Amos, longtime sports promoter, writer, dies at 77

Ron Amos, a longtime sports publicist, promoter and journalist, died Friday in Las Vegas after a lengthy illness. He was 77.

Amos was sports editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal in the mid-1960s and also covered boxing for the Las Vegas Sun.

"He was a real professional. He was a good sports writer, then a good sports editor," said retired reporter Royce Feour, who was hired by Amos at the Review-Journal in 1968.

Amos' legacy included serving as public relations director at Caesars Palace for 10 years, through much of the 1970s. He also was director of events at the Las Vegas Hilton from 1985 to 1987.

During his time at Caesars, Amos promoted a number of events that received national media attention, including title fights, the Alan King Tennis Classic and Evel Knievel's ill-fated 1967 motorcycle jump over the fountains in front of the resort.

After leaving Caesars, Amos spent a year at Playboy Resorts before moving to the Hilton, where he eventually became its director of events.

"(Amos) did a good job of establishing boxing at the Hilton," said Feour, the Review-Journal's longtime boxing writer who retired in 2005.

Amos' earliest stint as a promoter came in 1964 after Sonny Liston moved to Las Vegas.

Amos was a Sun reporter and also worked as Liston's publicist while Liston trained for his 1964 fight in Miami with then-Cassius Clay, according to the book "Fight Town," written by Tim Dahlberg, a Las Vegas-based national columnist for The Associated Press.

Services for Amos are planned for Saturday in Payson, Utah.