Steve Eisner (1929–2003) was a boxing promoter; an entrepreneur; a dealer in fine art and antiquities; the owner of record stores and drive-in movie theaters; a street scrapper; a professional boxer; a cryptographer for the army; a merchant marine; a philosopher (earning his Ph.B. from the University of Detroit); the editor of Fresco, a literary magazine; a poet and a punster; and the father of four children.
He became very well known as the premier boxing promoter in the state of Arizona, where he lived during the last decades of his life with his wife, Nancy. As a boxing manager/promoter, Eisner worked closely with many of the sport's top names including Bob Arum's Top Rank Inc. and Emanuel Steward's Kronk Boxing Team.
Eisner guided the careers of many fighters, including Jerry Schoolboy Cheatham, Edgar Wallace, Ramon Olivas, Chuck Walker, and Paea Wolfgramm. Eisner was born in New York, but raised in Detroit where as a young adult he became friends with legendary pimp/hustler 'Diamond' Jim Riley. He had a fascination with history, and a thirst for knowledge. He penned such masterpieces of pun and fun as the following:
"Wilt thou," he said
In a voice softly lilted
"Wilt thou," he said
With his head slightly tilted
"Wilt thou," he said
As he looked into her eyes
"Wilt thou," he said
And much to his surprise...
She wilted!
Steve Eisner lost his brief fight to cancer on August 30, 2003.