Mickey Duff

Mickey Duff (7 June 1929 – 22 March 2014), was a Polish-born British boxer, matchmaker, manager and promoter.

Early life Duff was born Monek Prager to a Jewish family in Tarnów, Poland on 7 June 1929. His father, a rabbi, helped the family flee the Nazis and emigrate to England in the late 1930s.

Career in boxing Four-year career as boxer Duff became a professional boxer aged fifteen, and boxed for four years. According to Mickey, he chose the name Duff from the character, "Jackie-Boy Duffy" from the movie Cash and Carry, though the character actually came from the 1941 boxing movie, Ringside Maisie. The ring name hid his boxing career from his disapproving father, with whom he would have a strained relationship for life, though for other reasons. Starting his career after WWII, from September, 1945, to May, 1946, Duff fought fourteen bouts in the greater London area, winning twelve, with only one loss and one draw. He eventually achieved a 75% winning boxing record in a career that included around fifty fights, but lost his last professional bout on December 7, 1948, against Scottish boxer Neil McCearn, in West Ham, in an eight round points decision. BoxRec, the online boxing record site, lists 46 of his better-publicized bouts. One publication described Duff and his partners's ascendancy in the boxing world, as "an efficient cartel which broke one monopoly and established another."

Top boxers in his stable During his strong position as a promoter and manager, he was involved with at least 16 world champions and many leading British fighters, including:

Terry Downes (1961) Frank Bruno Joe Calzaghe Howard Winstone (1968) John Conteh (1974) Barry McGuigan (1984) Lloyd Honeyghan (1986) Maurice Hope Charlie Magri Alan Minter John H Stracey Jim Watt John "The Beast" Mugabi Cornelius Boza Edwards.

The clout and connections that Duff could bring to bear from his media contacts, wealth, and professional associations could fast channel a competitors rise to a championship bout. Duff's participation and then dominant place in British boxing lasted through the sixty's, seventies, and most of the eighties.

Widely credited media roles Duff became widely known in the media, particularly for the awards he received for his work on HBO Boxing (1973), ESPN Top Rank Boxing (1980), and as a consultant with the movie Triumph of the Spirit (1990). ESPN and HBO, however, would not remain the exclusive, or dominant line to the world and British boxing market.

Frank Warren's rise and Duff's fall from prominence By the 1990s, Duff's primary competitor, promoter Frank Warren, had seventy-five boxers in his stable, and could be described accurately by London's Observer as "the only show in town". Equally significant was Warren's 50,000,000 pound deal with Britain's largest pay tv network, Sky TV, British commercial television network, ITV and his direct line to the American TV market through promoter Don King. Duff, who was once the major player in London, saw three of his top fighters, Frank Bruno, Joe Calzaghe, and Henry Akinwande leave him for more profitable deals with Warren, sapping both Duff's financial position and market share.