Articles

Jared Weiss Dips Toes Into Managerial Waters

Published

11 years ago

July 17, 2013

The vibes of The Greatest blew his mind as he toured the boyhood home of Cassius Clay in Louisville, Kentucky last year.

The property is a mere 1,000 sq. feet, but felt a thousand times larger to 40-year-old Jared Weiss, a real estate developer based in Las Vegas, who bought the bedraggled residence for $70,000, and received a tour from Rahman Ali, the big bro of Muhammad Ali.

“I have a degree in history, and I always loved Ali,” the Rockland County, NY native, who moved to Vegas to attend UNLV when he was 19, told me in a phone interview. “I wanted the house as a part of American history. He showed me every nook and cranny, and had so many stories, he was a thesauraus.”

It’s still to be determined what will be done with the house where the Clay boys grew up; a museum or a Hall of Fame could be in the works, if a plan with the city gets worked out. But the experience drew Weiss deeper into the sweet science, a sport he has long loved, and has led to his entry into the management sphere of fighters.

His move got me pondering other folks who have given in to a craving, and cast their lot into the management, or promotional side of the sport. It has a low barrier to entry, but the odds of succeeding are supermodel slim. Witness the growing pains multi-millionaire rapper/entrerpeneur 50 Cent has experienced in his first year as a a promoter. The crew of boxers he’s assembled haven’t panned out, yet, as anything resembling an exceptional stable, and he’s likely now realizing that sitting on the sidelines and critiquing the efforts of the Arums and Golden Boys is a mite easier than replicating their efforts. Which is why Mrs. Weiss could be a bit more enthralled than she is at her husband’s choice to sign up 7-0 welterweight Chase Corbin, and 1-0 heayweight Michael Hunter, who fought for the US in the 2012 London Olympics.

“She doesn’t want me in this,” Weiss told me, in a direct but easygoing tone. Laura Weiss knows what watchers of those that have tipped their toe in and had their foot torn off by the sharks know, that dabbling can turn into drowning in the ocean of the sweet science.

I felt like Weiss, though, has his head screwed on straight and his eyes wide open about the pitfalls in this endeavor.

“Part of it, number one, is surrounding yourself with the right people,” said Weiss, who bought and flipped homes in Nevada, and now has holdings in Vegas, Atlanta and Orlando. “Number two, you stick your toes in, you don’t need to jump in. I don’t need boxing to make a living, I don’t have to do it. I have the ability go in slowly, take my time, not be rushed, that helps a lot.”

Jeff Mayweather, the trainer, is one of those “right people.”

“Jeff is a great guy, very experienced, has a great pedigree, has great networking capabilities,” he said. “He helps open doors.”

Vet Rick Dillard helps out on the day to day management stuff, as well.

Weiss smartly is thinking it will take time to shine the rough diamond Hunter, who he believes is going to win a heavyweight crown, perhaps within four years. He likes Hunters’ power, and also enjoyed his personality when he assessed the potential deal. “I feel very good about the Hunter signing,” he said. Corbin, he says, is “a big welterweight” with charisma and great power.

Does Weiss get concerned that people will say he didn’t pick the right horse, as folks have said of 50 Cent, especially in regards to Hunter, who Freddie Roach has critiqued harshly? “It’s all about how you train and manage him, knowing how to motivate, it’s all about guidance,” he said.

“How 50 Cent and I would conduct ourselves in this are two different things,” Weiss said. “He’s all in with a couple million, he can take his lumps as he goes along. I have a totally different gameplan. Boxing is a different animal, there’s definitely a learning curve. About five guys really run everything, and they can lock you out if they don’t like you. Back to 50 Cent, I can’t speak about his day to day, but I see from the broad view I don’t see up ‘n coming star power that he’s signed right now. It’s a challenging business, a tough egg to crack.”

Is it tougher than he’s expected? “There’s a pretty tough element,” Weiss said. “Some of the people in the business element, dealing with some different working conditions, some shady stuff, a lot of backstabbing.”

And when his wife sees those icepick wounds on his back, does she mutter I told ya so?

“I try not to talk about it too much to her,” he said with a grin I could hear, to try and stave off that natural reaction.

“But all in all, I have a combination with my team, the financing is OK, I don’t need to rush in, myself, Rick Dilard and Jeff are very well connected to the boxing community. This is more about fun and love for boxing. I’m a very successful businessman, anything I do, I plan on succeeding at.”

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Michael Woods

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Articles

Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Articles

2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

9 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!