Jack Hurley Written by Rob Snell Thursday, 10 January 2008 Jack Hurley
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Jack Hurley Written by Rob Snell Thursday, 10 January 2008 Jack Hurley Manager, Promoter, and Matchmaker Birth Name: John C. Hurley Born: December 9, 1897 in Fargo, North Dakota Died: November 17, 1972 in Seattle, Washington Jack Hurley Manager, Promoter, and Matchmaker Birth Name: John C. Hurley Born: December 9, 1897 in Fargo, North Dakota Died: November 17, 1972 in Seattle, Washington Biography As a boxing man, the iconoclastic "Deacon" Jack Hurley was one of the most colorful and fascinating characters in the sport. In addition to being regarded as one of the great masters of his day as a promoter, a manager, a trainer, and a cornerman, Hurley also had few peers when it came to cultivating sportswriters with his unique personality, strong opinions, and fascinating stories. The great sportswriter, W.C. Heinz, based one of the major characters in his highly regarded boxing novel, THE PROFESSIONAL, on Hurley. As a manager and a trainer, Hurley was known to demand fifty percent of his fighters' purses. Yet he was regarded by many as one of the most honest people in boxing. Moreover, he was known to give his full efforts to see that his boxers did well in the ring and made alot of money. When it came to training and managing his fighters, Hurley was known as a perfectionist with strong ideas. He would drill his fighters to do exactly what he expected of them. As a result, knowledgable people could tell a Hurley-trained fighter from others. Hurley also selected the opposition of his fighters carefully in order to bring them along gradually--methods in vogue today. Hurley attempted to start a boxing career after serving with the United States Army's First Division in World War I. However, he had poor eyesight and lacked the physical ability to be a boxer. He moved into promoting and managing in his native Fargo, North Dakota, trying his hand with "Masked Marvels" before discovering his most talented attraction -- fellow Fargo native Billy Petrolle. Managing Petrolle allowed Hurley to travel throughout the United States, where he showed some of his managerial savvy, which included dressing the Italian-American Petrolle in an American Indian blanket to hype him up as an Indian boxer. Petrolle would go on to be a great fighter despite not becoming a world champion. After Petrolle's retirement in the mid-1930s, Hurley moved into Chicago where he continued to manage fighters, most notably Billy Marquart and Lem Franklin. During the 1940s, he worked for five years as a promoter at the Chicago Coliseum. His most notable promotion was the Chicago meeting of Tony Zale and Rocky Graziano, which set an indoor record at the time for the largest gate, at $422,000. In 1948 he went back to managing fighters, and began working with Omaha welterweight Vince Foster. Foster, who was knocked out in one round at Madison Square Garden, would die tragically in a motorcycle accident. Hurley moved to Seattle, WA, where he began a long residence at the downtown Olympic Hotel. Soon afterward he discovered Harry (Kid) Matthews. Hurley refined Matthews's style and used his cunning public relation skills to build up Matthews's ballyhoo, to such an extent that members of the United States Congress began to speak up about the "injustice" of Matthews not receiving a heavyweight title shot. After Matthews retired, Hurley continued to work with fighters until his death in 1972. Most notable was his promotion of the 1957 heavyweight title fight in Seattle between Floyd Patterson and Pete Rademacher, and his ability to sell Rademacher, who had never fought as a professional, as worthy of a title shot. Hurley also managed late 1960s/early 70s heavyweight contender Boone Kirkman. Hurley spent his final days in Seattle, living in the Olympic Hotel. He is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, West One-half, Lot 35, Block 7, Old Section, Fargo, ND. A selection of stories about Jack Hurley Until you've met the old professor, Jack Hurley, you just haven't been around. He's boxing at its best; sharp, suave, honest, uncompromising. As dour looking as a plate of pickles, he has a sense of humor like a stiletto. He stood up at a meeting of sports writers one day and declared they were a bunch of free-loaders, interested only in complimentary tickets. They chuckled and patted their palms. Anybody else they would have applauded with a handful of smashed potatoes. To say Hurley is the man behind Harry "Kid" Matthews is to underrate the guy. He is Matthews. He does everything- bat the pitching and catching of blows in the ring, and we don't mean this sardonically. Harry's sudden Jump to fame after long years of plugging dates from his meeting with Hurley. Harry is the perfect fighting machine, but the thing that has made him great is his ability to absorb teaching and follow instructions. He has subordinated all his own ring knowledge to put himself completely in Hurley's hands. He doesn't even bother thinking about who or when he's fighting next If you think the Kid is unsmart you should see his bank account. Full Time Job Hurley works at the job of being Harry Matthews 24 hours a day. We've had calls from the guy at home in the middle of the night, and so have other writers all around the country. The guy's phone bill must be monstrous. He confided once he had $20,000 invested in Harry before he began getting dividends. He takes 50 per cent of the Matthews earnings and out of it foots the bills. This arrangement startled Harry when he first went to Hurley and offered the old professor his contract. He suggested the usual 33 ½ per cent was sufficient. "How much you earning now?" asked Hurley. "Nothln'," said Harry. "How much," stabbed Jack, "is 50 per cent of nothing ?" In the Matthew’s corner on fight night he reaches full stature. You've heard how he talked the Kid into believing when he was all but exhausted during the Bob Murphy fight - that he had his second wind and was in better shape than Murphy. No doubt Jack had to do some mental gymnastics this week when Danny Nardico was giving the kid a large, bad evening. It's an odd thing to say about a man who fought for 13 years before meeting his Svengali, but it was Hurley who taught Matthews to fight. He told the Kid he was nothing but a novice ( made him a bit mad. Incidentally ) and started him all over. Was Unfancy Dan "The object of this same is to hurt and be hurt," he told Harry the Kid. "You're nothing but a fancy Dan, and not very fancy." They spent hour after rugged hour in the gym, teaching an experienced fighter how to throw a punch. The fact that Harry was young enough , he's 28 now , and willing to learn saved the partnership and made the fighter. This is unusual in the fight game a manager doing all the chores for his man. The common practice is to turn the boy over to a trainer so the manager will have enough time for the mental work and for many of them there isn't that much time. Once, just once , we asked professor Jack why he didn't hire a trainer. "A trainer," ha said, "is a man with a towel across his shoulders. Anybody can wrap a towel around his neck and fill his mouth with toothpick swabs. I should let one of those bums ruin my life’s work end 26 May 1957 NEW YORK Yes, sir. there he was, breezing into the office. Tall, slender, a little balder and greyer than he used to be. He looked like a church deacon with a predatory glint In his eye. Of course, you recognized the character Immediately as Jack Hurley, the smartest hombre we ever met in the fight racket. IN A FEW thousand well chosen words. Jack quickly disposed of the atom bomb, the Suez Canal and the budget and then got down to something of vital interest to the world at large, namely and to wit, the next heavyweight title fight. Yes, sir. It seems that pompous Cus D'Amato, manager of Floyd Patterson ,the champion, had issued a lordly summons for brother Hurley to depart immediately from the state of Washington and appear before him. Cus, Jack confided has offered me the promotional rights For a title fight which I may stage anywhere I desire. Fine, but who has been selected as Patterson's victim and where will the slaughter take place and will anybody make money? Mention of the word money brought a broad smile to Jack's handsome face. "MONEY," said he, "is something I've always been able to make, especially for others, but never have been able to keep. I made matches for Jim Norris for seven years in Chicago and never lost on a single show." Here he diverged a little to explain how Norris has ruined the fight game" in this country. He continued: "An opponent will be no trouble. I can always dig up somebody. As for the place. It naturally would be Seattle, where I can guarantee everybody can make a bundle” you will remember that Jack was the manager of Billy Petrolle who used to belt out brother lightweights and even welters with equal ease. Where is Billy now? Billy had little education but plenty of brains and when he quit with considerable dough in his kick, he started a small iron foundry and years later sold out for $100,000.