The One Is Jack Hurley Volume Two: The Old Professor's Chicago Days: 2

The One Is Jack Hurley is an epic three-volume bio-history of boxings Golden Age beginning with Jack Dempsey in the 1910s and ending with the emergence of George Foreman in 1970 as filtered through the life experience of legendary manager and promoter Deacon Jack Hurley. Hurley began his career in Fargo North Dakota just before World War I worked in and around New York and Chicago from the mid 1920s through the 40s and settled in Seattle in 1950.Hurleys life more than any other personifies pro boxings journey out of the backrooms and bars of the 1900s to the arenas and stadiums of the 1920s 30s and 40s and into the parlors and family TV rooms of the 1950s and 60s. It is a history not only of one mans life but of the sport itself. A tale long neglected only because Jacks career was so long and multifaceted.Volume 2 The Old Professors Chicago Days catalogs Hurleys middle years when he faced the challenge of rebuilding his career after the retirement of Billy Petrolle his No. 1 fighter and meal ticket. From 1935 through 1949 Jack made a lasting mark in Chicago as a fight manager and promoter/matchmaker at the citys three most important boxing venues: Marigold Gardens the Chicago Coliseum and the Chicago Stadium. This volume in the Hurley trilogy presents a detailed history of professional boxing in Chicago during those years and Jacks role in shaping it.Known as the old Professor by virtue of his syndicated boxing column Hurley the manager comes close to landing title fights for lightweight Billy Marquart in 1939 and heavyweight Lem Franklin in 1942 only to fall short of these goals when both fighters lose elimination bouts to top-rated contenders in their respective divisions.In the latter part of 1942 Hurley joins with Irving Schoenwald and Jack Begun to promote boxing at the Chicago Stadium then the nations largest indoor arena. For seven years they preside over the most exciting period in the history of Windy City boxing culminating in the Rocky Graziano-Tony Zale world middleweight title fight which grossed $422918 an indoor record that endured until 1961.The trios run ends in 1949 when the arrival of free TV kills off demand for live boxing. Seeing the writing on the wall Hurley leaves the promoting business to manage welterweight Vince Foster. The present volume ends just as Fosters death in an auto accident convinces Jack the time has come to leave Chicago.