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10/06/2003 Archived Entry: "Bill Cayton Passes at Age 85"
OBIT: Bill Cayton, 85
Bill Cayton, fight manager and boxing film collector, died Saturday of lung cancer. He was 85.
Cayton managed several world champions including Tyson, Wilfred Benitez and Edwin Rosario. But he was best known for co-managing Tyson with Jim Jacobs when the young heavyweight turned pro in 1984, although Tyson severed ties with Cayton after 1988.
Besides managing Tyson and others, Cayton had a large collection of fight films he began collecting in the 1940s. Cayton sold his film and tape library in 1998 to Disney Corp., which features many of the titles on its ESPN Classic Sports network.
Born in New York City, Cayton earned a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Maryland in 1937 and began a career as a technical writer for DuPont. By 1945, he was running his own advertising agency, Cayton, Inc.
Cayton got involved in boxing in 1949 when a client asked for his help in promoting Vaseline hair tonic for men. He decided to use television advertising on sports events, recommending boxing because other larger team sports were not yet suitable for small screen viewing.
Cayton, is survived by his son, Brian Cayton, and daughters Trish and Merrie.
