Born Carmin Dewey Fragetta in Utica, NY in 1909. Known as "Mr. Dewey," Fragetta is regarded as the first international matchmaker in boxing.
He began his association with the sport of boxing at a young age when he became fascinated with bantamweight champion Bushy Graham, also a Utica native. He was a sports staff member of the Utica Observer Dispatch before leaving the newspaper to become Graham's manager in 1928. Success followed and Fragetta, who had relocated his base of operations to New York City, became international representative of countless American boxing stars.
Among the promoters and managers Fragetta arranged bouts for include "Sad" Sam Ichinose, Lope Sarreal, Mickey Duff, Harry Levene, Norm Rothschild and Jeff Dickson. Fragetta, an affable man who seemed to know everybody in the boxing business, made over 8,000 matches during his career including bouts involving boxer Carlos Ortiz, Paul Pender, Willie Pastrano, Davey Moore, Hurricane Carter and Joey DeJohn. He once booked simultaneous bouts on one night in South Africa, South America, Europe, Asia and three cities in the U.S.
Fragetta, who arranged bouts all over the globe for nearly 50 years, died in New York City at age 68.
Born: July 16, 1909
Died: Sept. 9, 1977
Induction: 2003
Dewey Fragetta
