Hall of Famer Jarvis Astaire, one of Great Britain’s most influential promoters and managers, died this weekend at age 97.

Born Jarvis Joseph Astaire October 6, 1923 in London, the son of a hatmaker was one of a select few who staged boxing events as a teenager, for at age 19 he put together charity bouts during World War II. But he was best known for his partnership with Mickey Duff, Terry Lawless and Mike Barrett, whose combined power included the rights to promote boxing events at Wembley Arena and Royal Albert Hall and to air them on BBC. Although a silent partner in terms of public relations, his clout behind the scenes was considerable. For example, he arranged Muhammad Ali’s London title defenses against Henry Cooper and Brian London as well as his championship contest versus Karl Mildenberger in Frankfurt.

As a manager, he guided the careers of 1956 gold medalist Terry Spinks and world middleweight champion Terry Downes while also associated with lightweight champion Ken Buchanan and heavyweight king Frank Bruno. He was also the driving force behind Viewsport Ltd., a closed-circuit company that beamed boxing shows to theaters throughout England.

His sporting reach extended to horseracing, soccer, greyhound racing, golf (in the form of driving ranges) and professional wrestling while his charity work benefiting young people earned him an OBE (Order of the British Empire) from The Queen in 2004. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame’s Class of 2006, which also included boxers Michael Carbajal, Humberto Gonzalez, Edwin Rosario, Lou Brouillard, Jimmy Slattery Teddy Yarosz and Jem Carney, historian/publisher Hank Kaplan, publisher Stanley Weston, trainer Whitey Bimstein and promoter Rodolfo Sabbatini.

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