On March 10, 1938, Mike Jacobs announced that Wilton S. "Bill" Farnsworth was the new
matchmaker for the 20th Century Sporting Club.  Farnsworth was a former sports editor
for the New York Journal, and also had served as the "vice president and general
manager" of the club.  He succeeded Armand "Al" Weill.

On March 30, 1938, Tom McArdle was named the advisory matchmaker for the 20th
Century Fight Club of New York City.


On October 2, 1939, Edward F. Frayne resigned as the vice president of the 20th
Century Sporting Club in New York City.  He'd been with Jacobs' organization for about a
year, and needed to handle personal interests in California.


During the early part of January 1941, newspapers announced that Jacobs was at war
with the National Boxing Association and that he planned to back up Billy Conn in a
proposed lawsuit against the promoters of a fight in Cleveland who claimed the match
was for the Light Heavyweight Title.  Conn still claimed that championship, and Jacobs
supported him completely.  Jacobs believed the Anton Christoforidis-Mello Bettina fight
(which was sanctioned by the NBA) was a "championship joke," telling reporters that
Conn beat Bettina twice before and that Christoforidis was "practically a middleweight."

Jacobs also believed that the "phoney title business" in the NBA was going to lead to as
many champions as there was in professional wrestling.


According to an Associated Press report out of Philadelphia on December 5, 1941
(12/7/41, Los Angeles Examiner), United States Representative James P. McGranery, a
Democrat from Pennsylvania, declared that he wanted to look into the control Jacobs had
over boxing.  He said:  "It's pretty near time for a fellow to be able to put on a decent
boxing show without declaring Jacobs in.  In my opinion, Jacobs has reached the point
where he has constituted himself the trust of boxing." McGranery wanted to talk with
others in Washington about the matter with the intentions of perhaps bringing Jacobs to
the city to discuss matters.  This became heated after Ray Robinson ran out on a fight
against Marty Servo in Philadelphia, and complaints were made by promoter Herman
Taylor.










Research by Tim Hornbaker
Mike Jacobs Boxing History