Joe Hand Sr., a longtime boxing promoter and pay-per-view pioneer, passed away recently at the age of 87, writes Emily Rose Grassi for NBC 10 Philadelphia.
He died after a bout with COVID-19, according to his son.
Hand, who was born and raised in the Lawncrest district, was well-known for his mentorship of fellow Philadelphia native and boxing legend, Joe Frazier. His mentorship helped Frazier go on to become at Olympic Gold Medalist and defeat the great Muhammad Ali in Madison Square Garden in 1971.
It was the same year that Hand founded Joe Hand Promotions, which has distributed sports programming through pay-per-view for more than 50 years.
According to his son, Hand had remained involved in the business until he fell ill with COVID about two weeks prior to his passing.
Hand also opened the Joe Hand Boxing Gym in 1995. It helped children learn how to box, but also had a computer center for other educational activities.
Hand was inducted into both the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame and the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame.
Read more about the legacy of Philadelphia native and boxing mainstay Joe Hand in NBC 10 Philadelphia.
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