Tex Rickard

The Legacy of Tex

It was January 2nd, 1870, when one of the earliest, if not first, of the legendary boxing promoters was born, in Kansas City, Missouri, with the name George Lewis Rickard. Not only was Rickard a boxing promoter, but he was also the founder of the New York Rangers of the NHL, and builder of the third incarnation of Madison Square Garden. Tex Rickards could be described as the first managerial figure to truly recognise the potential of sports as a commercial spectacle.

Interesting Beginnings

Tex Rickard grew up in Texas, where he worked as a sheriff. He would then later be drawn to Alaska as a miner, after the new discovery of gold there at the time in 1895. Showing early traits of his monetary know-how he, and his partner (Harry Ash), staked claims at the Klondike Gold Rush and sold their holdings for nearly $60,000. They then opened the Northern Saloon, but would then lose it all at the gambling tables and supplying beautiful women for the fellow miners. Soon after, Texas would find himself running poker games and bartending at the Monte Carlo saloon, where he started officiating boxing matches in the early 1900’s.

Diving Into Boxing

It was in 1906, where Tex Rickard dived deeply into the world of boxing when he and Wilson Mizner began promoting boxing matches. Initially, Rickard promoted the world lightweight title fight between Joe Gans and Oscar ‘Battling’ Nelson,  to publicise his newly acquired casino in the town of Goldfield. The fights put Tex Rickard in the public spotlight, and ignited the start of one the most notable promoters in boxing history. Rickard was the the pioneer of the use, ‘Fight of the Century’.

Rise and Fall

Rickard would go on to promote matches in Goldfield, including Abe Attell’s featherweight title match with Freddie Weeks in 1909. Then in 1910, the most impressive addition to Rickard’s resume came. Rickard promoted Jack Johnson’s ‘Fight of the Century’ match with the great Jim Jeffries. Jim Jeffries had retired undefeated six years earlier, but after the public outrage that surrounded the first black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, Jeffries came back in an attempt to dethrone the flashy and ‘offensive’ champion, but was soundly defeated by the now even-more-hated Jack Johnson. Upon Johnson’s return to the states, he was met with hate and abuse. Eventually, in an attempt to take down the champion, Johnson was charged with violation of the Mann Act (transporting women across state borders for immoral purpose), and Jack went on the run. Tex decided there was little money to be made in America, with the state of boxing in turmoil, and went to South America, where money was made to (and where the big money was, Tex keenly followed). After Jess Willard won the title from Jack Johnson in 1915 in Cuba, big money was now to be made in American, and predictably, Tex returned.

Rising Again

In 1920, Tex secured exclusive rights to promote live events at New York’s Madison Square Garden, and built a new construction of Garden in 1925. It was in the ‘roaring’ 20’s, when boxing promoters and managers brought boxing to new audiences and the general public, starting a golden age of boxing in terms of turning boxing into a spectacle. The start of the 20’s saw, one of the most famous fighter-manager-promoter partnerships in boxing history (with Jack Dempsey, Jack ‘Doc’ Kearns, and Tex). Their first fight, was the match-up between ferocious world heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey, and the respected French champion Georges Carpentier in 1921. Dempsey-Carpentier was able to rake in boxing’s first million dollar gate, and was the first fight to be on a live radio broadcast. Up until 1927, the trio raked in $8.4 million in just five fights.

Changing the Course of Boxing

Tex Rickard, with his understanding of how to transcend savagery into a prestige spectacle, changed the face of boxing. Before him, the fight game wasn’t a place of much glamour and prestige. It certainly didn’t have the aura of a global event in the same way it does today. The fights were frequented by pick pockets, lack of hygiene and disorderly drunks. There was no organisation in terms of seating and security. Rickard was the first to truly appreciate boxing’s potential as a global systematic commodity with respectable symbolism, as opposed to just two simple men fighting it out for ego and macho bragging rights. Tex’s tickets to Madison Square Garden included aisles, sections and seat numbers and security officers were employed to bring order and professionalism to the fights, in the same way that theatres and other ‘events’ operated at the time.