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A selection of stories about Jack Hurley
Until you've met the old professor, Jack Hurley, you just haven't been around. He's boxing at its best; sharp, suave, honest, uncompromising. As dour looking as a plate of pickles, he has a sense of humor like a stiletto. He stood up at a meeting of sports writers one day and declared they were a bunch of free-loaders, interested only in complimentary tickets. They chuckled and patted their palms. Anybody else they would have applauded with a handful of smashed potatoes.
To say Hurley is the man behind Harry "Kid" Matthews is to underrate the guy. He is Matthews. He does everything- bat the pitching and catching of blows in the ring, and we don't mean this sardonically. Harry's
sudden Jump to fame after long years of plugging dates from his meeting with Hurley.
Harry is the perfect fighting machine, but the thing that has made him great is his ability to absorb teaching and follow instructions. He has subordinated all his own ring knowledge to put himself completely in Hurley's hands. He doesn't even bother thinking about who or when he's fighting next If you think the Kid is unsmart you should see his bank account.
Full Time Job
Hurley works at the job of being Harry Matthews 24 hours a day. We've had calls from the guy at home in the middle of the night, and so have other writers all around the country. The guy's phone bill must be monstrous. He confided once he had $20,000 invested in Harry before he began getting dividends.
He takes 50 per cent of the Matthews earnings and out of it foots the bills. This arrangement startled Harry when he first went to Hurley and offered the old professor his contract. He suggested the usual 33 ½ per
cent was sufficient. "How much you earning now?" asked Hurley. "Nothln'," said Harry. "How much," stabbed Jack, "is 50 per cent of nothing ?"
In the Matthew’s corner on fight night he reaches full stature. You've heard how he talked the Kid into believing when he was all but exhausted during the Bob Murphy fight - that he had his second wind and was in better shape than Murphy. No doubt Jack had to do some mental gymnastics this week when Danny Nardico was giving the kid a large, bad evening.
It's an odd thing to say about a man who fought for 13 years before meeting his Svengali, but it was Hurley who taught Matthews to fight. He told the Kid he was nothing but a novice ( made him a bit mad. Incidentally ) and started him all over.
Was Unfancy Dan
"The object of this same is to hurt and be hurt," he told Harry the Kid. "You're nothing but a fancy Dan, and not very fancy." They spent hour after rugged hour in the gym, teaching an experienced fighter how to throw a punch. The fact that Harry was young enough , he's 28 now , and willing to learn saved the partnership and made the fighter.
This is unusual in the fight game a manager doing all the chores for his man. The common practice is to turn the boy over to a trainer so the manager will have enough time for the mental work and for many of them there isn't that much time. Once, just once , we asked professor Jack why he didn't hire a trainer.
"A trainer," ha said, "is a man with a towel across his shoulders. Anybody can wrap a towel around his neck and fill his mouth with toothpick swabs. I should let one of those bums ruin my life’s work
end
26 May 1957
NEW YORK
Until you've met the old professor, Jack Hurley, you just haven't been around. He's boxing at its best; sharp, suave, honest, uncompromising. As dour looking as a plate of pickles, he has a sense of humor like a stiletto. He stood up at a meeting of sports writers one day and declared they were a bunch of free-loaders, interested only in complimentary tickets. They chuckled and patted their palms. Anybody else they would have applauded with a handful of smashed potatoes.
To say Hurley is the man behind Harry "Kid" Matthews is to underrate the guy. He is Matthews. He does everything- bat the pitching and catching of blows in the ring, and we don't mean this sardonically. Harry's
sudden Jump to fame after long years of plugging dates from his meeting with Hurley.
Harry is the perfect fighting machine, but the thing that has made him great is his ability to absorb teaching and follow instructions. He has subordinated all his own ring knowledge to put himself completely in Hurley's hands. He doesn't even bother thinking about who or when he's fighting next If you think the Kid is unsmart you should see his bank account.
Full Time Job
Hurley works at the job of being Harry Matthews 24 hours a day. We've had calls from the guy at home in the middle of the night, and so have other writers all around the country. The guy's phone bill must be monstrous. He confided once he had $20,000 invested in Harry before he began getting dividends.
He takes 50 per cent of the Matthews earnings and out of it foots the bills. This arrangement startled Harry when he first went to Hurley and offered the old professor his contract. He suggested the usual 33 ½ per
cent was sufficient. "How much you earning now?" asked Hurley. "Nothln'," said Harry. "How much," stabbed Jack, "is 50 per cent of nothing ?"
In the Matthew’s corner on fight night he reaches full stature. You've heard how he talked the Kid into believing when he was all but exhausted during the Bob Murphy fight - that he had his second wind and was in better shape than Murphy. No doubt Jack had to do some mental gymnastics this week when Danny Nardico was giving the kid a large, bad evening.
It's an odd thing to say about a man who fought for 13 years before meeting his Svengali, but it was Hurley who taught Matthews to fight. He told the Kid he was nothing but a novice ( made him a bit mad. Incidentally ) and started him all over.
Was Unfancy Dan
"The object of this same is to hurt and be hurt," he told Harry the Kid. "You're nothing but a fancy Dan, and not very fancy." They spent hour after rugged hour in the gym, teaching an experienced fighter how to throw a punch. The fact that Harry was young enough , he's 28 now , and willing to learn saved the partnership and made the fighter.
This is unusual in the fight game a manager doing all the chores for his man. The common practice is to turn the boy over to a trainer so the manager will have enough time for the mental work and for many of them there isn't that much time. Once, just once , we asked professor Jack why he didn't hire a trainer.
"A trainer," ha said, "is a man with a towel across his shoulders. Anybody can wrap a towel around his neck and fill his mouth with toothpick swabs. I should let one of those bums ruin my life’s work
end
26 May 1957
NEW YORK
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