Joseph P. McHugh (April 30, 1904 – January 31, 1993) was an American

ring announcer A ring announcer is an in-ring (and sometimes on-camera) employee or contractor for a boxing, professional wrestling or mixed martial arts event or promotion, who introduces the competitors to the audience. In boxing and mixed martial arts bou ...

. He announced boxing and wrestling matches in Allentown, Pennsylvania from the 1920s through the 1980s and gained national exposure on WWWF/ WWF programming in the 70s and 80s.

Early life

McHugh was born on April 30, 1904 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He was one of six sons born to Owen E. and Bridget (Brown) McHugh. One of his brothers was Terry McHugh, a boxer who fought bantamweight champion

Pete Herman Pete Herman (February 12, 1896 – April 13, 1973) was one of the all-time great bantamweight world champions. An American of Italian heritage and descent, Herman was born Peter Gulotta in New Orleans, Louisiana, and fought from 1912 until 1927. ...

in 1919. He grew up on Gordon Street in the Irish section of Allentown's Sixth Ward and graduated from

Allentown Central Catholic High School Allentown Central Catholic High School (ACCHS) is a private, parochial school located at 301 North Fourth Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown, ACCHS predominantly serves students from the Lehigh ...

Early career

When he was 16 years old, McHugh went into vaudeville. He performed across the United States as a comedian and an emcee. After vaudeville, McHugh worked as an entertainment promoter in

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...

clubs. He was part owner of Club Rio, a nightclub located in South Whitehall Township. He also worked as a sales associate for Roy Eichelberger Roofing and Siding in Allentown until 1976. McHugh was married to Barbara M. Gorman. They had one daughter, also named Barbara. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, McHugh served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

Ring announcing

By 1929, McHugh was a licensed ring announcer. He announced boxing and wrestling matches primarily in the Allentown area during the city's heyday as a fight town as well as other arenas along the east coast. He announced fights featuring a number of notable boxers, including

Rocky Marciano Rocco Francis Marchegiano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969; ), better known as Rocky Marciano (, ), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955, and held the world heavyweight title from 1952 to 1956. He is the onl ...

Larry Holmes Larry Holmes (born November 3, 1949) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1973 to 2002 and was world heavyweight champion from 1978 until 1985. He grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, which led to his boxing nickname of the "Ea ...

, Muhammad Ali, and

Jack Sharkey Jack Sharkey (born Joseph Paul Zukauskas, lt, Juozas Povilas Žukauskas, October 26, 1902 – August 17, 1994) was a Lithuanian-American world heavyweight boxing champion. Boxing career He took his ring name from his two idols, heavyweight ...

. In 1977, ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'' described McHugh as a "Living Legend of the Ring". In 1964, McHugh began announcing World Wide Wrestling Federation matches in Allentown. In 1977, the WWWF (later known as the WWF) began holding television tapings at the

Allentown Fairgrounds Allentown Fairgrounds is located at 302 North 17th Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It hosts the Great Allentown Fair annually in late August and early September. The fairgrounds was established in 1889 and comprises 46 acres and is owned ...

's Agricultural Hall, which gave McHugh nationwide exposure. The WWF stopped taping in Allentown in 1984, but McHugh continued to announce regional wrestling shows until his death on January 31, 1993. He would sometimes get applauded when he wrapped up his introductory spiel identifying various persons involved in the proceedings by saying "And ''my'' name is Joooooooooe McHugh!"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McHugh, Joe 1904 births 1993 deaths Allentown Central Catholic High School alumni Boxing people American people of Irish descent Nightclub owners Sportspeople from Allentown, Pennsylvania Professional wrestling announcers United States Army personnel of World War II Vaudeville performers