Picture Perfect Promotion In Paradise

Dennis Bernstein, MBA
www.scoremedia.org
 

Georgetown, Grand Cayman – As the clock approached midnight Friday evening in this resort town, the man with the biggest smile on his face was veteran boxing promoter Dan Goossen. His promotion company, Goossen Tutor, partnered with the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism and Showtime Television Network to stage a ShoBox card that had everything a fight fan could want. Though the last two cards of the bought aired live, (Andre Ward getting a belt at 168 and Ronald Hearns trying to live up to a legacy), the entire evening couldn’t have been a better promotion tool for the tiny island in the British West Indies chain.  

This night saw two former Olympians at polar opposites of the boxing spectrum, a young heavyweight looking for redemption after his first career loss and even a home town hero (Georgetown’s own Charles Whittaker) banging out a pretender for good measure. The card was staged at the Royal Watler Cruise Terminal, a venue where normally scores of cruise ships dock to bring the visitors that are the life blood of this island. They packed a couple of thousand into the joint and the throng was both knowledgeable and raucous, serving as a perfect backdrop for the television audience. The only thing missing were fireworks.

 

Actually, not.

 

After the national anthems of the Caymans and the US was played and before Showtime went live for the final two bouts, a five minute fireworks display wowed the crowed and primed them for the Jimmy Lennon, Jr. intro. From a boxing perspective, each fight had both intrigue and action and was certainly one of the best cards top to bottom we’ve seen in a while.

 

S.O.G. (Son of a Gun)

 

Andre (S.O.G.) Ward is the star in the Goossen Tutor stable, always yapping and always overweight James Toney not withstanding. He faced his toughest opponent to date this night in Jerson Revalo, another former Olympian (Dominican vintage), who entered the match with 18-2 record. Ward, the 2004 Olympic Gold medalist entered the bout with a 15-0 record and 5 consecutive KO’s at 168 and this match was contested for a minor belt, the NABO Super Middleweight title.  From the opening round, Ward controlled the match, not losing a round on our card, (we had it 70-64 when it ended) and floored Ravelo in the eighth before Steve Smoger waved off the bout at 2:37. Ward showed the proper aggressiveness against a rangier opponent and even went southpaw in round 5 to show off another facet of his repertoire. “He was a tough fighter with an awkward style. After the fifth round, I knew I could land against him because I had figured him out. I wouldn’t say this was my most complete effort until I look at the film and I’ll leave it to Dan Goossen to figure out who my next opponent should be,” Ward revealed at ringside. With his promoter and management taking the slow but steady approach to his career arc (Ward’s not yet a Top 10 talent in the super middleweight division), seasoning against more talented opponents could have Ward challenging the elite of the division within the next 12 months.

 

LIVING UP TO A LEGACY

 

I don’t envy Ronald Hearns for a second. Yes, he’s young, talented and a nice kid but to live up to his daddy’s (that would be Thomas “Hit Man” Hearns for those without a clue) legacy is impossible. Though he’s sitting on the cusp of a Top Ten ranking (he’s rated #12 in the 154 pound class by both the WBC & WBA), he doesn’t possess the talent, power or charisma that his father brought to the ring. That burden wouldn’t be so heavy if the Hit Man didn’t enter the ring with his son before his bouts, a constant reminder of how high the bar is raised in this boxing family. Hearns stopped an overmatched Jose Luis Gonzalez at 2:01 of the 7^th round with him leading on our card by five points. The junior Hearns did what he had to do in stopping Gonzalez but couldn’t floor his outclassed opponent and this lack of power will be troublesome has he tries to navigate the 154 pound waters. He needs a good deal more seasoning before he’s ready for a significant match in the division.

 

SO FAST EDDIE

 

“Fast” Eddie Chambers needed to prove something to himself against Raphael Butler this evening. He needed to wash the bitter taste of his first professional loss against Alexander Povetkin last January in Berlin out of his mouth. Like his moniker, he came out quickly in that fight against his Russian opponent but faded in the final rounds, lost the IBF Heavyweight Title Eliminator and the respect of most guys like me. I’ve seen him fight live once before the Povetkin match and was not impressed, I certainly didn’t think he was fast. So when he entered the ring with a major size disadvantage against the 30-4 Raphael Butler, he had a lot on the line, the prospect of become an afterthought and an opponent was a reality. Truth be told, if Eddie fights subsequent bouts like he did this night, he could become a factor in the screwed up heavyweight division. Chambers showed quickness, nice defense and the ability to pack a punch when he stopped Butler in the sixth round of their scheduled 12 round matchup. The Philadelphia native won all five rounds on our card and floored Butler with a crushing right late in round six, partially knocking him out of the ring. Butler staggered to his feet at the count of nine but referee Bill Clancy clearly saw Butler was out of gas and made the right call. With a 31-1 record and this KO in his toolbox, Chambers should get at least one more shot to be in the mix.

 

THE END OF AN ERA

 

This is a tough section to write as we consider Wayne McCullough a friend and one of the classiest guys in the boxing business. We admire his ability to come out of the streets of Belfast, Northern Island to become an Olympic silver medalist, a world bantamweight champion and even more importantly a great husband and father.

 

I met him a few years ago at a Las Vegas fight and once I got through his thick Irish accent (who am I to criticize being from NOO YAWK), I took an immediate liking to him. I was there when he challenged Oscar Larios for the title in his adopted hometown of Las Vegas. I learned that he was smartly hired by Dana White of the UFC to do PR for them. Heck, I even once tried to get him cast as the star of a workout video. The bottom line is that if there were more Wayne McCulloughs in the boxing business, the sport would be far better off. His integrity and honesty is something I admired and his lack of entitlement stems from his survival on the streets of Belfast during those incredibly rough days, “I’ve had bullets whizzing by my head, so how could anything else faze me in life,” he once told me. 

 

McCullough had five fights drop out over the past two years, so when the opportunity came to fight the 21-5 Juan Ruiz on this card, he jumped at the chance to try to create some traction for a final shot at a championship strap. And although he led on two of the judge’s cards after six rounds, his wife and manager, Cheryl, stepped in and decided that she knew her fighter and husband better than anyone corner man, judge or referee. She instructed the corner to ask referee Smoger to stop the match and subsequently, start Wayne’s retirement.

 

After the outcome was announced, Wayne grabbed the ring mike and said, ‘I want to thank every one for coming out tonight, I think this is going to be my last fight.” After parading around the ring arm in arm with Ruiz, he came back on mike and conveyed, “This was my last fight, and I’m going to retire.” And with those words, those who know this man as I do rose in appreciation of his commitment and excellence to the sport he loves.