Jacobs, "Mike" (Michael S.)
Boxing
b. March 10, 1890, New York, NY
d. Jan. 25, 1953
Jacobs discovered the value of tickets when he was a young newsboy. Given two passes to a sold-out fight, he was offered money for them outside the door and he made a $2 profit. Jacobs began buying tickets to shows and sports events that he thought would sell out and scalping them on the street.
In the late 1890s, he became legitimate by opening a ticket brokerage. Jacobs also invested his money in several other successful enterprises, including real estate development, Enrico Caruso's concert tour, a series of lectures by British suffragette Emily Panhurst, and a river steamboat line.
He became involved in fight promotion in 1921, when Tex Rickard needed money for the Jack Dempsey-Georges Carpentier heavyweight championship bout. Jacobs raised $100,000 in cash in just eight hours by offering other ticket brokers good seats at the fight in exchange for their backing. The result was the first $1 million gate in boxing history.
Jacobs continued as an unofficial advisor and financier for Madison Square Garden promotions after Rickard's death in 1929. But he broke away in 1933 to promote a card at the Bronx Coliseum for the Milk Fund. After 10,000 people had to be turned away for lack of seating, Jacobs and three Hearst sports reporters formed the Twentieth Century Boxing Club.
In 1935, black heavyweight contender Joe Louis signed a contract giving Jacobs the right to promote all of his fights. Two years later, Jacobs persuaded champion Jim Braddock to break a contract with Madison Square Garden in order to fight Louis in Chicago. Louis won the title on an 8th-round knockout.
Because of his control over the new champion, Jacobs quickly became the most powerful promoter in New York City, with exclusive rights to boxing at Madison Square Garden, the Polo Grounds, and Yankee stadium. As a result, other fighters signed contracts with him, including Billy Conn, Rocky Graziano, and Sugar Ray Robinson.
Jacobs reportedly built a $10 million fortune during the fifteen years he promoted Louis's fights. He nearly died of a stroke in 1946; three years later he sold most of his holdings to Jim Norris of the International Boxing Club and retired to Florida.