Jackie Kallen has received honors and accolades throughout her 78 years, but one that has often eluded her will finally join the illustrious collection next month.
Kallen, of West Bloomfield, Michigan, will be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. The 35th-anniversary celebration takes place June 6-9 in “Boxing’s Hometown” of Canastota, New York. For years, Kallen questioned whether or not she would be around for her Hall of Fame enshrinement, but now she no longer has to wonder about the “what ifs.”
“I’ve been in boxing for 46 years, and that’s ten years before there ever was a Hall of Fame. When I got the call this year, it was such a nice relief,” Kallen told FightsATW. “As you get older, you want to be alive for [your induction] and not receive it posthumously.
“Unfortunately, some people get it after, like [award-winning sportscaster] Nick Charles and some of the others who have [previously] been inducted. Unfortunately, their family enjoyed it, but they didn’t, so I’m just grateful that I’ll be there to actually enjoy that moment in getting that award.”
After getting her feet wet as an entertainment and rock music journalist, interviewing marquee names like Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, and Frank Sinatra, Kallen learned that her employer, The Oakland Press, was short of a sports writer. “They sent me to interview one of the Detroit Tigers, which led me to cover sports from a woman’s point of view in the mid-1970s. So I was going to locker rooms to interview guys from the [Detroit] Pistons and the Lions and getting my feet wet in the world of sports.” From that moment, Kallen’s life changed forever. One of her assignments was interviewing a fighter who had just turned pro out of the fabled Kronk Boxing Gym in Detroit.
“That was Thomas “Hitman” Hearns, who was unknown at the time but quickly became well-known.” Hearns became the first fighter in boxing history to win world titles in five weight divisions: welterweight, light middleweight, middleweight, super middleweight, and light heavyweight. The late Emanuel Steward, who trained Hearns for 14 years, was so impressed with Kallen that he hired him to be Kronk’s publicist. “His goal was to put the Kronk gym on the map so people would know there was this gym in Detroit that had some very promising fighters,” Kallen said. “At that time, there were only two fighters [who fit the mold]. There was Tommy and a middleweight named Mickey Goodwin, who has since passed away.
“I started doing my job and tried to get as much publicity as possible and then we got Hilmer Kenty, Milton McCrory, Stevie McCrory, and the Paul brothers, Jimmy Paul and Danny Paul. As the gym grew, so did the reputation. It was just such a wonderful time for me. It was my job to really get publicity and PR for these young kids so that people would know who they were. It was a lot of fun and a really good challenge.”
A decade later, Kallen became a boxing manager. Her most notable client in her early years was three-division world champion James Toney, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year. During that time, she also managed former junior middleweight world titlist Brono McKart, best known for his trilogy against Winky Wright, and Tom Johnson, who made 11 defenses of the IBF featherweight title from 1993-1996.
But Kallen’s impact goes far beyond boxing. Gender disparity in sports journalism has been a longstanding challenge, but nearly half a century ago, Kallen was already waves in a male-dominated field. In recent years, the sports journalism industry has undergone a significant shift, with the emergence of female sports journalists who have broken down gender barriers and undertaken traditionally male roles.
For instance, there’s Crystina Poncher, an international play-by-play commentator & host for Top Rank Boxing and ESPN. In addition, Karisa Maxwell McKee worked as a content creator with Sporting News for several years and now works in the same role for the Professional Fighters League (PFL). And there are countless other examples throughout the industry. We asked Kallen if she considers herself a pioneer behind the movement.
“It really does [put a smile on my face] because I have inspired these girls,” she stated. “When I started, there were no women in boxing. There had been Becky O’Neal, who worked a corner. And prior to that, there was Aileen Eaton, who was the big [boxing and wrestling] promoter in LA years before me. But other than those two, they weren’t around for me to really talk to, so I had to forge my own path.
“For me, it was a great honor to look behind me and see who was coming up. I gave them a hand and said, ‘Come on. Let me help you out. Do you need contacts, or do you need any questions answered?’ I was so happy to be that person for a lot of women in the sport who didn’t really have anyone to go to because there really wasn’t anybody else. When I see other women coming into the sport or when they contact me, I’m just so happy and so welcoming to them because it’s growing. It was just a small little sorority of a couple of us, and now there are more and more women. If I was any part of influencing them or motivating them, I’m really happy about that.”
Kallen was also the subject of a 2004 movie, Against the Ropes, starring Meg Ryan. However, she revealed to FightsATW that it was a “bittersweet” experience overall. “It was an honor to have a major motion picture with a major studio done based on your life. That’s as good an honor as you can get, pretty much. The product turned into something Kallen didn’t necessarily like.
“They took the story and they twisted and changed it and basically mutilated my story. At the time, I was married, raising children, and still having all these boxers living in my house. There was constant turmoil, but I loved it all. I ended up getting divorced. I think it was a lot for my husband to deal with. My kids would come from college, and their room would be occupied by a fighter. It was a challenge. I thought that’s what made the story so great.
“Hollywood turned it around and made my character single with no kids, so it kinda took away some of what the challenges were and sugarcoated a lot of it. Nevertheless, it was a great honor, and Meg Ryan is a great actress, and it led to me doing The Contender with Sylvester Stallone and Sugar Ray Leonard right after the movie came out. That was a great experience. I enjoyed working with Mark Burnett and all the people at NBC.
“As far as that goes, I consider it a good experience, and if it put a light on women going into a sport or a business that they’re less likely to go into, then I think the movie was worth it because that’s the message. You can do whatever you want to do regardless of your gender or your age. I’m 78, and I’m still out there running around like crazy doing everything that I ever did before. It hasn’t changed my life one iota being older. That’s the lesson. It’s not about who you are; it’s about what you want and how badly you want it.”
While her clientele is smaller these days, Kallen has no intentions of turning off the engine. She currently has three clients: unbeaten junior welterweight contender Mykquan Williams (20-0-2, 9 KOs), junior lightweight Sam Rizzo (7-1, 5 KOs), and her newest acquisition in junior middleweight Jean Gabriel (1-0-1).
“I’m always looking for that next great prospect, and I’m still as enthused about boxing as I was almost 50 years ago. There’s something about the sport that gets under your skin. Once you get into the sport, it just grabs you. I love all these kids.
“When I started boxing, the fighters weren’t that much younger than me. Then they were my kids’ age. Now all my fighters are younger than my grandson, so I’ve gone through generations of fighters, and my enthusiasm is still the same. That’s what keeps me going.” As for her Hall of Fame induction, Kallen is ready for her crowning moment.
“I’m so honored. As I’ve said, better late than never. I’m here to enjoy it with my family, my friends, and some of my former fighters, who will be there to support me. I’m just thrilled. I don’t care if it was later than expected. Maybe this is the right time, so I leave it up to the universe. This is it, and I’m thrilled.”
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