Biggest Contributors

[Ambling Alp]

Outside of boxers themselves, who did the most for boxing?

The first guy I thought of was Tex Rickard. Unlike most promoters, he was actually good for boxng. He really helped the popularity of the sport. He is often associated with Jack Dempsey, but he also promoted other big fights.

He was able to generate interest in fights that drew much bigger crowds that would seem possible.

He did the 1906 Gans-Nelson fight. The fighters made more $ than any previous fighters.
He promoted the Jeffries-Johnson fight, "The Fight of the Century".
He even managed to get 80,000 fans pay to see former champion Jess Willard take on Luis Firpo.

Nat Fleischer would be another possiblity. He really helped give the sport credibility and publicity.

Who did the most, Rickard, Fleischer, or someone else?

[BoxBuzz]

Fans.....those folks who put their butts in the seats.....

the same folks the promoters betrayed when they made the sport so hard to follow with all the sanctioning bodies.

IF there was one champion in each division today....I think the sport would be huge....and perhaps still the leading sport in this country.

[enrique]

Pierce Egan, Hank Kaplan, Nat Fleischer, WC Heinz, AJ Liebling, Stanley Weston, Lew Eskin, Peter Heller etc.

[Expug]

Another unsung contributor, William Muldoon.
A great wrestler, Irish copper , and fitness expert, literaly pulled John L Sullivan out of a saloon and whipped his ass into shape to fight and beat Jake Kilrain.
What would have become of boxing if Muldoon didnt revive Sullivan?

[raylawpc]

In terms of overall contribution to the game over the longest period, I would say Nat Fleischer and Ring Magazine.

I think the fighter who had the biggest positive impact on boxing was John L. Sullivan. Somebody wrote once that John L. took prizefighting from the back alleys and put it on the front pages. I agree.

An overlooked personage who had a tremendous impact on the popularity of boxing was Richard K. Fox and the Police Gazette.

[Ambling Alp]

The Police Gazette was certainly an important part of the growth of popularity of boxing in the late 1800's.

Sullivan's long exhibition tours throughout the United States helped the exposure of boxing as well. His ability and personality helped boxing a lot.

As enrique mentioned, several writers have helped as well.
People who filmed some old fights preserved some important history as well. I don't remember the specifics, but I think Hank Kaplan and Jim Jacobs donated thousands of old fights that are now occasionally replayed. Occasionally ESPN Classic will show a valuable treasure. (Though they are more likely to show Bowe-Holyfield for the 1000th time).

[elmersalsa]

If we talk about boxing films, Bill Cayton with "Great Fights of the Centurry" films gave a lot exposure to the boxing fans. He was a great contributor.

Juan Carlos Tapia in Latin America has done good with his boxing films that he has in his collection. He has fights on film from all over the world, from any era or time.

Curt Gowdy was excellent.

Bill Gallo with his humoristic cartoon paintings on the New York Post were classics.

Art Rust, Jr. and his radio show in NYC. He was brilliant.

[Tantum]

Granberry

[enrique]

The Jacobs -Caytob film collection was sold to ESPN for several million bucks.

The Hank Kaplan collection valued at over 3 million bucks was donated to Brooklyn College where they are putting together the worlds greatest boxing research center. Our good buddy had a collection of 90 big boxes of clippings all properly archived, some 2,000 books -including a copy of Pierce Egans' 1812 book- some 200,000 photgraphs and posters, dozens of boxing artifacts and statues, autographs by the thousands and it will be available to the world by sometime next year.

[pundit]

Outside of boxers themselves, who did the most for boxing?

The first guy I thought of was Tex Rickard. Unlike most promoters, he was actually good for boxng. He really helped the popularity of the sport. He is often associated with Jack Dempsey, but he also promoted other big fights.

He prevented Dempsey vs. Wills.

[Ambling Alp]

True, he wouldn't promote that fight. He thought there could be riots and other problems similar with what happened with Johnson. (Rickard promoted Johnson-Jeffries.)

However, a Wills-Dempsey fight could have had happened with another promoter, so Rickard shouldn't get all the blame, though it's a black mark against Rickard's legacy.
Nevertheless, on balance, he was a big plus for boxing.

[raylawpc]

How is that a "black mark" against Rickard's legacy in the context of those times?

Rickard felt incredibly guilty about the race riots caused by Johnson-Jeffries - which he promoted. People died as a result of those riots. Rickard genuinely and honestly believed violence could again occur if Dempsey fought Wills.

If you sincerely believed that people could die as a result of a fight you were urged to promote, would you have promoted it anyway?

[Ambling Alp]

I believe that Rickard probably sincerely believed that there was a chance of race riots again. However, I think he would have been wrong. It would have been a different situation if Wills would have won than with Johnson.
Johnson was the first black heavyweight champion, so it was a big deal when he was the champion. However, it wouldn't have been quite as a big of a deal the 2nd time a black fighter won the title. Blacks would have been quite as excited, and whites wouldn't have been quite as angry.
You also have to consider the fighters themselves. Wills didn't have the same type personality as Johnson. Wills wouldn't have been taunting Dempsey. He also wasn't seen as a "troublemaker" outside of the ring like Johnson was to many people.
Rickard had also promoted other major fights between a black man and a white man with little trouble following the fight.
When Louis won the title, there wasn't near the trouble that there was with Johnson. Take Jack Johnson (or someone like him) out of the equation, and the chances for trouble decreases dramatically.

[raylawpc]

I believe that Rickard probably sincerely believed that there was a chance of race riots again. However, I think he would have been wrong. It would have been a different situation if Wills would have won than with Johnson.
Johnson was the first black heavyweight champion, so it was a big deal when he was the champion. However, it wouldn't have been quite as a big of a deal the 2nd time a black fighter won the title. Blacks would have been quite as excited, and whites wouldn't have been quite as angry.
You also have to consider the fighters themselves. Wills didn't have the same type personality as Johnson. Wills wouldn't have been taunting Dempsey. He also wasn't seen as a "troublemaker" outside of the ring like Johnson was to many people.
Rickard had also promoted other major fights between a black man and a white man with little trouble following the fight.
When Louis won the title, there wasn't near the trouble that there was with Johnson. Take Jack Johnson (or someone like him) out of the equation, and the chances for trouble decreases dramatically.

You have the benefit of hindsight; Rickard didn't. He knew that he had promoted a heavyweight championship fight which resulted in riots and the deaths of innocent people. He did not want to do that again.

Can you name for me those post-Johnson/Jeffries title fights Rickard promoted that involved black and white contestants? I don't recall any. Certainly, he never promoted another heavyweight title match between black and white contestants.

[Ambling Alp]

Of course, I have the benefit of hindsight in regard to Louis. However, it is an indication that Rickard was wrong. I just used it as point that there was little trouble when a black man won the title. Nor was there trouble after the Gans-Nelson fight (Rickard's first big promotion) which took place before Johnson won the title.

There were not title fights between blacks and whites for a long time after Johnson mainly because of the fear of trouble.

That doesn't mean there would have been trouble had a nother black man won the title.
Wills fought other white fighters and there was no trouble. He wasn't anything like Jack Johnson and was not the polarizing figure that Johnson was which led to trouble. There is is very little reason to think that there would race riots had Harry Wills won the title.

[raylawpc]

You are missing my point. I'm not saying there would have been riots. I don't think so myself, either. I have the benefit of hindsight, too.

But you wrote that Rickard's reluctance to promote Dempsey-Wills was a "black mark" against him. I again ask, how? His fear of racial trouble as a result of the fight was perfectly reasonably considering what happened in 1910.

[Ambling Alp]

I don't think it was that reasonable. That happened 14 years before. Jack Johnson hadn't been the champion for 9 years. Wills wasn't Johnson and didn't bring out the hatred in people that Johnson did. In fact, a fair amount of whites would have been rooting for Wills.
Blacks wouldn't have been as excited if Wills had won (as they did when Johnson won) because a black man had already won the title previously. Rickard knows from first hand experience that black man can be beat a white man without there being trouble afterwards. I really don't what more there is to say.

[raylawpc]

Or, Rickard believed from first hand experience that a black man couldn't beat a white man for the world's heavyweight championship without there being trouble afterwards. I really don't what more there is to say.

[Zelley]

In terms of overall contribution to the game over the longest period, I would say Nat Fleischer and Ring Magazine.

I think the fighter who had the biggest positive impact on boxing was John L. Sullivan. Somebody wrote once that John L. took prizefighting from the back alleys and put it on the front pages. I agree.

An overlooked personage who had a tremendous impact on the popularity of boxing was Richard K. Fox and the Police Gazette.

Excellent selection, Fleischer and Fox

[Zelley]

John Sholto Douglas, eighth Marquis of Queensberry.
Arch Ward, Chicago Tribune - introduced first golden Gloves tournament
followed by Paul Gallico in New York.