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Sheldon "Shelly" Finkel (born June 27, 1944) is an American
boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...
and
music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
promoter. Finkel received the
Boxing Writers Association of America Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing punches at each other for a ...
''Manager of the Year'' award in 1990 and 1993. He was inducted into the
International Boxing Hall of Fame The International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, right next to exit 34 of the New York State Thruway, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected on ballots cre ...
in 2010. Finkel now currently serves as the Chairman of Strategy and Entertainment for
LiveStyle LiveStyle, Inc. is a Los Angeles-based live events conglomerate founded by media entrepreneur Robert F. X. Sillerman. The company was formed in June 2012 as SFX Entertainment—the new incarnation of Sillerman's previous company of the same name ...
.


Early life

Finkel was born in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
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 computer dating service and landed his first music promotion job while handing out flyers outside the dance club 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 Grateful Dead. Finkel also managed acts such as Vanilla Fudge 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 between 1985 and 2024. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "the Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson i ...
,
Manny Pacquiao Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. ( ; ; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician, businessman, and professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He previously serv ...
,
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 championship (boxing), undisputed champion in the cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight division ...
,
Pernell Whitaker Pernell Whitaker Sr. (January 2, 1964 – July 14, 2019) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2001, and subsequently worked as a boxing trainer. He was a four-weight world champion, having won titles at lightweight, ligh ...
,
Meldrick Taylor Meldrick Taylor (born October 19, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2002. He held world championships in two weight class (boxing), weight classes, including the International Boxing Federation, IBF junior ...
,
Mike McCallum Michael McKenzie McCallum (7 December 1956 – 31 May 2025) was a Jamaican professional boxer who competed from 1981 to 1997. He held world championships in three weight classes, including the World Boxing Association (WBA) super welterweight ...
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 Vitalii Volodymyrovych Klychko (; ; born 19 July 1971), known as Vitali Klitschko, is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer. He serves as mayor of Kyiv, 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, and
Wladimir Klitschko Wladimir Klitschko; an equivalent English spelling is Vladimir Klichko . His full name in , . (born 25 March 1976) is a Ukrainian former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2017. He held multiple heavyweight world championships betwe ...
.


Personal life

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


Awards and honors

Finkel received the
Boxing Writers Association of America Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing punches at each other for a ...
''Manager of the Year'' award in 1990 and 1993. He was inducted into the
International Boxing Hall of Fame The International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, right next to exit 34 of the New York State Thruway, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected on ballots cre ...
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 Musicians from Brooklyn 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American Jews