Columnist Dean Juipe: Boxers find themselves in demand

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, March 1, 2000 | 10:35 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@vegas.com or 259-4084.

This may not be the Golden Era of boxing, yet it's a good time to be a fighter.

Just look at Las Vegas this week: Four fight cards scheduled Tuesday through Sunday, with six or so fights on each card.

This is an abnormally busy week, of course, but the business of boxing is all but booming.

Top Rank, which is based in Las Vegas and is promoting a Saturday card at Mandalay Bay, will do 16 shows in the first quarter of 2000 and is preparing for an accelerated pace by this summer when deals with cable network Univision and DirecTV Latin America kick into effect. By the end of the year the promotional firm may have done as many as 80 or 100 shows, whereas 50 had been the norm in recent years.

Those additional cards have led to a situation where not only Top Rank's Bob Arum but every other promoter is looking to sign competent fighters with ability and/or potential.

From a fighter's standpoint, it may even seem like a seller's market.

"We're always on the lookout for fighters," Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler said Tuesday. "Every now and then Bob will ask 'Is there anybody out there you want?' and we'll go get them. If there is someone we want, we'll give it our best shot."

Various promoters have various niches, and these days Top Rank is trying to stockpile Hispanic fighters. When its weekly Univision series kicks in, 80 percent of the cable audience will be Mexican, 10 percent will be Puerto Rican and the remaining 10 percent will be distributed among Caribbean and South American markets. Add in DirecTV Latin America's audience and Top Rank may be willing to sign every Hispanic male (or female) who can throw a left hook or dodge an uppercut.

Similarly, other promoters cater to other regions, leading to a wealth of opportunities for those with fistic inclinations.

This is a reversal of sorts for boxing, which had its TV heyday during the 1970s when it was a staple of network television. It's also a sign of boxing rebounding from the loss of the weekly "Tuesday Night Fights" show that the USA cable network provided for many years until pulling that plug a year ago.

"The industry as a whole suffered with the loss of the USA show," Trampler said. "TV-wise, the industry also took some hits when the networks dropped boxing and when ESPN moved its shows (to ESPN2).

"But boxing has always been about entertainment and those promoters and fighters who can provide that entertainment will do well in today's marketplace."

Top Rank is doing well in spite of losing its exclusive deal with ESPN a few years ago. (These days the shows currently on the ESPN2 boxing series tend to have an East Coast flavor, as Philadelphia's Russell Peltz serves as its matchmaker.)

The promoters' relationships and successes with TV have led to a simple reality: Boxers and prospective boxers alike are in demand, so much so that scouts are beating the bushes for potential fighters. Before long you may even see them pursued via classified ads.

"Pugilists Wanted. Dedication a must. Flexible hours. Guaranteed exposure. Hard work. Good pay."

Times having changed, those are now fighting words in these parts.