Sheldon "Shelly" Finkel (born June 27, 1944) is an American

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

and

music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...

manager and promoter. Finkel received the

Boxing Writers Association of America The Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) was originally formed in 1926 as the Boxing Writers Association of Greater New York. The association's purpose is to promote better working conditions for boxing writers, as well as hold its writers t ...

''Manager of the Year'' award in 1990 and 1993. He was inducted into the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The ...

in 2010. Finkel now currently serves as the Chairman of Strategy and Entertainment for LiveStyle.

Early life

Finkel was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

to a Jewish family. His father William Finkel died in 1957 when he was thirteen years old. Raised by his mother Betty Finkel, he attended Brooklyn Technical High School. His first job was at Ripley’s Clothing Store, a block from his house where he worked two or three nights a week at age 14. He continued with odd jobs including as a salesman for a 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."

Career

Music career

Finkel started his music career through Action House nightclub in 1967 where famous bands such as Cream and The Doors performed. Finkel promoted shows with The Doors, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and the Chambers Brothers. He created with partner Jimmy Koplik 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 Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band known predominantly for their slow extended heavy rock arrangements of contemporary hit songs, such as their hit cover of The Supremes' " You Keep Me Hangin' On". The band's original line–up—vocalist ...

and

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

, before moving into boxing in the late 1970s.

Boxing career

Finkel began his professional boxing career 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 Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is con ...

Manny Pacquiao Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. (; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician and former professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He served as a Senator of the Phil ...

Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and is the o ...

, Pernell Whitaker, Meldrick Taylor, Mike McCallum and Alex Ramos. During Finkel's boxing career he put together many large pay per view events including Mike Tyson vs Michael Spinks on June 27, 1988, the largest pay per view event as of that date. He also organized Howard Stern's Miss Howard Stern New Year's Eve, which was one of the most profitable nonsports pay per view events in history.

Back to the Music

After managing boxing for more than 30 years, Finkel left boxing in June 2010, saying he wasn’t enjoying himself anymore. Finkel joined New York based sports and entertainment company, The Empire, as CEO after leaving boxing. Finkel announced that The Empire would work to become an entertainment company known for promoting the best events in the concert. Though announcing his retirement from boxing in 2010, he continued to act as adviser to Vitali Klitschko and Vladimir Klitschko. Since leaving the Empire in 2012, Finkel founded SFX Entertainment with Robert Sillerman and took on many roles in the company from President to Vice Chairman. When SFX restructured in 2016 and emerged with a new name LiveStyle Finkel remained in his role and continues to be one of the leading EDM promoters, in his position as Chairman, Strategy and Entertainment.

Continuing Boxing Management

After leaving The Empire Finkel returned to boxing management at the same time as he built the SFX business, managing such fighters

Deontay Wilder Deontay Leshun Wilder (; born October 22, 1985) is an American professional boxer. He held the WBC heavyweight title from 2015 to 2020, making 10 successful defenses. By winning the title, Wilder became the first American world heavyweight cha ...

, and

Wladimir Klitschko Wladimir Klitschko; an equivalent English spelling is Vladimir Klichko . His full name in uk, label= Ukrainian is, Володимир Володимирович Кличко, Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Klychko, . ( uk, Володимир Вол ...

Personal life

Finkel married Beth Rosenthal in 1976. He has three children William, Lee and Genny.

Awards and honors

Finkel received the

''Manager of the Year'' award in 1990 and 1993. He was inducted into the

in 2010. In 2013 he was inducted into the New York State Boxing Hall of Fame. In 2015 Finkel was inducted into the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame.

References

External links

IBHOF profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finkel, Shelly American boxing promoters 20th-century American Jews International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees 1944 births Living people People from Brooklyn 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American Jews