The Wilmington morning star., 1940-04-25
JOE JACOBS DIES FROM ATTACK
C0LORFUL FIGURE
MANAGED CALENTO
'Yussel,' One Of Boxing's
Most Colorful Characters,
Piloted German To Title

years, died tonight from a heart at
old May 7.
Death occurred in a doctors Of
flee where Jacobs, laughing dis
painfully at a slight pain" had
gone to seek relief. He was accom-
panied by Harry Mendel, promoter
of six-day bicycle races around the
country and Jacobs close friend
for many years.
Mendel said Jacobs had felt bad
ly last night, but did not regard
his illness as serious and went
about his business as usual today,
escorting motion picture photog-
raphers to New Jersey to make
shots of Galento.
The 'Yussel'
Jacobs, known Familiarity among
the fight mob as "Yussel," manag-
ed Max Schmeling of Germany to
the worlds heavyweight champion.
ship. In 1880 Jack Sharkey struck
Schmeling low in the fourth round
o'iN ooNoDo uollOu 1llO liC 4llSi
yelling foul so yociferously the ref
cree awarded the German the title.
Two years later Sharkey regain.
ed the title with a 15-round deci-
sion and Jacobs achieved some
sort Of immortality by entering the
ring and believing I'VE wuz
robbed"
Jacobs also coined the crack, 81
should Of stood in bed" when one
cold morning he ventured out of a
Chicago hotel with Promoter Mike
Jacobs bent on seeing a baseball
game.
Jacobs had spent much of the
day with Galento, after being up
most of the night suffering from
what he thought was an attack of
indigestion. On returning to New
York he visited his personal ply
sician, DIR. Vincent Nardiello who
sent him Immediately to the office
of DR.. Oswald LaRoronda, a heart
specialist, for a cardiograph exam
nation.
AAS q SAp1olll4IlS VIII liz ldu
come. and had just taken off his
coat, when he slumped into Men
dels arms. Five minutes later he
was pronounced dead.
'Hell's Kitchen Product
The florid faced little man who
was n of the best known charac-
ters on Broadway was a native
New 4orker-a product of the
tough "HelPs Kitchen" on the
West side. His father was a tailor.
He broke into boxing early in
life when Willie and Dave Astey,
friends of his, asked Joe to carry
their boxing equipment into the old
Madison Square Garden. When
time came to fight, Jacobs was
pressed into service as a second
and hat started a career that was
certainly as colorful as any in the
fistic world.
Among the fighters he managed
were Benny Zalga, Featherweight
Champion Andre Routis, Schmel-
ing, Galento and Mike McTigue,
light heavyweight champion of the
1920's.
One of the gayest spenders of
the town, there were many fabu-
lous stories told about him. One of
the best known was the one when
he took McTigue to fight in Geor.
gia, taking along Harry Ertle as
his own referee. The referee, of
course, awarded the decision to Nc.
Tigue, and the three of them had
to dash for safety.
Later, because the Georgia box.
ing heads had reversed the deci.
sion, Jacobs got Ertle to sign an
affidavit that McTigue had won
the fight-the first time such a
measure had ever been taken.
Jacobs stumbled onto Schmeling
one day when the young German
was first in this country looking
for fights.
Writing Flair
Come with me boy, and We'll
get the fights" he said. Schmeling
was an unpopular champion, but
was constantly in the public eye,
thanks to Jacobs shrewdness as a
publicist. He often wrote stories
for the papers when he was man,
aging a fighter, and had a definite
flair for newswriting.
Jacobs even dared to visit Ger.
many when the Jewish persecution
was beginning - but so audacious
was he that he carried through
the trip in the grand n
Possibly the second greatest
night in his life was the night
that Schmeling knocked out Joe
Louis in the 18th round at Yankee
stadium. The other vas when he
howled Max into the title with his
cry of foul" that vas SO insistent
and perfectly timed that it caused
Arthur Brisbane, who was sitting
nearby to yell at the referee: You
call this a foul or I'll run boxing
clear out of the state of New
York"
Jacobs did only one other job of
newspapering in addition to his
write-up of boxers. That was when
he was assigned to a football
game for a local paper. He had
never seen a game before but man
aged to ask enough questions to
turn out a creditable account.
That was one of the things Of
-SrO,1