Jack Kearns
Jack "Doc" Kearns (born August 17, 1882 in Waterloo , Michigan , † June 17, 1963 ) was a boxing manager, especially from Jack Dempsey . The Ring Magazine called him "the greatest boxing all time."
Beginnings
Kearns grew up in Washington State . At the age of 16 he moved to Alaska to try his luck at the Yukon gold rush , where he worked in saloons. He later worked on a farm and as a smuggler for Chinese immigrants.
He started to box in light and welterweight as "Young Kid Kearns" and later claimed to have contested sixty fights. Kearns ran a bar and a boxing club in Spokane , but turned more and more towards San Francisco , at that time the world capital of boxing. He then started managing and promoting boxers such as Harry Wills .
Dempsey period 1917–1923
In 1917 he met the young Dempsey. Kearns led Dempsey to the spectacular 1919 title win against Jess Willard .
He was a master of publicity and generated the first million dollar income in boxing history with the fight against Georges Carpentier . It was also thanks to Kearns' genius that Dempsey received $ 300,000 for a fight against the smaller Tommy Gibbons in Shelby, Montana. But he knew how to prevent a fight against his ex-protégé Wills.
Tensions arose with promoter Tex Rickard . Dempsey split from him after his fight with Luis Firpo in 1923. Dempsey and his new wife, actress Estelle Taylor, felt cheated by Kearns. This led to bitter trials.
After Dempsey
Until his death he remained a manager, among others of Joey Maxim , Archie Moore and Mickey Walker . He worked for five years as a matchmaker for the International Boxing Club , in the post-war period the instrument of the Cosa Nostra for mastering boxing.
In front of the Kefauverkomitee, a Senate investigation committee into the mafia entanglement in boxing, he was able to talk his way out of having nothing to do with manipulation.
It was also Kearns who hosted the first boxing match in Las Vegas , 1955 between Archie Moore and Niño Valdés .
In 1990, Kearns was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame .
Web links
- Biography (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kearns, Jack |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kearns, Doc (nickname) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American boxing manager |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 17th August 1882 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Waterloo , Michigan , United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | 17th June 1963 |