As a boxing promoter, Arum had been involved in many spats and controversies, including a 40-year feud with , with whom he has co-promoted several fights. president has also been a vocal critic and the two have engaged in a protracted and acerbic public feud; in 2018, White briefly became a rival boxing promoter.

In 1994, he was involved with for the boxing event. The fights were called off at the last minute when scuttled the bout by withdrawing his fighters, when no purses were forthcoming from Top Rank.

In 2000, citing , Arum voluntarily testified to having paid president Robert W. "Bobby" Lee, Sr. $100,000 in two installments in 1995, as the first half of a $200,000 bribe, through "middleman, Stanley Hoffman", adding that Lee had first demanded $500,000 to approve the but had settled for the lesser amount of $200,000 (half of which was never paid). Lee was indicted for racketeering in 1999, but convicted of money laundering and tax evasion in 2000. Following his testimony, Arum was sanctioned and fined $125,000 by the . and also admitted to making similar payments to Lee.

successfully sued Arum and was legally released from his contract with Top Rank in January 2001. Following years of acrimony; he and De La Hoya publicly salvaged their relationship.

In 2003, Arum complained about judging in the September 13 bout between Oscar De La Hoya and Sugar Shane Mosley and suggested there was a vendetta against him from a member of the Nevada State Commission that led to De La Hoya's loss. Arum later made an apology for the remark which commission chairman Luther Mack accepted.

In the first week of January 2004, agents raided Arum's Top Rank office in Las Vegas. Arum was on vacation when his office was raided and the FBI originally declined to comment on the raid. The news media reported that the FBI was investigating allegations that Top Rank was involved in fixing the rematch between De La Hoya and , even though De La Hoya lost and Arum was De La Hoya's promoter. The federal agency also announced it was investigating some of 's fights, as well as the – fight. The investigation closed in the summer of 2006 with no charges being filed.

In 2007, Yahoo Sports reported that, " essentially accused Arum, who promoted him from the beginning of his career in 1996 until 2006, of underpaying him, exploiting his talents and manipulating officials." Mayweather, who also became a boxing promoter, stated to Yahoo Sports in 2015, "I don't have anything bad to say about Bob Arum."

Arum filed a lawsuit against for overstepping its boundaries in the sport by becoming a de facto promoter while trying to intentionally eliminate him as a promoter. Arum complained that HBO dropped Mayweather from his exclusive deal after he insisted his fighter have a tougher bout than the network wanted. The suit was settled out of court but Arum continued to criticize HBO by saying "Instead of working with promoters, like they have done in the past, they have become promoters themselves. They make the fights just like promoters and pay fighters", Arum said. "It's their money and they can do what they want but Don King doesn't have to go along with it and neither do I. King and I can get along without HBO or Showtime ... The problem HBO Sports got into is they became defenders of the status quo. They held you back because they had control."

In 2009, Arum defended when he lost his boxing license in the US state of California on charges of illegal hand wraps, implied it was racially motivated and stated that Top Rank would not come back to the state of California until the issue was rectified.

In 2009, Arum was accused of racism by , for calling fans "skinhead white guys."

In 2020, Arum stated that one of his top boxers, should also start promoting himself better. He compared his situation with several other greats in the sport. Arum stated he could have built a house in with the money he lost on Crawford's last three fights. Crawford did not take this lightly, responding through numerous media outlets showing his disappointment towards Arum's comments. In January 2022, Crawford sued Arum for racial bias and for the money he lost by not being promoted well enough.

**max baer** · 06-27-2023, 05:28 PM

Warren was approached by his second-cousin who having just lost a fight and wanting a rematch, could not find a promoter. Warren agreed to become an unlicensed promoter, getting McLean a trainer who had worked with , and made the rematch at the , .

Warren's first licensed show was held at the Bloomsbury Crest Hotel, in London in 1980, promoting two unknown heavyweights. However, although he had arranged TV coverage, he was blocked from broadcasting the fight by the rules preventing first-timers from televising their first fights. However Warren was later given his first TV date with the BBC in a British light welterweight fight between London's champion and Coventry contender .

Warren soon became a leading figure in British boxing, and since has managed some of Britain's best boxers of the last twenty five years, including 'Prince' , , , , , and .

Warren guided Hamed to become Britain's youngest ever world champion when he beat Steve Robinson to win the WBO Featherweight title at the , , in 1995; he oversaw the ascent of Ricky Hatton to the IBF Light Welterweight Championship of the World after beating in 2005; and has been with former IBF and WBO/WBC/WBA/Ring Magazine Super Middleweight Champion Joe Calzaghe throughout the majority of his 46 fight unbeaten career.

Warren signed the Lightweight silver medallist and guided him to be a world champion in 2009, but the two split in 2010. He continued this post-Olympic record by signing others after the .

In December 2007, Warren was elected to the and was inducted in June 2008. Sports network[]

Warren's major vehicles for promotion are Sports Network Ltd and Sports Network Europe, which employ 15 people, but rises up to 1,000 on the day of a big fight. In 1995 Warren signed an exclusive deal with the operator , but having moved his promotions successfully around all of the UK television networks, he has now severed all ties with .

After the loss of the dispute with Calzaghe, Sports Network Ltd was put into .

**max baer** · 06-27-2023, 05:30 PM

Achievements as boxing promoter, match-maker, and manager[]

After briefly working selling sewing machines, Duff returned to boxing to make matches across the UK. In the late 1950s was England's greatest boxing promoter. As Solomons' ironclad control of British boxing waned, a new team began to form with Duff as match maker, as manager, and friend and mentor Harry Levene, as promoter. He also had as partners Terry Lawless, Mike Barrett, and the British Broadcasting Company (BBC). One publication described Duff and his partners's ascendancy in the boxing world, as "an efficient cartel which broke one monopoly and established another." Duff become vastly more famous as a manager, matchmaker, and promoter than he was as a London area boxer. His participation and strong position in the sport as a promoter and matchmaker would extend over four decades from 1953 through 1997. Top boxers in his stable[]

During his strong position as a promoter and manager, he was involved with at least 16 world champions and many leading British fighters, including:

(1961)
(1968)
(1974)
Barry McGuigan (1984)
(1986)
John "The Beast" Mugabi
Cornelius Boza Edwards.

The clout and connections that Duff could bring to bear from his media contacts, wealth, and professional associations could fast channel a competitors rise to a championship bout. Duff's participation and then dominant place in British boxing lasted through the sixty's, seventies, and most of the eighties. Widely credited media roles[]

Duff became widely known in the media, particularly for the awards he received for his work on HBO Boxing (1973), ESPN Top Rank Boxing (1980), and as a consultant with the movie Triumph of the Spirit (1990). ESPN and HBO, however, would not remain the exclusive, or dominant line to the world and British boxing market. Frank Warren's rise and Duff's fall from prominence[]

By the 1990s, Duff's primary competitor, promoter Frank Warren, had seventy-five boxers in his stable, and could be described accurately by London's Observer as "the only show in town". Equally significant was Warren's 50,000,000 pound deal with Britain's largest pay tv network, Sky TV, British commercial television network, ITV and his direct line to the American TV market through promoter . Duff, who was once the major player in London, saw three of his top fighters, Frank Bruno, Joe Calzaghe, and Henry Akinwande leave him for more profitable deals with Warren, sapping both Duff's financial position and market share. Eventually giving in to diminishing health, loss of his boxing stable, and 's dominance through his partnership with and , Duff retired.

**max baer** · 06-27-2023, 06:39 PM

Frank "Blinky" Palermo (January 26, 1905 – May 12, 1996) was an American figure and who surreptitiously owned prize fighters and fights; he was best known for fixing the – fight in 1947. An associate of the , Palermo also ran Philadelphia's biggest . Palermo's partner was Mafioso , a in New York's who had been a gunman with Palermo's fighters[]

In addition to Billy Fox, the professional fighters that Palermo owned outright or under the table included World Welterweight champion , number three-ranked heavyweight contender , World Welterweight Champion , heavyweight contender , and Lightweight Champion .

Palermo would cheat members of his stable out of their share of the purses of their fights. Billy Fox[]

Known as "Blackjack", Fox started off his career in a fashion reminiscent of the rise of heavyweight champ (owned by mobster ) and of future welterweight champ Johnny Saxton (whose contract was owned by Palermo) by winning 36 consecutive fights, all by knockout, before he was knocked out by for the world light heavyweight title. He would rack up seven more wins, including a win in a notorious bout allegedly thrown by . The LaMotta fight was fixed by Palermo, who owned Fox under the table.

Many boxing aficionados did not consider Fox a fighter talented enough to have obtained his lofty ranking without the help of Palermo. After the LaMotta debacle, which was immortalized in 's movie , Fox lost to and , to whom he lost in the first round by a knockout in 1:58 seconds. Ike Williams[]

Ike Williams, the from 1945 to 1951, was managed by Palermo for part of his career. According to Williams, he was blackballed by the boxing managers guild when he sought to manage himself. Palermo informed him he could resolve his problems with the guild, and Williams agreed to let Palermo manage him.

In 1960, Williams testified before the Commission investigating Mob control of boxing. Williams told the commission that he was broke and working for $46 per week despite having won $1 million in purses. He claimed Palermo refused to pay him his share of the purses from two fights worth approximately $40,000, on which he had to pay taxes. He said he had never tried to collect the monies owed him by Palermo. According to :

He is a circumspect fellow and clearly to this day has no wish to anger Blinky. Thus, though he told how Blinky brought him offer after offer to throw fights for bribes as big as $100,000, he insisted that Blinky advised him to turn the offers down. It was a fatherly picture but it did seem out of character.

Williams did claim to have taken a dive against , a much hyped contender for the crown. Clarence Henry[]

On June 4, 1954, Los Angeles-based heavyweight boxer , who was managed by Palermo, was arrested in for Oakland, California middleweight Bobby Jones to throw his June 11 match with . Henry allegedly offered $15,000 (equivalent to approximately $163,457 in today's funds) to Jones to throw the fight. Once the third-ranked heavyweight contender, Henry was released after posting $2,000 bail and subsequently retired from the ring. Giardello beat Jones in a close decision.

A future , Giardello was blocked from a shot at the title by Palermo and the underworld figures who controlled the sport in the 1950s and early '60s. Giardello finally won the title in 1963, after Palermo and Carbo had been jailed. Johnny Saxton[]

Johnny Saxton was a promising amateur fighter who won 31 of his 33 amateur bouts. He was twice a National AAU champion and won a Golden Gloves title. When he turned professional in 1949, he was managed by Bill “Pop” Miller, but Miller sold his contract to Palermo for $10,000. In his first 40 pro fight, he racked up a record of 39 wins and one draw. Palermo had once manipulated Billy Fox to a similar record early in his career to make him a contender. Some of Saxton's opponents in the ring in his journeyman days put in such pitiful performances, they angered not only the crowd but ring officials. Saxton became an unpopular fighter.

Saxton lost his first pro bout to in 1953, dropped a decision to Del Flanagan and drew against Johnny Lombardo. After beating Joey Giardello and , he met world welterweight champion (often spelled Kid Gavilan) in 1954 in a title bout and defeated him in a fifteen-round decision. That fight was widely thought to be fixed. Bookies reportedly had refused to take wagers on the fight. Gavilan—no stranger to fixed fights—cried and said that he had been given “the business.” Twenty of 22 ringside reporters believed Gavilan won the fight.

In a 2002 interview with , was one of the ringside observers.

"...Frankie Carbo, the mob's unofficial commissioner for boxing, controlled a lot of the welters and middles.... Not every fight was fixed, of course, but from time to time Carbo and his lieutenants, like Blinky Palermo in Philadelphia, would put the fix in. When the Kid Gavilan-Johnny Saxton fight was won by Saxton on a decision in Philadelphia in 1954, I was covering it for and wrote a piece at that time saying boxing was a dirty business and must be cleaned up now. It was an open secret. All the press knew that one - and other fights - were fixed. Gavilan was a mob-controlled fighter, too, and when he fought it was clear Graham had been robbed of the title. The decision would be bought. If it was close, the judges would shade it the way they had been told."

Saxton lost his title the following year via technical knockout to , then won it back in 1956 with an upset win over , another fight that was thought to be fixed. Basilio said of losing his title to the referees' decision, “It was like being robbed in a dark alley.” He lost the title again in a rematch with Basilio later in the year. His wins against Gavilan and Basilio were both controversial and unpopular with many in the boxing world. He retired in 1958.

Unlike other boxers exploited by Palermo, Saxton expressed loyalty to him. A statement issued in 1955 declared:

"Since my first professional fight in 1949 Frank Palermo has been my manager, friend, and adviser. He has been honest and trustworthy in every dealing we have had during my career. I now hold the welterweight championship of the world. I am going along with Palermo."

After having his property seized by the , Saxton wound up penniless. While being treated at a state mental hospital after being arrested for robbery in his retirement, he said, "I was supposed to have got big money from fighting on TV, but I never saw it. No one ever gave me more than a couple of hundred dollars at a time." Sonny Liston[]

By 1959, Blinky and his partner, Mafioso , owned a majority interest in the contract of heavyweight boxer , who went on to win the in 1962. From the start of his pro career in 1953, Liston had been "owned" by , who continued to own a stake in the boxer. At the time Palermo and Carbo acquired their interest in Liston, the notorious Carbo was imprisoned on , having been convicted of the undercover management of prize-fighters and unlicensed matchmaking.

According to both and newspaper reports, Vitale and other mobsters "reportedly controlled Liston's contract", with Vitale owning approximately twelve percent.

Liston fought 12 fights under the control of Carbo and Palermo. Senate investigation[]

In 1960, Palermo and Carbo, who had just been released from jail after serving time for managing boxers without a license, were subpoenaed to appear before Senator Estes Kefauver's investigation committee into Mob control of boxing. Palermo pleaded the to avoid testifying, as did Carbo, who took the Fifth 25 times. Kefauver recommended that Palermo and Carbo be cited for . Imprisonment[]

The following year, 1961, Palermo and Carbo, along with Joe Di Sica and , were charged with and against Champion . After a three-month trial, in which served as prosecutor, Carbo and Palermo were convicted in May 1961 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Palermo went free on $100,000 bail as he launched a series of unsuccessful appeals against his conviction. He was released from on November 8, 1971 after serving seven and a half years of his sentence. Later years and death[]

By the late 1970s, Palermo was working with young fighters at the Boys' Club in suburban Philadelphia. On March 13, 1978, he withdrew his request to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission for a for a manager's license in connection with the boys' club due to what his lawyer alleged to be harassment by the "awesome power of the press". Palermo said "I think the news media is very unfair" and asked "I paid my debt to society, so what do they want?".

Palermo died in obscurity in May 1996, aged 91. He was laid to rest at in .

**YGriffith** · 06-27-2023, 06:54 PM

Don king is best and worst promoter tbh.

**Willie Pep 229** · 06-27-2023, 09:40 PM

Tex Rickard is my favorite because the Roaring 20s is my favorite era to read about. It's the time I would set my time machine to.

Truman Gibson was not a promoter just one of the crooks in the IBC.

A token Black in Stanton's War Department (WWII) he was one of three men, along with Mike Jacobs and Johnny Roxborough, who screwed over Joe Louis in the charity fights and got Louis buried in IRS debt.

Gibson, an executive/gangster in the IBC, used his influnce with black fighters to sign them up for the IBC. When Frankie Carbo and Blinky Palermo went to prison, Gibson was found guilty on lesser charges but was given special treatment and a suspended sentence.

In 1960 it was better to be Black admists the Civil Rights movement than to be Italian during the war on organized crime.

Where's Uncle Mike Jacobs on your list? Promoted many of Louis's fights, including Schmeling II.

Squeezed Schmeling out of his title shot with Braddock and got his underserving fighter, Joe Louis the title shot instead. That 'some good promotin'

P.S. Blinky Palermo only promoted one small fight. Probably just as a legal name on a contract. Not actually the promoter.

He, like Gibson, was just an IBC operator, who for a while disguised his malfeasance by pretending to be Sonny Liston's manager.

I doubt Palermo could even properly manager a fighter, never mind promote a fight card.

**Willie Pep 229** · 06-27-2023, 09:52 PM

Also Bill Brady should be on the list. An early, important promoter.

Announcement

Who Was The Greatest and Worst Promoter Of All Time

Who Was The Greatest and Worst Promoter Of All Time

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Announcement

Who Was The Greatest and Worst Promoter Of All Time

Who Was The Greatest and Worst Promoter Of All Time

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Sign In

Register