Born October 23, 1950 in Brooklyn, NY. Larkin graduated from C.W. Post, Long Island University, Boston Conservatory of Music and the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.
He began working at SHOWTIME in 1984 as a junior publicist before joining their programming department. SHOWTIME made their boxing debut with Marvelous Marvin Hagler’s 1986 middleweight title defense against John Mugabi. The next year, Larkin was in charge of the boxing program and under his stewardship as Senior Vice President for Sports and Event Programming and Executive Producer of SHOWTIME Championship Boxing and its pay-per-view division, the network became one of the most influential figures in the sport. The stars the network showcased included Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, Julio Cesar Chavez, Felix Trinidad and Ricky Hatton. Larkin produced legendary cards including Holyfield vs. Tyson I & II, Revenge – The Rematches, Corrales vs. Castillo and Chavez vs. Haugen with a record crowd of over 132,000. He was instrumental in the development of ShoBox: The New Generation in 2001. Larkin also championed SHOWTIME’s boxing policy of “Big Fights, No Rights” which featured a fight the first Saturday of each month with no long term contracts, a policy that resulted in compelling matchups. In 2005 he, along with Rich Marotta, was the recipient of the BWAA’s Sam Taub Award for Excellence in Broadcasting.
Larkin passed away on August 9, 2010 at the age of 59 from a brain tumor.
Born: Oct. 23, 1950
Died: Aug. 9, 2010
Induction: 2021
Jay Larkin
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