Jarvis Astaire Obituary

[Coco]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/ ... e-obituary

[JamesPhilips]

Some pattern

[bennie]

Remember the name well. Astaire was one of the infamous four-man Cartel that shared every penny they made from boxing (Duff, Lawless and Barrett the other three). Astaire was the brains of the business outfit, with Duff and Lawless the shrewd boxing men and Barrett the man with the sole right to promote fights at the Albert Hall. Barrett quit the outfit after the Chuck Gardner scandal but the three others stayed together and made a fortune. The only fighters who seemingly made any money under them were Jim Watt and Frank Bruno.

[punchers chance]

It sounds like he had an amazing life and lived to a good age.
For a guy who seems to have been showbiz to his fingertips (even his name!) he seemed virtually invisible.
In all my time following the sport he was just a name in the background.
Is it fair to say he was the British Al Haymon?

[Coco]

Remember the name well. Astaire was one of the infamous four-man Cartel that shared every penny they made from boxing (Duff, Lawless and Barrett the other three). Astaire was the brains of the business outfit, with Duff and Lawless the shrewd boxing men and Barrett the man with the sole right to promote fights at the Albert Hall. Barrett quit the outfit after the Chuck Gardner scandal but the three others stayed together and made a fortune. The only fighters who seemingly made any money under them were Jim Watt and Frank Bruno.

And Bruno earned a lot of his money after leaving them.

[cormack]

bent as a nine bob note .
rip.

[SticknMove]

Boxed on a London v Tel Aviv dinner show at the Grosvenor when I was 17...........no family allowed.....security heightened. Just got off the scales and my trainer (ex Olympian boxer) said this is Jarvis Astaire.....shook his hand........never heard of him before. The ignorance of youth.

RIP to a fulfilled life.

[margaret thatcher]

seems like he sucked fighters dry (no homo)

[SticknMove]

seems like he sucked fighters dry (no homo)

Seems so........

[bennie]

It is hard to look back on the Cartel without cynicism but what they did was strictly legal and it has to be said that Astaire made most of his money outside boxing, although the sport was undoubtedly a nice little earner. Astaire managed some of the biggest names in film and music and is seen next to Tom Jones at the Leonard-Benitez fight in Las Vegas in 1979 (with Hagler-Antuofermo on the same bill). From the little I saw of him, he looked approachable. He pops up in an excellent documentary on Joe Bugner's fight with Joe Frazier in London in the summer of 1973

[bennie]

Boxed on a London v Tel Aviv dinner show at the Grosvenor when I was 17...........no family allowed.....security heightened. Just got off the scales and my trainer (ex Olympian boxer) said this is Jarvis Astaire.....shook his hand........never heard of him before. The ignorance of youth.

RIP to a fulfilled life.

Your trainer boxed Sugar Ray Leonard.

[JamesPhilips]

It is hard to look back on the Cartel without cynicism but what they did was strictly legal and it has to be said that Astaire made most of his money outside boxing, although the sport was undoubtedly a nice little earner. Astaire managed some of the biggest names in film and music and is seen next to Tom Jones at the Leonard-Benitez fight in Las Vegas in 1979 (with Hagler-Antuofermo on the same bill). From the little I saw of him, he looked approachable. He pops up in an excellent documentary on Joe Bugner's fight with Joe Frazier in London in the summer of 1973

Legal doesn’t mean moral.
They were all in the same club too if you know what I mean

[Coco]

It is hard to look back on the Cartel without cynicism but what they did was strictly legal and it has to be said that Astaire made most of his money outside boxing, although the sport was undoubtedly a nice little earner. Astaire managed some of the biggest names in film and music and is seen next to Tom Jones at the Leonard-Benitez fight in Las Vegas in 1979 (with Hagler-Antuofermo on the same bill). From the little I saw of him, he looked approachable. He pops up in an excellent documentary on Joe Bugner's fight with Joe Frazier in London in the summer of 1973

Legal doesn’t mean moral.
They were all in the same club too if you know what I mean

For me the way Bennie put it was to imply that his dealing were legal but immoral

[high tower 1]

Sounds like the UFC model in MMA. Get a monopoly and pay shite.

[nobleart1978]

Good age. Yes, he was the invisible man behind the cartel.

Assessing the cartel is difficult. It does seem that only a few fighters earned decent money with them. However, its like Mickey Duff says in his book, if you pay a fighter say, fifty grand, and the next day he blows it on a Rolex and a sports car then complains he's skint, its not Duffs fault.

Dear old Kirkland Laing was never going to use his money wisely was he? And there were msny like him...

[JamesPhilips]

It is hard to look back on the Cartel without cynicism but what they did was strictly legal and it has to be said that Astaire made most of his money outside boxing, although the sport was undoubtedly a nice little earner. Astaire managed some of the biggest names in film and music and is seen next to Tom Jones at the Leonard-Benitez fight in Las Vegas in 1979 (with Hagler-Antuofermo on the same bill). From the little I saw of him, he looked approachable. He pops up in an excellent documentary on Joe Bugner's fight with Joe Frazier in London in the summer of 1973

Legal doesn’t mean moral.
They were all in the same club too if you know what I mean

For me the way Bennie put it was to imply that his dealing were legal but immoral

Yes I agree. But many people equate legal with completely acceptable.

[high tower 1]

Good age. Yes, he was the invisible man behind the cartel.

Assessing the cartel is difficult. It does seem that only a few fighters earned decent money with them. However, its like Mickey Duff says in his book, if you pay a fighter say, fifty grand, and the next day he blows it on a Rolex and a sports car then complains he's skint, its not Duffs fault.

Dear old Kirkland Laing was never going to use his money wisely was he? And there were msny like him...

Up to the fighters how they spend it. If they’ve earned a million and want to spend it all on brass then it’s their prerogative. Doesn’t give the likes of Duff to underpay them as they’d squander it anyways.

[dapug]

I know Henry Wharton, Billy Schwer, Gary Jacob's & Richie Woodhall to name a few, all earned well with Duff and let's not forget when the news broke about the "cartel" Mike Barrett opened the books to the press.

Duff, Lawless, Astaire & Barrett all gone now and not in a position to defend themselves.

[bripez]

I know Henry Wharton, Billy Schwer, Gary Jacob's & Richie Woodhall to name a few, all earned well with Duff and let's not forget when the news broke about the "cartel" Mike Barrett opened the books to the press.

Duff, Lawless, Astaire & Barrett all gone now and not in a position to defend themselves.

To be fair, the fact that they are called The Cartel gives a good idea of what they were about

[dapug]

I know Henry Wharton, Billy Schwer, Gary Jacob's & Richie Woodhall to name a few, all earned well with Duff and let's not forget when the news broke about the "cartel" Mike Barrett opened the books to the press.

Duff, Lawless, Astaire & Barrett all gone now and not in a position to defend themselves.

To be fair, the fact that they are called The Cartel gives a good idea of what they were about

It was the press that dubbed the business arrangement as the cartel after Ambrose Mendy stole a copy of the 4 man contract from Micky Duff"s brother in law(true story) and leaked it to the media.

[JamesPhilips]

I know Henry Wharton, Billy Schwer, Gary Jacob's & Richie Woodhall to name a few, all earned well with Duff and let's not forget when the news broke about the "cartel" Mike Barrett opened the books to the press.

Duff, Lawless, Astaire & Barrett all gone now and not in a position to defend themselves.

To be fair, the fact that they are called The Cartel gives a good idea of what they were about

It was the press that dubbed the business arrangement as the cartel after Ambrose Mendy stole a copy of the 4 man contract from Micky Duff"s brother in law(true story) and leaked it to the media.

Really? Us that why Mendy was persecuted? Although as I understand he was a bit dodgy himself.

[mickey1975]

To be fair, the fact that they are called The Cartel gives a good idea of what they were about

It was the press that dubbed the business arrangement as the cartel after Ambrose Mendy stole a copy of the 4 man contract from Micky Duff"s brother in law(true story) and leaked it to the media.

Really? Us that why Mendy was persecuted? Although as I understand he was a bit dodgy himself.

There was a great documentary a long time ago called The Purse that went Into all the carry ins with The Cartel and Mendy, etc. Duff says in it Mendy is a criminal who interfered in his contract with someone.
As stated above, Wharton did well with them and has no complaints and still has his cash. He was one of only three fighters at Duff's funeral. McKenzie and Schwer, I think, were the others. Maybe that's telling in a different way. Jews do get buried at pace, though.

[JamesPhilips]

It was the press that dubbed the business arrangement as the cartel after Ambrose Mendy stole a copy of the 4 man contract from Micky Duff"s brother in law(true story) and leaked it to the media.

Really? Us that why Mendy was persecuted? Although as I understand he was a bit dodgy himself.

There was a great documentary a long time ago called The Purse that went Into all the carry ins with The Cartel and Mendy, etc. Duff says in it Mendy is a criminal who interfered in his contract with someone.
As stated above, Wharton did well with them and has no complaints and still has his cash. He was one of only three fighters at Duff's funeral. McKenzie and Schwer, I think, were the others. Maybe that's telling in a different way. Jews do get buried at pace, though.

I think I saw a video of 3 fighters in a pub slamming cartel…. My memory is fading… I think one was mark Kaylor?

[SticknMove]

Boxed on a London v Tel Aviv dinner show at the Grosvenor when I was 17...........no family allowed.....security heightened. Just got off the scales and my trainer (ex Olympian boxe r) said this is Jarvis Astaire.....shook his hand........never heard of him before. The ignorance of youth.

RIP to a fulfilled life.

Your trainer boxed Sugar Ray Leonard.

No Bennie.

Always thought he boxed at the Olympics in 60 or 64 but no record of it. So that's a bit of misinfo/misunderstanding that I carried for years. He won a Commonwealth Bronze. But he boxed a dozen fights under Terry Lawless in early mid 60s and that's probably how he knew him. I remember the occasion because there was a genuine mutual respect and smiles between them, something I rarely saw from my trainer back then. After he introduced me and I shook Astaire's hand he said that he was very wealthy and powerful in the sport. This is mid 80s and I obviously heard and knew about Lawless, Duff and to a lesser extent Barratt. But I had never heard of Astaire until then.

Whether the 'cartel', as it became known as, was good for boxing and boxers in Britain given the context of it's time will be up for discussion.

A very successful man who lived a long varied life. RIP.

[bennie]

Boxed on a London v Tel Aviv dinner show at the Grosvenor when I was 17...........no family allowed.....security heightened. Just got off the scales and my trainer (ex Olympian boxe r) said this is Jarvis Astaire.....shook his hand........never heard of him before. The ignorance of youth.

RIP to a fulfilled life.

Your trainer boxed Sugar Ray Leonard.

No Bennie.

Always thought he boxed at the Olympics in 60 or 64 but no record of it. So that's a bit of misinfo/misunderstanding that I carried for years. He won a Commonwealth Bronze. But he boxed a dozen fights under Terry Lawless in early mid 60s and that's probably how he knew him. I remember the occasion because there was a genuine mutual respect and smiles between them, something I rarely saw from my trainer back then. After he introduced me and I shook Astaire's hand he said that he was very wealthy and powerful in the sport. This is mid 80s and I obviously heard and knew about Lawless, Duff and to a lesser extent Barratt. But I had never heard of Astaire until then.

Whether the 'cartel', as it became known as, was good for boxing and boxers in Britain given the context of it's time will be up for discussion.

A very successful man who lived a long varied life. RIP.

Oh sorry mate, I assumed you were trained by 1972 Olympian Graham Moughton, who was outscored by Ray Leonard over in the States in 1973. Johnny Caiger is probably a better assumption.