Bill Caplan
Born: Sept. 8, 1935 Induction: 2022
Born in Des Moines, IA on September 8, 1935.
Enthralled with boxing from a young age, Caplan began his career in boxing in 1962 when he was hired to handle public relations for promoter Leo Minskoff and Hall of Famer Joe Louis. In 1974 Caplan was the first publicist hired by Don King for his newly formed Don King Productions. With attention to detail, tenacity, enthusiasm, charm and ability to sell fights to the media, Caplan’s public relations expertise was in high demand, resulting in positions with every major promoter over the last four plus decades including Hall of Famers Bob Arum, Aileen Eaton, George Parnassus, Dan Goossen, Don and Lorraine Chargin and Oscar De La Hoya. From his amateur days to his storybook comeback, Caplan has been Hall of Famer George Foreman’s only publicist. In more than a half a century in the “sweet science,” he has also worked as a promoter, matchmaker and ring announcer.
Caplan was been lauded by the BWAA twice, first in 2010 with the Marvin Kohn Good Guy Award and again in 2016 with the Barney Nagler Award for Long and Meritorious Service to Boxing.