FightNightNews.com
EXCLUSIVE REPORT
BILLIONAIRE KERIMOV, FORCE BEHIND SULTAN, GOLDEN
GRAIN PROMOTIONS, IS THE RING 'RASPUTIN' WHO WANTS
TO CONTROL BOXING'S BIGGEST THRONE
The Russians
aren't coming. They already here and people are being
playful about how Russian fighters are going to control
the heavyweight division.
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You might think we were going back to
the bad, old days
when Nikita Khruschev was banging his shoe on the table
at the United Nations, to the era of the Cold War, Gary
U-2 Powers, spies and spy planes and the battle between
our astronauts and the Soviet Union's cosmonauts for
supremacy in outer space.
Fact: Wladimir Klitchscko is the IBF champ at
least until Nov. 11, when Shannon Briggs vows to snatch
that crown. |
Suleiman Kerimov
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Fact: Sergei Liakhovich, the "White Wolf,"
completed dismantled hard-puncher Lamon Brewster to
corral the WB) heavyweight title.
Fact: Sauerland Events in Germany is now
co-promoting King Kongish (is that a word in any
language?) WBA champ, the 7-foot-tall, 320 pound
Nickolay Valuev. Valuev will probably fight challenger
Monte "Three Card" Barrett Oct. 7 at the Garden.
Fact: The only non-Russian (OK, Liakhovich is
actually from Belarus, same thing) world heavyweight
champ extant is American and WBC king Hasim Rahman and,
on Aug. 12, he defends in Vegas against Russian Oleg
Maskaev, who already owns a KO victory over him.
Fallacy: That any of these Russian ring behemoths pose a
real threat to American hedgemony or heavyweight
supremacy. But there is a Russian billionaire who has
plans to take over not only the heavyweight thrones, but
the entire sport/business.
Ladies and gentlemen, in this corner let Comrade Michael
Marley introduce you to the man who would be King, and I
don't mean just the new Don King, of All Boxing and All
World Titles.
His
name is Suleiman Kerimov and Forbes magazine, which
ranks rich people like The Ring ranks fighters, has
listed him as the 72ND RICHEST PERSON IN THE WHOLE
WORD WITH AN ESTIMATED NET WOTH OF--HOLD YOUR
BREATH--SEVEN POINT ONE BILLION DOLLARS. That 's. 7.1
BILLION BUCKS.
Forbes also said this year that Kerimov owned or does
own Vnukovo Airlines; Murmansk Airport; Avtobank;
Nosta metal plant and Ingosstrakh Insurance Company,
as well as a huge stake in preferred shares in
Transneft, the oil-transportation monopoly. That,
since 2004, Kerimov has gobbled up shares in Gazprom,
world's largest natural gas producer and Sberbank
(biggest retail bank in Russia) which form the core of
his wealth.
Let's be clear, the man behind heavyweight contender
Sultan Ibragimov, manager Boris Grinberg and Golden
Grain Promotions is a straight up capitalist. He is no
follower of Marx, either Groucho or Karl, and he could
buy and sell you, or at least me.
He could at least rent King, Bob Arum and Golden Boy
Oscar de la Hoya. No wonder trainer Carlos "Panama"
Lewis, who trains Sultan and Timur Ibragimov, is
sporting fresh, sparkling bling bling.
He's about 40-years-old. Forbes, in 2004, rated his net
worth at about FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY MILLION DOLLARS
(what's that in rubles?). His fortune comes from the oil
business and an affiliated company named FK Kapital. He
was elected to and serves in the Russian parliament.
And you thought Al "Man Behind The HBO Curtain" Haymon
was mysterious. Kerimov has totally eluded the boxing
limelight. Until this column, anyway.
As you know, Sultan fights "Rain Man" Ray Austin on ESPN
2 Friday night at the Seminole Hard Rock in Florida with
the winner getting a mandatory contender position for
Klitschko's crown.
The IBF conducted its typical purse bid to decide who
would promote this fight. As we also know, fighters on
the cheap ESPN 2 cards, where the promoter usually gets
a check of less than $20,000 as a fee from the network,
typically make $7,500 to $10,000 for fighting in the
main event.
Ibragimov-Austin is a little different because Don King
Promotions was the losing bidder with a $100,000
offering.
Then Neon Leon Margules and Warriors Boxing, fronting
for Kerimov and Golden Grain, handed his little envelope
over to IBF officials.
Eyes bugged out as the winning bid was $850,000 or
$750,000 more than King bid. Some people thought
Margules or his Seminole employers had gone temporarily
insane, perhaps from the constant jingle-jangle of the
slot machines.
But all that money comes from Kerimov's coffers. And so
on Friday night, Austin's purse is 75 percent of that,
about $625,000 minus of course the majority share which
Uncle Don will be quick to subtract, while Iggy gets the
balance or about 25 percent. (Austin had the higher
ranking.)
The Russian Rasputin isn't coming to boxing. Suleiman
Kerimov is here already and he means business, serious
business.
I wonder if Joe Tessitore, Theodore Atlas and Brian
Kenny will allot some time for the story behind the
story and explain how Kerimov and his Golden Grain
outfit (Sampson Lewkowicz, ace adviser) strictly follow
boxing's Golden Rule.
Kerimov's got the oil which is liquid gold which gets
him real gold and, thus should Sultan win and become
another Russian world heavyweight champion, the
billionaire (inflation since 2004, you know) will start
making the rules. Perhaps all of the rules and who is
going to be disputing this Ring Rasputin?
If Kerimov says nyet, then nyet it is, comrades. I say,
chill the vodka and welcome Kerimov to the fistic fray.
I like rich people. I really do, especially reformed
Commies.
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Notes on the back of a battered performer's scorecard
or, in the alternative, names make the boxing news:
B Hop, or Bernard Hopkins if you prefer, has done a lot
of lousy things during his boxing career and I concede
that lousy things have been done to him by various
promoters. But I think the worst thing the Hopster ever
did was calling Manny Steward an "Uncle Tom Sammy Davis
Jr." motherbleeper. Who has done more for boxing? it
says here Steward by a Motown mile. Is Emmanuel a "Tom"
because he works for HBO? That is absurd as saying B Hop
is Tomming it up by working for Golden Boy.
Or should I say Tio Tomasing it up? Of all the insults
he has uttered in his various volcanic spews--Hopkins
erupts more often Old Faithful at Yellowstone--that is
the one Bernard should fully apologize for and
completely refute. Btw, belated props to sidekick Larry
Merchant who showed his "eggs" by standing up for his
braodcast colleague. Btw, I know this is old news. I
must've been in suburban Slobbovia when it happened. The
case can be made for Steward as boxing's best all-time
trainer but we can address that later...Forget that
report about Phoenix, Shannon Briggs has chosen Vero
Beach as his training base for the Klitschko challenge.
Maybe Briggs will call Steve Brener to bring Tom Lasorda
as a motivator. Oops, ace publicist Brener and his main
man, John "Downtown Beirut" Beyrooty are working for
Team Klitschko so no can do...Getting back to Sammy
Davis Jr., baby, if you want to laugh yourself into
unconsciousness dig up his unique version of the "Theme
From Shaft."...
Good news about the internet is that any fistic fool can
grab a byline or write a headline. And any fistic fool
can write complete nonsense. That's the bad news about
the internet. One bad example which caught my roving eye
the other came from a site that is usually informative
and literate, sweetscience.com.
That's the DaVinci Code site, backed by Vegas character
Dino Da Vinci's money and edited by Robert Ecksel. They
are still are running a story penned by someone named
Luca De Franco about Manny Siaca, Jr. In the story and
the glaring headline, it refers to Siaca "following the
steps of Puerto Rican greats." Quick, pass me the barf
bag.
You telling me to place Siaca alongside Alfredo Escalera,
Jose Torres, Wilfredo "Bazooka" Gomez, Fleix Trinidad
and Wilfred Benitez? That's five but I can name about 12
more (Miguel Cotto will wind up in that classy company
if he keeps succeeding) Boricua boxing stars, real
stars, who Siaca could not carry the gym bag for. No
offense to Manny Siaca, Sr., my pal, who worked
alongside Esteban DeJesus and others and was a fighter
himself. But Luca De Franco either that was shoeshine
job or you are smoking illegal substances.
Now I am spewing like B Hop but the hot molten lava
needs to fly because Siaca's record is 20-5. Mikkel
Kessler won every minute of every round in stopping him
in eight rounds. Byron Mitchell beat him on points twice
and he lost to Bruno Girard. This is an all-time Puerto
Rican ring great? Is Mitchell an all-time Philly ring
great or Girard an all-time French boxing superstar?
Now I just went back and read the piece which has a
brief, reasonable intro and then becomes a short Q and
A. Luca, I was wrong about you. It is the headline which
is moronic, not your little interview. OK, Escksel
spring into action against the offender even if it is
you.
Proper headline: SIACA FOLLOWING STEPS OF PUERTO RICAN
RING GREATS...HE'S ABOUT NINE MILES BEHIND THEM AND
FADING FAST. Now I can get to making corrections on my
own site, lol...
To the gentleman who inquired about former MSG publicist Tom Kenville, Tommy K moved to upstate New York last I heard. Back in 70s, before cell phones, ESPN, ATMs and all that, Kenville's wife took phone messages at their home from guys named Chi Chi, Cha Cha and Chu Chu, Mrs. K insisted her husband open up and tell her what line of work he was really in. The boxing callers were promoter John "Cha Cha" Ciarcia, trainer/matchmaker "Chi Chi" Torres and boxer/actor Edwin "Chu Chu" Malave. Mrs. K thought hubby was involved with some Colombian cartel action...
Sal Musumeci made inquiries about an intriguing
heavyweight prospect matchup between former Boston
College football player Derek Rossy and also unbeaten JD
Chapman but Team Chapman brain trust, manager Scott
Hirsch and trainer Jazzy Jeff Mayweather, want another
six months to polish their green as grass hopeful.
Note, please, that they like the style matchup and this
might become an early 2007 showdown...Speaking of Manny
Steward, he may have the most to easy to imitate voice
in boxing. In Boston, the Celtics used to have Johnny
Most soundalike contest in which fans would compete to
see who could talk the most like the
I-gargle-with-razor-blades announcer. Let's do a
Mannython on HBO and see who can sound the most like
Manny Being Manny.
My first two entries are Boston writer Don Stradley and
Detroit/Vegas boxing and real estate maven, John "D-12"
Lepak. Merchant and Harold Lederman can be the judges
and no ring generalship will be required...Memo to Mayor
Bloomberg: promoter Cedric Kushner may be trying to get
on to the NYC payroll. "There is no better city than New
York for media exposure for boxers," Kushner said. "My
show (tonight) at the Manhattan Center is written up in
today's Daily News, The Post and the AM free newspaper.
You don't coverage like that in East Baumfog."...
Boxing makes strange bedfellows, indeed. Unbeaten WBA
super middleweight king Mikkel Kessler's best boxing
buddy in the USA is Famoso Hernandez...Before I forget,
give an Ivy League high five to bar owner-cutman-gentleman
Jimmy Glenn who is glowing with pride as one of his
sons, ka-ching, was just admitted to Harvard...
Boston Globe fight and football scribe Ron Borges
scriibles without fear or favor and has long done so. He
is one of the very few "boss scribes: to ever give Don
King a fair shake. Of course, he has also given DK many
a kick in the editorial posterior as well. I have a bone
to pick with Borges. He must have forgot I am a Globe
alumnus (copyboy and coffee-getter, Class of '67 and
'68). He recently labeled me as a guy long "on the
fringes of boxing." Let's see, I was the greatest boxing
writer ever at the NY Post; VP publicity for King, Mike
Tyson, JC Chavez, etc., for five long years; co-managed
or managed world champs Shannon Briggs, Terry Norris,
Orlin Norris and Robert Garcia, and now advise several
world champions and/or their managers.
I mean I was Ali's guest at the Lewiston bout with
Liston, the Chuvalo bout in Toronto and at "The Fight"
3/8/71 with Joe Fray-zuh at the Garden. Where was Borges
then, digging clams on Martha's Vineyard? Searching out
quahogs on the shores of Vineyard Sound?
I say Borges, who covers the Patriots, has long been "on
the fringes" of pro football. But, please, don't tell
that to Coach Belichick. Borges keeps this up and I will
start writing about the legend and lore of his crosstown
rival, Golfing George Kimball...I figured out my problem
finally. I am too modest and self-effacing...Speaking of
football, congrats to the great Lesley Visser, ex-BC
cheerleader, upon her enshrinement as a journalist in
the Hall Of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Showing her media
genius, Lesley always steered clear of boxing. Now can
she get Borges enshrined in Canton, Ohio?...
They say the brightest students usually have the best
teachers. GBP matchmaker Eric Gomez has long been under
the tutelage of Don "War A Week" Chargin, a well-paid
GBP consultant. But it was OLDH himself (is it okay not
to capitalize Himself?) who came up the with the idea of
hiring the sagacious Chargin. Joel de la Hoya didn't
raise any fools, did he?...Warning to Greater
Sacramento: The Contenders honcho Jeff Wald is coming to
the state capital August 25 where his guy "Latin Snake"
Sergio Mora is fighting Eric Regan. Adjust your volume
controls because the bombastic Wald really did learn how
to, ssh, ssh, whisper in a saw mill. When he gets to
Sacramento, you will be able to hear him in Ukiah, trust
me..
Speaking of high rollers, Butch Lewis popped up as
Shannon Briggs and retinue popped out the Palm West in
midtown after dinner the other evening. Former bossman
of BLP and Svengali to Michael Spinks, Lewis is thin and
trim and sporting a grey-flecked slight beard.
His pal, Denzel Washington, says Lewis is a wolf, not a
lamb. Lewis recently broke bread with his former
adviser, Don "Bring Back Bernardo Mercado" Majeski, and
Lewis said he is not done with the fight game yet. Temps
were in high 80s and some folks did not recognize Butch
without his no-shirt tuxedo of nights of yore...Funniest
scene at ringside ever was hot summer night at Caesars
when Butch and one of his sons, then about six years
old, BOTH wore their no shirt tuxedos. Btw, Butch still
hobnobs with ex-BET owner, now boss of NBA Bobcats and
regular billionaire mogul, Bob Johnson... |
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