Kearns, Jack (Doc) – The Million Dollar Gate.

Description

Kearns, Jack (Doc) ‘The Million Dollar Gate.’ 1966 1st printing. “The lusty, gutsy adventures of the greatest fight manager of them all. He pulled off the first million dollar gate. Knew all the “greats” of the ring – and managed many of them. Lived by – and for – boxing for sixty years, from the Klondike to Kefauver.” Has the handwritten name and book stamp of longtime South African boxing collector J. Karel de Vries on the frontispiece. VG in VG dust jacket.

The Million Dollar Gate is a 335-page sports memoir written by the legendary boxing manager Jack “Doc” Kearns (as told to veteran sportswriter Oscar Fraley) and published posthumously in 1966 by The Macmillan Company.

Book Summary:
The book serves as a fast-paced, firsthand account of the “Golden Age of Boxing,” chronicling Kearns’ sixty-year career as a colorful, shrewd, and often ruthless operator in the fight game.
• The Early Years: The memoir begins with Kearns’ rough-and-tumble early life, detailing his time in the Klondike Gold Rush, which shaped his gritty, hustling approach to business and promotion.
• The Rise of the Million-Dollar Gate: The core of the book captures his historic partnership with heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey. Kearns earned the title of the book by orchestrating boxing’s first-ever “million-dollar gate” receipts, transforming prize fighting from a low-brow spectacle into a massive, glamorous commercial industry.
• The Ring Legends: Beyond Dempsey, Kearns dishes insider stories, behind-the-scenes politics, and promotional tricks involving other iconic champions he crossed paths with or managed, including Mickey Walker, Joey Maxim, and Archie Moore.
• The Later Controversies: The narrative extends through his public, litigious fallout with Dempsey, his dealings with the notorious, mob-tied International Boxing Club (IBC) in the 1950s, and his ultimate appearance testifying before Senator Estes Kefauver’s committee investigating organized crime in sports.
Ultimately, The Million Dollar Gate is an unapologetic, witty look into the hustle, scams, and brilliance of one of boxing’s most famous flimflam men, serving as a definitive historical window into 20th-century sports promotion.