STANDING over James Toney as he receives instructions between rounds, Jackie Kallen cuts an intimidating figure, snarling across the ring at his opponent, while dressed all in black to match her fighterโs trunks.ย The black hides the second-hand sweat bouncing from the glistening skin of both men during their championship contest; it also hides the blood.ย
Below her, neither trainer nor boxer are paying attention to the man trying to punch holes in Toney; they are using 60 precious seconds to drag themselves back to the same page during a brief hiatus from the heat of battle.ย Kallen however, an angel on the shoulder of the troubled Michigan great, doesnโt flinch. Her piercing eyes shoot a look from somewhere in the centre of her mass of golden hair, which sits perfectly as though sheโd been attending a movie premiere or a glitzy ball.
Despite looking out of place in this picture she would never let boxing count her out and has since helped create roles for women behind the scenes in a sport she remarked was formerly โall males.โ Boxing is a different sport now, but Kallen remains as fearless as she was back then, perched on the ring apron, ready to pounce like a defensive mother.ย ย
Now approaching 75 years old and with decades of experience, she tellsย Boxing Newsย that times have changed, but her principles of effective management remain the same: โWith boxers, I try and see what kind of life they had, where theyโre coming from, what theyโve been through. Do they want nurturing or that motherly kind of treatment or do they to be left alone and to feel independent? You have to try and figure them out.ย ย
โWhenever I see or work with someone who does have mental health issues, or if they have other issues like drug or alcohol abuse issues, I canโt always solve the problem, but I can workย withย them, instead of against them. Those things are a lot more common now, people talk about them. You can take somebody, and you can help them, thatโs what really satisfies me now. That is a wonderful feeling. If I could do it every day, I would.ย
โI think that I was given that skill of being able to motivate and inspire people,โ Kallen continued. โIโm such a positive person, and I donโt let negativity creep in, thatโs rubbed off on a lot of the fighters that Iโve worked with. Iโve always emphasised the importance of winning, but also the importance of staying humble and accepting defeat gracefully and with dignity. I try and teach the boxers not to talk smack or put their opponents down, because if you lose to the guy that you just said was a bum, what does that mean? You lost to a bum.โย
Interestingly, it was a career in journalism that saw the young Kallen wind up at Emanuel Stewardโs Kronk Gym in Detroit, interviewing Thomas โThe Hitmanโ Hearns ahead of one of his bouts in the late 70s. Sheโd made the jump to covering sports in 1975, previously establishing herself in the world of entertainment, powering her way through interviews with some of the biggest names in showbusiness โ Frank Sinatra and Elvis, to name a couple.ย
โSinatra was definitely cooler,โ she stated, without a pause for thought. โHe was the Rat Pack, the Chairman of the Board, Old Blue Eyes. He was justย soย cool. Elvis, when I met him, he was on a lot of drugs. It was towards the end of his career and his life; he was a legend and an icon; he was just amazing. But I wouldnโt have used the word โcoolโ at that time.โ
Kallen had cooked dinner for the Rolling Stones at her home in Detroit and spent time with The Beatles in New York, but flashy concerts and album covers would be traded for blood-stained hand wraps and a life immersed in the loneliest sport.ย
โI became a boxing publicist for the Kronk gym; Tommy Hearns, Emanuel Steward and that gym that we had there in Detroit. Boxing just became my chosen sport. Once I fell into it, that was it. I kind of saw boxing as a microcosm of life, you know. Everybody has a fight in their life. Fighting for your health, fighting for equality, fighting for a better salary, fighting to get along with someone. I had never been to a boxing match prior to that, and I instantly fell in love with it all. Right away, my first fight. I couldnโt wait to go back to the next one.ย
โSuccess in any field, thereโs certain things in common. Boxing is no different. Anybody that reaches the top, whether itโs politics, sport or entertainment, there has to be an innate talent; you have to be born with a certain gift in that area. Every successful person that Iโve ever met has that innate ability in their own area. You have two guys who are great football players; why does one become Tom Brady and one doesnโt? Two singers: one becomes Lady Gaga, and one is singing at weddings. Itโs that little extra something.โ
Kallen references her first client Bobby Hitz, telling usย that she was amazed when working at the Kronk and speaking to the heavyweight, realising that not all professional boxers had managers. The pair linked up and a host of other champions followed shortly after.
โIt was like going to college for me,โ admitted Kallen, the subject of Hollywood filmย Against the Ropes (2004),ย starring Meg Ryan. โI learnt so much working with him [Bobby Hitz] and it was while I was working with him that we saw James Toney in there. If I hadnโt been in there with Bobby, I wouldnโt have seen James at all. It was all very fortuitous the way it came together.
โI stay in touch with Bronco McKart, Tom โBoom Boomโ Johnson, Lonny Beasley, Pinklon Thomas, Bernard Harris. We talk on the phone, we text each other, weโre all Facebook friends. I love it โ itโs great. Itโs a pleasure to me to know that these people I worked with 25 years ago still have that closeness. Theyโre all a special part of my life, and each one of them has a special place in my heart. I still get birthday cards and Motherโs Day cards from these guys, all these years after managing them.โย
Recently in receipt of her COVID-19 vaccine, Kallen remained upbeat despite suffering the loss of a year at the hands of the global pandemic. Her energy and passion are unmatched, and to say that sheโs spinning plates would be an understatement. Iโd caught Jackie a couple of years ago and remember being struck by her constant optimism โ it hasnโt wavered.ย ย
Faced with questions about delays or missed opportunities, she countered, pointing out a string of positives to balance the argument: โOh my gosh, the year flown by and I canโt say that I did very much or went many places, but itโs been a year. Iโm still here, and Iโm glad about that. I was gifted with a tonne of energy โ I was born this way. I can go all day and still go out all night and have a great time. Even though Iโm 75 years old โ which to some people might seem ancient, I mean it is, itโs three quarters of a century โ but thatโs just a number to me.ย
โIโve written a couple of books but itโs much nicer when somebody writes one for you, so I have a writer working on a book about me at the moment. I do a lot of motivational speaking, so Iโve been doing certain things through Zoom and online. Before COVID I was doing my own podcast, but the studio had to close during COVID, so Iโm looking forward to starting that back up again with a much bigger platform at the end of the month.ย
โThe other thing thatโs kind of in the works is another show โ itโs like โSo, you think you can dance?โ, but itโs โSo, you think you can box?โ It will be with unknown fighters; not like The Contender, because those fighters were all housed together in the same weight class. This will be a variety of boxers, male, female, different ethnicities. Weโre gonna follow their stories and find out why they got into boxing, figure out some of the demons theyโre dealing with and what the blessings are in their lives.โย
All the above is underpinned by her continued, direct involvement in the sport of boxing, managing a small number of young prospects, including Connecticutโs undefeated hope, Mykquan Williams, 16-0-1 (7). Kallen toldย Boxing Newsย she will always have โone foot in boxing,โ but achieving a suitable work-life balance eventually became too important to continue running her own gym and taking care of a large stable of professional fighters.
Williams, and Kallenโs other prospects, find themselves in a far different sport than McKart or Hitz did in the 80s or 90s. Sheโs watched on as the advent of social media has caused careers to sparkle and stall in equal measure. Boxers now โwant to know too much,โ she explained.ย ย
Ducking fights, worrying about fansโ perception of opponents, and gripping undefeated records with white knuckles just wouldnโt cut it back in the days of the original Kronk crew: โThe shift that Iโve noticed is that some of the boxers today are a little softer. I remember when the guyโs attitude would be: โJust get me a fight. I donโt care who it is, Iโm gonna beat this kid.โ
โWe didnโt have a lot of tapes; there was noย YouTube; there was noย BoxRecย to look up the opponent. You just got in there and did your job. Now, they wanna know every little detail, โHeโs too tall for me; he fought so-and-so; he was in the amateurs with a guy I know.โ Thereโs far too much information available, and now fighters are talking themselves out of fights they could win comfortably. Fighters back in the 70s, 80s or 90s were a little tougher.ย
โBack in those days, your record wasnโt out there for the whole world to see. If you lost a fight, the whole world didnโt know about it and it wasnโt that big a deal. Now, itโs out there tomorrow and the world knows tomorrow. Itโs a different culture and a different world. The game has changed, so the fightersโ attitudes have changed also.โย
An infamously difficult attitude to change was that of James Toney, undoubtedly Kallenโs shining light and defining relationship in boxing. Toney, a multiple-weight world champion hailing from Ann Arbour, remains one of the most naturally gifted fighters of his generation, and wore shorts printed with the Star of David, paying homage to his managerโs Jewish faith.ย ย
Their union was iconic and unique; the stock images can only tell a small portion of their story.ย
Crazy stories circulated of Toney heading to Kallenโs apartment with a firearm after losing to Roy Jones Jnr. The pair had conquered the sport of boxing for years after he shocked and stopped Michael Nunn in 1991, but indiscipline had stopped โLights Outโ from toppling his great nemesis. When Iโd caught up with Kallen in 2018, she hadnโt been in contact with James for some time, losing touch by keeping busy. Thankfully, things have changed.ย
โI stay in touch with him and his kids,โ she revealed with glee. โLast month, my son and I FaceTimed with him, so weโre on really good terms now. James is a huge part of my life and Iโm just grateful that weโre back in regular contact with each other. Itโs very heartening to me. I guess it was just time [that brought us back in contact]. I called him, I said, โHey โ letโs go to lunch.โ So, we did, and it was great. Life just gets in the way sometimes. He was doing his thing; I was doing my thing. But I was missing him, and I wanted to rekindle that friendship, so itโs just been really great.โย
She laughs, discussing her legacy and her desire to be remembered as one of a kind โ a pioneer; I explain that I donโt think she has anything to worry about. Kallen humanises a sport famed for its cutthroat, disloyal reputation, and holds her own when swimming with sharks.ย
Itโs difficult to sum up her impact within the boxing community for aspiring female trainers, writers, PR representatives, or managers. But if she could or if she had to, I get the feeling sheโd be back up on the ring apron again, fighting for all of them by fearlessly taking those first steps into the unknown.