UNGERMAN, IRVING

UNGERMAN, IRVING (1922– ) sports promoter, manager, and member of Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame and the International Sports Hall of Fame. Ungerman was born in Toronto and grew up in the downtown heavily Jewish Kensington Market area. During World War II, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and served as a bombardier. Ungerman was one of Canada's most prolific promoters of amateur and professional sports. He managed and represented many Canadian boxers during his career, notably the champions George Chuvalo and Clyde Gray. Ungerman's contribution includes television broadcasting. He initiated the broadcast of boxing on Canadian closed-circuit television in the early 1950s and he was also responsible for establishing Canada's Friday Night at the Fights on commercial TV. Ungerman was also involved in sports other than boxing. He served on the organizing committee that developed the inaugural hockey series between Team Canada and the Soviet National Team in 1972. He was a prominent figure on the organizing committee that brought the Blue Jays and major league baseball to Toronto. Outside the realm of sports, Ungerman was a longtime supporter of many Toronto-based charitable organizations, including the Salvation Army, Variety Village, the Reena Foundation serving special needs children within a framework of Jewish culture and values, the Hospital for Sick Children, and Mount Sinai Hospital. In 2000 Ungerman was honored by the Government of Ontario with the Order of Ontario. (Avi Hyman and Brenda Cappe (2nd ed.)