U.S. vs International Boxing NY
U.S. vs International Boxing club of New York
The History
This was the first time a sport had claimed it was covered by the same exemption of baseball. What happened was in January 1949, James D. Norris and Arthur Wirtz, who controlled boxing at major arenas like Madison Square Garden. They paid the recently retired Joe Louis $100,000 for the four fighters he managed. They agreed those fighters would fight it out for the new heavyweight title. In return his fighters would only fight in matches by Norris and Wirtz. From 1945-1955 all but 4 championship fights were under control by Norris and Wirtz. This gave them an effective monopoly on all major boxing fights.
Trial and Appeal
The Justice Department began investigating for possible antitrust violations. This was performed under the Sherman Anti-trust act in 1953. Like baseball they reasoned the interstate travel to facilitate the boxing fights for incidental staging of the fights and thus boxing was not subject to anti-trust law.
James D. Norris
helped start international boxing club of New York.
Arthur Wirtz
James D. Norris partner to start the club.
Chief Justice Earl Warren
The man who wrote the majority for the case.
The Legacy
The anti-trust suit proceeded and the IBCNY (International Boxing Club Of New York) lost to the government. (1959) Again the justices ruled in the government's favor and Wirtz and Norris dissolved the organization. They then left boxing but stayed in sports and became the owner of the Chicago Blackhawks.