Jimmy Jacobs

What Jimmy Jacobs is best known for, may be greatly dependent on what audience you are a part of. For those who are fans in the sport of handball, you’ll know Jimmy Jacobs as a legendary champion in that particular field. For those who are lovers of old fight film, you may know Jimmy Jacobs as the narrating voice behind the old black and white battles between classic boxing greats. For the Tyson fans, you may know Jimmy Jacobs as the manager who guided one of the most sensational careers in boxing history, when he managed Iron Mike Tyson.

Growing Up

Jimmy Jacobs was a master in handball

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Jacobs grew up in Los Angeles. He was always keenly interested in all sports and eventually found himself in the sport of handball. In 1966, he was hailed as ‘the finest player of all time.’ It was while he was touring Europe, that he started collecting old fight films. Supposedly, the story goes that it was after the controversial decision of the bout between Joe Louis and Jersey Joe Walcott for the heavyweight championship, in which many felt Jersey Joe had won. Jim Jacob’s then met legendary trainer Cus D’Amato, who he became great friends with. It is claimed that Cus D’Amato admired Jimmy’s champion spirit so much, that he trained Jacobs for six months to face the reigning light heavyweight champion Archie Moore. It would have been a historic feat, if a fighter on his debut would have won the world title, and against a great fighter in Archie Moore, but it never came about.

Jacobss and D’Amato grew close

Future in Films

In 1959, Jacobs teamed up with fellow film collector Bill Cayton. They both had the most impressive film collection in the boxing world, and together they formed the biggest collection in the world, after they purchased Madison Square Garden’s fight archive. Their production companies ‘The Greatest Fights of the Century’, and ‘Big Fights Inc.’, rescued the rare films showing fights as early as the 1890’s, including fighters such as Bob Fitzsimmons, Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey. If you’ve ever watched any old fight tape, then most likely you will have noticed the voice of Jim Jacobs narrating the fights. Jacobs also starred in over 1000 boxing documentaries and productions. In 1998, Cayton sold the collection to ESPN for a reported $100 million. This is why you see most of the footage of old fights being shown through ESPN (and formerly ESPN Classics).

Management

Jacobs and Cayton co-managed Tyson

In 1978, Jacobs and Cayton bought the management contract of world light welterweight champion, Wilfred Benitez and guided him to two more championships until 1983 when he bought himself out. They also managed Edwin Rosario (who fought Julio Cesar Chavez) and Eugene Hart, a lightweight  In 1984, the duo then signed the teenager Mike Tyson, who was trained by Jacobs’ close friend D’Amato.

Career of Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson was close with Jimmy Jacobs

Jim Jacobs and Bill Cayton guided Tyson’s career beautifully to the heavyweight championship (which Tyson won at the age of 20 which is a record that still stands today). Jacobs died of leukaemia in 1988, which deeply hurt Tyson who considered Jacobs to be a close mentor. However, it has been claimed that Jacobs kept his terminal illness from Tyson. Yet he still got Tyson to sign a contract that would guarantee his wife a percentage of the purse in the event that Jacobs died, which was inevitable seeing as he was aware of his terminal illness. This is thought to be a contributing factor to the distrust between Tyson and the remaining members of the Catskill team (Cayton and his trainer, Kevin Rooney).

Lasting Legacy

Despite this slight controversy, it cannot be denied that Jacobs made a significant contribution to the sport of boxing. For any historian, or simply any fans that like to watch footage of the great old champions of the early 20th century, you cannot help appreciate Jacobs’s collection of fight films. Among the footage of great fighters that may have otherwise been lost forever, if it weren’t for Jacobs and Cayton, includes Battling Nelson,  Henry Armstrong, (the original) Kid Chocolate, and Jack Dempsey. Could you imagine being robbed off the chance to witness the great Jack Dempsey on film? Thanks to Jimmy Jacobs, we don’t have to.