Apparently my reply convinced him, because the following day he, Bill Farnsworth, and Ed Frayne—the Hearst stockholders in Mike’s Twentieth Century Sporting Club—got together with Jacobs and arranged a newspaper party for a trip to Detroit to see Louis in action against Natie Brown. But before embarking on the journey, Jacobs arranged a conference with Louis’ handlers, John Roxborough and Julian Black, at which, as things turned out, Mike signed Louis to an exclusive contract to fight under his control. Louis was a budding heavyweight then. The night the deal was set, following his victory over Brown in ten rounds on March 28, 1935, a partnership was formed that was to endure to the mutual benefit of both, until Louis chose to dissolve it by announcing his retirement at Miami Beach on March 1, 1949. On that night in Detroit when he took over, Jacobs made Louis and his managers two promises: his fights would always be on the level and he would make him the world heavyweight champion. Mike kept both promises. He kept them although there was considerable prejudice rampant at the time, and despite the fact that Jack Johnson, the only other Negro to hold the world title, had been an unpopular champion. Jacobs never asked Louis to do anything other than get in the ring and fight his best. And as the world knows, that best was more than good enough. * * * * * Starting from his little ticket office, Jacobs later opened small quarters on West 49th Street in New York City opposite the Forrest Hotel, and eventually moved into spacious offices in Madison Square Garden after he became a millionaire. The Carnival of Champions, held on September 23, 1937, at the Yankee Stadium lost money but Jacobs demonstrated that he controlled the fistic market by turning out a galaxy of stars to perform for him that night. The Garden directors were convinced and on October 27th of that year Jacobs moved into Madison Square Garden with Henry Armstrong topping his initial card. Armstrong came out punching to knock out Petey Sarron in six rounds and win the featherweight crown, the first of his three titles. Here’s the story of how Armstrong got his chance and the part I played in arranging the fight. Petey Sarron was in Johannesburg, South Africa, with Freddie Miller. On July 31, 1937, he had lost in ten rounds to Miller, from whom he previously had won the world championship. Then another bout was arranged for September 4 of that year—this time a twelve-round title bout—and Sarron retained the crown.