# Chris Dundee

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{{short description|American boxing manager and fight promoter (1908–1998)}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Chris Dundee
| image       = 
| caption     = 
| birth_name  = Cristofo Mirena
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1908|2|23}}
| birth_place = [Philadelphia, Pennsylvania](/source/Philadelphia%2C_Pennsylvania), US
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|1998|11|16|1908|11|16}}
| death_place = [Miami, Florida](/source/Miami%2C_Florida), US
| pseudonym   = 
| occupation  = Boxing manager<br>Boxing promoter
| signature   = 
| website     = 
}}
'''Chris Dundee''' (born '''Cristofo Mirena'''; February 23, 1908 – November 16, 1998) was an [Italian-American](/source/Italian_Americans) boxing manager and fight promoter for 63 years. He was an older brother of [Angelo Dundee](/source/Angelo_Dundee).<ref name="Miami New Times">{{cite web|url=https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/requiem-for-a-heavyweight-6359409|title=Requiem for a Heavyweight|year=1998|author=Kathy Glasgow|website=miaminewtimes.com|access-date=2025-04-02}}</ref>

==Early life==
Cristofo (Christopher) Mirena was born on February 23, 1908, in [South Philadelphia](/source/South_Philadelphia), [Pennsylvania](/source/Pennsylvania), United States.<ref name="The New York Times">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/19/sports/chris-dundee-91-a-promoter-of-hundreds-of-boxing-bouts.html|title=Chris Dundee, 91, a Promoter of Hundreds of Boxing Bouts|year=1998|author=Charlie Nobles|website=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)|access-date=2025-04-02}}</ref> He was the second eldest son of Philomena and Angelo Mirenda who had 11 children.<ref name="The Evening Sun. (1990)">{{cite news|title=Fighting off the ropes|author=Chris Lazzarino|newspaper=The Evening Sun|date =1990|page=68|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/367665008/?match=1&terms=chris%20dundee|access-date =2025-04-03}}</ref>

As a young boy, he sold candy and newspapers on [train](/source/commuter_rail)s running from Philadelphia to New York.<ref name="Daily News. (1998)">{{cite news|title=Boxing promoter Dundee dead at 91|newspaper=Daily News|date =1998|page=86|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/478628860/?match=1&terms=chris%20dundee|access-date =2025-04-03}}</ref> Dundee dropped out of school and left home at 13.<ref name="The New York Times"/><ref name="The Evening Sun. (1990)"/> He later worked for a [streetcar](/source/streetcar) company alongside [Frank Palermo](/source/Frank_Palermo), who became known as an associate of the [Philadelphia crime family](/source/Philadelphia_crime_family).<ref name="The Miami Herald. (1957)"/>

He changed his last name to Dundee as a teenager, following the lead of his older brother, Joe, who had taken the name of their boxing hero [Johnny Dundee](/source/Johnny_Dundee).<ref name="The New York Times"/> To avoid revealing his boxing career to his parents, Joe adopted the name Dundee.<ref name="Daily News. (1998)"/>

==Career==
Inspired by his older brother, a [South Philadelphia](/source/South_Philadelphia) club fighter, he entered boxing in 1926.<ref name="National Museum of African American History & Culture">{{cite web|url=https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2011.56.3.6|title=Document of a biographical sketch of Chris Dundee|website=nmaahc.si.edu|access-date=2025-04-02}}</ref> Chris Dundee started managing and promoting boxers in 1928.<ref name="Herald And Times Archive">{{cite web|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12021195.chris-dundee/|year=1998|title=Chris Dundee|website=heraldscotland.com|access-date=2025-04-02}}</ref> Flyweight [Midget Wolgast](/source/Midget_Wolgast) was his first world champion, whom he managed in 1930.<ref name="ibhof"/> Between 1932 and 1950, he promoted fights in [Richmond](/source/Richmond%2C_Virginia), [Washington](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.), and [New York](/source/New_York_City).<ref name="The New York Times"/>

He moved to [Norfolk, Virginia](/source/Norfolk%2C_Virginia), in 1932, discovering [Ken Overlin](/source/Ken_Overlin). Overlin became world middleweight champion in 1940, giving Dundee his first national exposure.<ref name="The New York Times"/> His stable of fighters in Norfolk included Phil Furr, [Izzy Jannazzo](/source/Izzy_Jannazzo), Irish Jimmy Webb, and Jimmy Bell.<ref name="Brief. (1944)">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j82to_obiGcC|title=Brief|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-03-22|year=1944}}</ref> Shortly after [World War II](/source/World_War_II), he pulled out of Norfolk.<ref name="The Washington Daily News. (1972)"/>

His brothers joined him in the boxing business after returning from the war in the mid-1940s.<ref name="The Washington Daily News. (1972)">{{cite news|title=Dundee out, not down|newspaper=The Washington Daily News|date =1972|page=66|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1043658434/?match=1&terms=chris%20dundee|access-date =2025-04-01}}</ref> Angelo went to work for Chris in 1947, sleeping in his office at the Capital Hotel in New York.<ref name="Daily News. (1998)"/>

His entry into [South Florida](/source/South_Florida) boxing began in 1946 with two shows at the Coral Gables Coliseum (now [Miami Coliseum](/source/Miami_Coliseum)).<ref name="National Museum of African American History & Culture"/>

He managed American boxer [Georgie Abrams](/source/Georgie_Abrams) until his last fight in 1948.<ref name="Blady, K. (1988)">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sO2pBT9g9lwC|title=The Jewish Boxers Hall of Fame|publisher=Shapolsky Publishers|access-date=2025-04-03|year=1988|isbn=978-0-933503-87-8 }}</ref> Dundee also managed [Ezzard Charles](/source/Ezzard_Charles), world heavyweight champion in the 1950s.<ref name="UPI"/> Dundee helped Charles claim a historic world title [victory](/source/Ezzard_Charles_vs._Joe_Louis) over [Joe Louis](/source/Joe_Louis) in 1950.<ref name="Herald And Times Archive"/>

===Miami Beach Auditorium===
In 1950, he moved from Philadelphia and established a headquarters in Miami Beach to make matches and promote boxing.<ref name="The New York Times"/> That year, he began staging Tuesday night boxing cards at the old [Miami Beach Auditorium](/source/Miami_Beach_Auditorium) (Jackie Gleason Theater), where he held exclusive promotional rights of boxing and wrestling.<ref name="National Museum of African American History & Culture"/> His cubicle in the auditorium had two desks, two telephones, and a wall covered in pictures.<ref name="Chicago Tribune. (1968)"/>

===5th Street Gym===
Chris Dundee opened the [5th Street Gym](/source/5th_Street_Gym) in 1951 in [Miami Beach, Florida](/source/Miami_Beach%2C_Florida).<ref name="Herald And Times Archive"/> Less than two miles from the auditorium, he turned the second floor of 501 Washington Ave into a gymnasium.<ref name="The Miami Herald. (2000)">{{cite news|title=Fighting for a comeback|newspaper=The Miami Herald|date =2000|page=51|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/643813941/?match=1&terms=chris%20dundee|access-date =2025-04-03}}</ref> The gym had a bare [plywood](/source/plywood) floor, one ring, a few heavy bags, a light bag, and rubbing tables.<ref name="Chicago Tribune. (1968)"/>

Dundee promoted 43 boxing events at the Miami Beach Auditorium in 1955 and arranged fights in [Cuba](/source/Cuba), selling tickets with airfare and hotel accommodations in Havana.<ref name="The Miami Herald. (1990)"/> By 1957, he had promoted 256 fights since 1950 and was making more than $20,000 a year, becoming one of two U.S. promoters with a consistent weekly program. Dundee credited [James D. Norris](/source/James_D._Norris) of the [International Boxing Club](/source/International_Boxing_Club) for "saving Beach boxing" by assigning 23 televised bouts to the venue.<ref name="The Miami Herald. (1957)">{{cite news|title=Chris Dundee: A Successful Fixture In The Tough, Transient Fight Game|newspaper=The Miami Herald|author=Edwin Pope|date =1957|page=78|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/618844453/?match=1&terms=chris%20dundee|access-date =2025-04-04}}</ref>

His younger brother Angelo moved to Miami after spending four years in New York.<ref name="The Washington Daily News. (1972)"/> Angelo handled the development, training, and management of most talent on Chris's weekly cards.<ref name="Herald And Times Archive"/>

===General Manager of Ali===
Chris Dundee negotiated a deal with businessmen from [Louisville](/source/Louisville%2C_Kentucky) to bring [Muhammad Ali](/source/Muhammad_Ali), then Cassius Clay, to train and fight in Miami.<ref name="The Miami Herald. (1990)"/> In the winter of 1960, Ali started training at Dundee's 5th Street Gym.<ref name="Cottrell, J. (1968)">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BtiBAAAAMAAJ&q=chris%20dundee|title=Muhammad Ali, who Once was Cassius Clay|publisher= Funk & Wagnalls|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-04-03|year=1968}}</ref> In the 1960s, the Miami Beach boxing promoter became the [general manager](/source/general_manager) of Muhammad Ali.

In 1961, Dundee promoted [Floyd Patterson vs. Ingemar Johansson III](/source/Floyd_Patterson_vs._Ingemar_Johansson_III) held at the Convention Center.<ref name="Edmonton Journal. (1980)">{{cite news|title=Sports Journal Section H - Saturday, September 20, 1980|author=Terry Jones|newspaper=Edmonton Journal|date =1980|page=95|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/471670469/?match=1&terms=chris%20dundee|access-date =2025-04-04}}</ref> He would also promote [Sonny Liston vs. Cassius Clay](/source/Sonny_Liston_vs._Cassius_Clay), held at the 8,000-seat Miami Beach Convention Hall on February 25, 1964. The no. 1 contender, Ali, won the world heavyweight title with a knockout.<ref name="The New York Times"/> The fight drew Miami into the national spotlight for boxing.<ref name="The Miami Herald. (1990)">{{cite news|title=Miami's Fading Fight Game|newspaper=The Miami Herald|date =1990|page=164|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/635681881/?match=1&terms=chris%20dundee|access-date =2025-04-03}}</ref> At the time, Dundee had promoted close to 400 shows, including 50 nationally televised cards.<ref name="National Museum of African American History & Culture"/>

Chris Dundee convinced American trainer and matchmaker [Moe Fleischer](/source/Moe_Fleischer) to relocate to [Miami, Florida](/source/Miami%2C_Florida) and join him in the 1960s.<ref name="The Montreal Star. (1977)">{{cite news|title=Trainer Moe has age on ropes|newspaper=The Montreal Star|date =1977|page=9|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/742325179/?match=1&terms=moe%20fleischer|access-date =2025-03-29}}</ref>

For years, Dundee's successful wrestling events kept him afloat as a boxing promoter.<ref name="Daily News. (1998)"/> In 1967, he promoted 34 boxing events in Miami Beach.<ref name="Chicago Tribune. (1968)">{{cite news|title=The Dundee Boys Are Big in Miami Beach|author=Robert Markus|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date =1968|page=56|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/376673404/?match=1&terms=chris%20dundee|access-date =2025-04-03}}</ref><ref name="Daily News. (1998)"/>

When [Jack Kent Cooke](/source/Jack_Kent_Cooke), then owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, and entertainment mogul [Jerry Perenchio](/source/Jerry_Perenchio) sponsored the "[Fight of the Century](/source/Fight_of_the_Century)" in 1971. The fight was sold, and broadcast by closed circuit. Dundee, the long-time boxing promoter, secured the Miami-area [closed-circuit](/source/Closed-circuit_television) rights from Chartwell Artists Inc.<ref name="Daily News. (1971)">{{cite news|title=Ward to the Wise|author=Gene Ward|newspaper=Daily News|date =1971|page=88|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/463934596/?match=1&terms=chris%20dundee|access-date =2025-04-03}}</ref>

In the 1970s, [Elisha Obed](/source/Elisha_Obed), the junior middleweight world champion, was under Dundee's management.<ref name="UPI"/> By the late 1970s, Dundee was Miami's leading boxing promoter. Dundee, alongside Madison Square Garden, co-promoted South Africa's [Kallie Knoetze](/source/Kallie_Knoetze), the second-ranked heavyweight in the [WBA](/source/World_Boxing_Association), for his U.S. debut.<ref name="NY Times. (1978)">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/12/23/archives/knoetzes-outofring-record-in-south-africa-stirs-protest-visa.html|year=1978|title=Knoetze's Out-of-Ring Record in South Africa Stirs Protest|author=Al Harvin|website=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)|access-date=2025-04-03}}</ref>

In January 1972, the Miami Beach City Council denied Dundee's request for a 5-year extension to his exclusive boxing and wrestling contract at the Miami Beach Auditorium.<ref name="The Miami Herald. (1971)">{{cite news|title=Beach Rejects Dundee Contract Renewal|author=Fred Barger|newspaper=The Miami Herald|date =1971|page=107|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/625798602/?match=1&terms=chris%20dundee|access-date =2025-04-03}}</ref> His contract expired on November 30 and he was replaced as the venue's promoter after 21 years, with [Mel Ziegler](/source/Mel_Ziegler_and_Patricia_Ziegler) outbidding him for the exclusive license. He and his brother rented office space in a Miami Beach bank building but continued handling bookings for Ali, wrestlers, and the 5th Street Gym.<ref name="The Washington Daily News. (1972)"/>

After losing his license, he toured through Canada, Europe, and the Caribbean, as general manager and financial coordinator for Muhammad Ali.<ref name="The Miami News. (1972)">{{cite news|title=Dundee body shop still in business|author=John Crittenden|newspaper=The Miami News|date =1972|page=35|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/302607424/?match=1&terms=chris%20dundee|access-date =2025-04-03}}</ref>

In the mid-1970s, the Miami Beach Auditorium closed and Dundee moved his cards to the [Miami Beach Convention Center](/source/Miami_Beach_Convention_Center).<ref name="The Miami Herald. (2000)"/>

He recovered from throat cancer around 1978 after undergoing 34 cobalt treatments and resumed promoting a wide range of events. He even staged wrestling and boxing events on a barge until [Dusty Rhodes](/source/Dusty_Rhodes) fell into [Biscayne Bay](/source/Biscayne_Bay).<ref name="The Washington Daily News. (1972)"/>

Dundee later sold the once-famed 5th Street Gym to promoter [Felix "Tutu" Zabala](/source/Felix_Zabala) in 1982 but remained as its operator. He had been forced to make the sale and scale back his fight promotions in Miami.<ref name="UPI">{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/09/26/Chris-Dundee-Stays-Active-in-Boxing/1059401860800/|year=1998|title=Chris Dundee Stays Active in Boxing|website=upi.com|access-date=2025-04-02}}</ref>

In the 1970s and 1980s, Chris Dundee Enterprises promoted [Championship Wrestling from Florida](/source/Championship_Wrestling_from_Florida) at the city's convention center. Dundee, who had promoted pro wrestling on Miami Beach since 1951, began to gross over $300,000-$400,000 a year from wrestling by 1977.<ref name="The Miami News. (1977)">{{cite news|title=Pro wrestling's real to its millions of fans|newspaper=The Miami News|date =1977|page=16|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/302365943/?match=1&terms=chris%20dundee%20dusty%20rhodes|access-date =2025-04-03}}</ref> Among his local promotions was an April 7, 1976, exhibition at [Miami-Dade Community College](/source/Miami-Dade_Community_College)'s North Campus featuring [Dusty Rhodes](/source/Dusty_Rhodes). After the show, a fan filed a lawsuit alleging assault by Rhodes, naming Dundee as a co-defendant.<ref name="The Miami Herald. (1977)">{{cite news|title='Gentleman' Wrestler Dusty Not Too Gentle, Fan Claims|author=Joe Crankshaw|newspaper=The Miami Herald|date =1977|page=99|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/627352218/?match=1&terms=dundee%20dusty%20rhodes%20miami|access-date =2025-04-03}}</ref>

As [Ray Minus](/source/Ray_Minus)'s sponsor, Dundee played a key role in his 1989 and 1990 title defenses and traveled with the Commonwealth bantamweight champion to [Glasgow](/source/Glasgow)'s Bellahouston Sports Centre in June 1989.<ref name="Herald And Times Archive"/>

Dundee remained active in boxing until he suffered a stroke in January 1990 at 83 years old.<ref name="Miami New Times"/> The stroke struck as he drove to a dinner in Miami Beach, causing him to veer off the road. It affected the left side of his brain, impairing his speech and mobility.<ref name="The Washington Daily News. (1972)"/>

Dundee's iconic 5th Street Gym was torn down in 1993.<ref name="The Miami Herald. (2000)"/>

==Personal life==
Chris Dundee was among the four older brothers of the famous trainer [Angelo Dundee](/source/Angelo_Dundee), who was 15 years younger.<ref name="Miami New Times"/> In the 1940s, he and his wife, Geraldine Dundee, had a son Michael, and a daughter, Suzanne Dundee Bonner.<ref name="Herald And Times Archive"/><ref name="Daily News. (1998)"/>

==Death==
Chris Dundee died on November 16, 1998, in [Miami, Florida](/source/Miami%2C_Florida), U.S.<ref name="Miami New Times"/> He died at the Miami Jewish Home at 90 years old.<ref name="The New York Times"/>

==Legacy==
Dundee promoted eight world championship fights, managed nearly 300 fighters, and staged more than 1000 bouts over four decades.<ref name="Herald And Times Archive"/> Among the renowned boxers Dundee promoted were George Foreman, Sugar Ray Robinson, Archie Moore, Jake LaMotta, Sugar Ray Leonard, Kid Gavilan, and Ezzard Charles.<ref name="The New York Times"/>

Chris Dundee was inducted into the [International Boxing Hall of Fame](/source/International_Boxing_Hall_of_Fame) in 1994.<ref name="ibhof">{{cite web|url=http://www.ibhof.com/pages/about/inductees/nonparticipant/dundeechris.html|title=Chris Dundee|website=ibhof.com|access-date=2025-04-02}}</ref>

His leather Everlast portfolio is preserved in the [Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture](/source/Smithsonian_National_Museum_of_African_American_History_and_Culture).<ref name="Smithsonian">{{cite web|url=https://www.si.edu/object/portfolio-owned-chris-dundee%3Anmaahc_2012.123.6|title=Portfolio owned by Chris Dundee|publisher= Smithsonian|website=books.google.ca|access-date=2025-04-03}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dundee, Chris}}
Category:1908 births
Category:1998 deaths
Category:People from Philadelphia
Category:American boxing promoters
Category:American boxing managers
Category:American people of Italian descent
Category:International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees
Category:20th-century American people

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Chris Dundee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Dundee) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Dundee?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.