Shelly Finkel
| Shelly Finkel | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Shelly Finkel |
| Born |
June 27, 1944 Brooklyn, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Promoter (entertainment), Sports agent |
| Years active | Active |
Shelly Finkel (born June 27, 1944) is an American boxing and music manager and promoter. Finkel received the Boxing Writers Association of America Manager of the Year award in 1990 and 1993. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2010. Finkel now currently serves as the Chairman of Strategy and Entertainment for LiveStyle.
Finkel was born in Brooklyn, New York. His father William Finkel died in 1957 when he was just thirteen years old. Raised by his mother Betty Finkel, he attended Brooklyn Technical High School. His first job in life was at Ripley’s Clothing Store, a block from his house. Working two or three nights a week at age 14. He continued with odd jobs including as a salesman for photocopier company. He later began a dating service and landed his first music promotion job while handing out flyers outside of the Action House. "A guard came outside and took Finkel and his partner, a longtime friend named Eli, into the club to meet with the four absentee owners. They asked Finkel if he knew anything about running a club. Although the obvious answer would have been no, the 23- year-old Finkel, who was full of youthful exuberance, answered in the affirmative and got a job he had not even been seeking."
Finkel started his music career through Action House nightclub in 1967 and many famous bands such as Cream and The Doors performed there. Finkel promoted shows with The Doors, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and the Chambers Brothers. He created with partner Jimmy Koplick Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, which drew a record crowd of 600,000 to see the performance of the Allman Brothers Band, The Band and the Grateful Dead. Finkel also managed acts such as Vanilla Fudge and Mountain, before moving into boxing in the late 1970s.
Finkel got into professional boxing in 1980, when he helped several Golden Gloves fighters turn pro. He would later take several of the biggest fighters from the eighties and nineties pro at once, following the 1984 Summer Olympics and the pro debuts of Mark Breland, Evander Holyfield, Pernell Whitaker, Tyrell Biggs and Meldrick Taylor. Fighters he has managed include Mike Tyson, Manny Pacquiao, Evander Holyfield, Pernell Whitaker, Meldrick Taylor, Mike McCallum and Alex Ramos
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