The Union College graduate had an early career as a reporter for
the Bronx Home News and became their
sportswriter. In October 1948, the Twentieth Century Sporting Club made several changes in the front office of the promotional organization. Harry Markson, who was the publicity chief, became the managing director of the Twentieth Century Sporting Club. He was retained by
James Norris, who controlled the
International Boxing Club of New York. He was responsible for signing fighters and staging matches. A
Supreme Court ruling on boxing
monopoly forced Norris to give up control of the boxing program in 1959, while the new management kept Markson. In 1962, the boxing promoter made the decisive move to ban
Sugar Ray Robinson from fighting at Madison Square Garden, believing the legendary fighter should retire. The
Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) honored Markson with the James J. Walker Memorial Award (now
Barney Nagler Award) in 1963 for his "long and meritorious service" to boxing. He had always gotten along with
Muhammad Ali. Markson's management played a role in staging
Cassius Clay vs. Doug Jones in 1963. While in Rome in 1967 to negotiate with Italian boxer
Nino Benvenuti, he had the opportunity to meet
Pope Paul VI. When introduced to the pope as Harry Markson of Madison Square Garden, the pontiff held up his hands in the classic boxer's pose and said,
"Ah, Madison Square Garden—boxing". Markson called it an "incubator" for promising fighters. The Markson-Brenner team helped to develop
Joe Frazier's career, featuring him several times at
Madison Square Garden. and earned $1,353,000 from ticket sales, the largest amount for any indoor sports event anywhere. After retiring, he remained honorary president of the Madison Square Garden Boxing Club, acting as a consultant to Brenner. He and his wife moved to
Little Silver, New Jersey in 1974 after 35 years of living in
Brooklyn. In a February 1993 article in the
New York Times, he remarked, "I don't like the fact that boxing is a casino sport. It doesn't belong there, it belongs in an arena. It should be in the mainstream of sports, just like basketball or any other major sport. I'm not happy about it, and I'm glad I'm not a part of it." ==Family==