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Legendary matchmaker Don 'War a Week' Chargin dead at 90 of cancer
Don Chargin, the Hall of Fame matchmaker who earned the nickname “War a Week” for his propensity to make evenly matched slugfests, died Friday at 90 after a battle with cancer.
Chargin and his late wife, Lorraine, are both members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He was known for putting on sensational shows weekly at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles for promoter Aileen Eaton.
“Aileen Eaton was tough and she wanted good fights, hard, tough but fair competitive fights,” said Richard Steele, a Hall of Famer as a referee who fought for Chargin in the 1960s. “Aileen didn’t want blowouts or one-sided fights. Don had an ability to find two guys who were evenly matched and both would come to fight. You knew you had a chance to win when he put you in, but you also knew it wasn’t going to be easy and you’d have to work for it. That was what Aileen Eaton wanted from him and he had a great knack for doing it.”
Chargin was a fount of knowledge and helped many matchmakers get their start. Among his proteges are Eric Gomez, now the president of Golden Boy Promotions. He was also helpful to Bruce Trampler, the legendary Top Rank matchmaker who is considered the best ever at that job.
Chargin and Trampler’s mentor Teddy Brenner were respected throughout the industry as the best at what they did. Trampler said he visited Chargin several weeks ago and that while Chargin knew the end was near, Trampler said he was at peace. They had an engaging conversation about baseball, Trampler said.
Chargin served as an adviser to Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy in the last years of his life.
“The fact that Oscar chose to hire him as a mentor and consultant when he started his own company says a lot about Don,” Trampler said. “He was a guy who loved to put together fights. When he was doing those fights at the Olympic, he catered to a Hollywood crowd that wanted to see great fights each week and he was able to deliver that week after week.”
Golden Boy released a statement about him:
Today, the sport of boxing lost a legend.
For decades, “War a Week” Don Chargin was universally known as a titan of promoting and matchmaking. His events at the Olympic Auditorium were not to be missed, and along with his wife, Lorraine, he was the linchpin of boxing in California and beyond.
But to those of us at Golden Boy Promotions, he was so much more. He was a partner. He was a mentor. And he was a friend. To say Don will be missed doesn’t come close to explaining the sadness we all feel today.
Steele lauded him for his vast knowledge and willingness to boost others.
“So many people loved that guy and he helped give so many people a start,” Steele said. “He was a man of his word and made a great team with his wife.”
Lorraine Chargin, who predeceased him in 2010, was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in June. Chargin accepted induction in her memory.
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