BRENNER, TEDDY INK SIGNATURE

Teddy Brenner was the longtime Madison Square Garden matchmaker whose keen eye for appraising fighters was matched by his clever ability to deal with their managers. In a career that carried him from the dusty, smoke-filled arenas that used to dot the New York metropolitan area to Madison Square Garden, Brenner had an unswerving philosophy when he got fighters together: will the public like the fight and will it make a buck? Brenner's skill was in employing the boxing axiom that styles make fights. But it wasn't always easy to bring them to fruition. Fighters are nervous about their opponents, and fighters' managers are suspicious that the other side is getting a better deal. Yet, Brenner was able to swing his most noted effort in 1971: bringing together the unbeaten heavyweights Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier to the Garden in the first of their epic battles. Even for smaller purses, Brenner had trials. There was one manager at Eastern Parkway Arena in Brooklyn who turned down every opponent Brenner would offer. Finally, in a story Brenner enjoyed telling, he went to the manager and gave him the names of three possible opponents. What Brenner didn't tell the manager was that they didn't exist. He made up the names to see if he could have a starting point for negotiations. ''I don't like the first two you gave me,'' the manager told Brenner, ''but I'll take the third guy.'' Brenner came to the sport as a shirt salesman. He was a fight buff, though, and used to talk to the promoters -- the men who ran the arenas or put up the money for fights -- about his ideal matches. He was given his chance in a small arena in New Brunswick, N.J., and then moved to Eastern Parkway, where he showcased Floyd Patterson, the 1952 Olympic light-heavyweight champion. Under Brenner, Eastern Parkway became known as the House of Upsets. Teddy Brenner passed away in 2000. Offered here is a scarce ink signature of Teddy Brenner.
This is a bold ink signature on a blank white 3" x 5" index card. Clean front and back. No creases or tears.