Robert Goodman
Bob Goodman at International Boxing Hall of Fame June 14, 2009
Born	June 8, 1939 (1939-06-08) (age 70) Bronx, New York
Nationality	American
Occupation	Boxing promoter, Publicist, Matchmaker

Robert "Bob" Goodman (born June 8, 1939) is an American boxing matchmaker, publicist and promoter. He is a member of the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame^[1], since June 14, 2009, the International Boxing Hall of Fame.^[2] and The Florida Boxing Hall of Fame.(2009)^[3] He is the son of Murray Goodman, a former Madison Square Garden boxing executive who was also inducted into the New Jersey, and International Boxing Halls of Fame. Goodman was formerly the Vice President of boxing operations and public relations for Don King Productions; he is currently the Chief Operating Officer of Square Ring Promotions.^[4]

Contents 1 Early Years 2 Education 3 Career 4 References

[edit] Early Years

Goodman was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. His father, Murray Goodman, was the sports editor and correspondent on boxing and horse racing for the Hearst News Service (INS), before taking up boxing with the Tournament of Champions and later joining the International Boxing Club at Madison Square Garden. Robert Goodman became a boxing fan at an early age, quipping that he had been "Conceived at Grossinger's", a Catskill Mountains training resort popular with many successfully fighters, including Joe Louis, Marcel Cerdan, Sugar Ray Robinson, Kid Gavilan, Paddy Young, Rocky Graziano, and Rocky Marciano. Goodman described Cerdan as his particular idol.

After the birth of his sister, when Goodman was entering his teenage years, the family moved to New Jersey, where Bob competed in various sports, including soccer, baseball, football and track and field. He took part-time and summer jobs in sports venues, including at Madison Square Garden and the National Sports Council.

He worked also on the S. Rae Hickok "Professional Athlete of the Year" Award, created by his father in the late 1940s. The first boxing match he worked was the Kid Gavilán vs. Gil Turner Welterweight Championship in Philadelphia in 1952.

[edit] Education

Goodman attended the University of Miami in Florida for two years before enlisting in the United States Coast Guard, where he was honorably discharged after four years of active duty. He was the Officer in Charge of Coast Guard Recruiting for the State of Connecticut at his last duty station. He spent almost two years in Bridgeport, Conn., where recruiting operations for the State were headquartered.

[edit] Career

After leaving the Coast Guard Goodman took a public relations job with the New York Titans of the American Football League. With his father he established the sports division of Arthur Falconer Associates, a Madison Avenue advertising agency. The division handled promotion and publicity for most of the major fights of the era, and helped launch the All-American Collegiate Golf Foundation and its annual dinner in New York. They also continued their Hickok "Professional Athlete of the Year" Award, and served clients including Bancroft Sporting Goods and Tretorn.

When the Falconer firm moved to New Jersey, the Goodmans opened their own firm, Murray Goodman Associates,^[5] on Madison Avenue. World Champions Ken Norton and Bob Foster were among their personal clients. They also handled major events for Mike Malitz at Main Bout, and a little later Bob Arum's, Top Rank, and Don King and Don King Productions. Goodman spent many years on the road handling the camps of Muhammad Ali, Ken Norton, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Bob Foster, Floyd Patterson and Roberto Durán .

At Don King Productions, Goodman managed a world-rated heavyweight, Stan Ward from California, who had registered victories over Mike Weaver, Mac Foster, Jeff Merritt, Jody Ballard and Kevin Isaac, but whom he chose to release because of the ban on match makers managing boxers. In the 1970s Don King promoted Goodman to the posts of director of boxing and matchmaker, posts he held until the end of 1985, when he took over the reigns of Madison Square Garden Boxing. There, during almost ten years as vice president and matchmaker, he developed many world champions, including James McGirt, Kevin Kelley, "Poison" Junior Jones, Tracy Harris Patterson; Aaron "Superman" Davis, Julio Cesar Green, Tom "Boom Boom" Johnson, Hector Acero Sanchez, and Lonnie Bradley. He also made world title runs for popular boxers Alex "The Destroyer" Stewart, Michael Dokes, Glenwood "The Real Beast" Brown, Renaldo Snipes, Michael "The Silk" Olajide Jr.and Chris "The Shamrock Express" Reid.

After Madison Square Garden Boxing went through a corporate change, Goodman opened his own company in New Jersey called Garden State Boxing. He took with him some of his boxer clients and staff from the Garden, including Carl Moretti, Patricia Fleming and Steve Griffith. They continued with their champions and created some new ones, until Goodman rejoined Don King Productions in 1996 to serve as Vice President of Boxing Operations and Public Relations until 2009. Goodman is now Chief Operating Officer of Roy Jones Jr's Square Ring Promotions.

He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York on June 14, 2009.^[6]

[edit] References

This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (July 2009)