BoxRec

I come from a boxing family to some extent. My brother was a pro-fighter (used to post here with the name of expug) and three of my cousins were also boxers.

When I was a kid/teenager, I spent a lot of time a boxing gyms with family members. I also boxed a bit in Germany when I lived there.

Some fighters I've met include

Johnny Heard: great guy, tough-as-nails
Hermann Mills: terrific trainer and good guy
James "Quick" Tillis
Johnny Lira
John Collins
Lenny LaPaglia
Graziano Rocchigiani
Renaldo Snipes

and many others I can't even remember.

What fighters have you guys met?

Chris Eubank in Brighton a while back.
I was and remain a huge Benn fan but could not let the opportunity to say hello pass.

My mates shoved me over in his direction - they were Brighton lads and had seen him out and about before - and they knew I was a boxing fan and said Chris would be cool about things.

And to be fair, he was completely charming and very approachable.

He carries autographed cards and we had a chat about his big Harley which was clearly his pride and joy.
One thing that struck me about Chris was that he is a proper slab of a guy; not the tallest but as solid as hell.

Alan Minter and only briefly at a charity event; did not seem altogether happy in his skin and just a bit on edge. But he was also generous with his time and to be fair did a great speech for the charity.

Sergio Mora and Lamon Brewster

Also a guy named Sergio Valles who had a few Pro fights, but wouldn't be noteworthy in any way really. He tells me has more fights than are recorded here on Boxrec...for what it's worth I believe him, just because his record and who he was matched against with so few fights doesn't add up to me.

I have met:
Meldrick Taylor
Carmen Basilio
Buck Smith
Livingstone Bramble
Hilario Zapata
Peter Nieves
Jerry Massey
Roy Dale
Ravea Springs

By "met in person" I would mean shook their hand at the least.

I met Roberto Duran and Hector Camacho at the Tyson-Spinks fight and got pictures with both.

I've met Vito Antuofermo and Mark Breland at local fights over the years.

I sat with Buddy McGirt while he was champion and watched Hearns-Barkley on closed circuit television. A few months later he lost his title to Meldrick Taylor.

I met Gerry Cooney a few times over the years.

The night of the Camacho-Boza-Edwards / Bramble-Rosario fights, (Miami 1986) - I sat next to Alex Arguello. I got to spend the entire night talking the fights with him; the man was as gracious as his reputation claimed him to be.

All night he was pestered for autographs, hand shakes, and by shouts from the cheap seats. Never once did he show any sign of annoyance, giving each approaching fan his undivided attention (if just for that moment). Even when they yelled down from the cheap seats, he would turn around, find who was calling him and give that guy a personal wave back.

As the Jews say the guy was a real mensch.

Forgot to mention Robin Reid..........

..........Rob was on the undercard of Audley Harrison's debut at Wembley Arena and my mate Alex had VIP tickets because he worked for a big corporate hospitality company.

Rob came back out to see Audley - very cool and a snappy dresser as I recall - and he was good enough to give his excitable clan a bit of a ticking-off and remind them that folk were behind them and wanted to see Audley.

We exchanged a few words and he was a nice, humble guy and signed my programme.

I'm a former pro fighter, sparring partner, second & promoter's assistant for Don Elbaum, Don King, Bob Arum. Main Events & Mike Acri. Therefore, I've had the opportunity to meet & work with many, many of boxing's biggest stars ranging from the biggest names ( like Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers, Floyd Patterson, Jersey Joe Walcott, Ernie Terrell, Chuck Wepner, George Chuvalo, Tyson, Holyfield, Razor Ruddock etc. just to name some of the heavyweights ) to the most minor four round pugs that you can imagine.
If I could figure out how to post images here I'd post photos.
My favorites that I've met? Ali & Ray Leonard.
My most memorable experiences as a sparring partner were with Livingstone Bramble, Hector Camacho, Johnny Bumphis & Matt & Davey Hilton.

Silas1066 wrote: ↑20 Apr 2018, 14:05 I come from a boxing family to some extent. My brother was a pro-fighter (used to post here with the name of expug) and three of my cousins were also boxers.

When I was a kid/teenager, I spent a lot of time a boxing gyms with family members. I also boxed a bit in Germany when I lived there.

Some fighters I've met include

Johnny Heard: great guy, tough-as-nails
Hermann Mills: terrific trainer and good guy
James "Quick" Tillis
Johnny Lira
John Collins
Lenny LaPaglia
Graziano Rocchigiani
Renaldo Snipes

and many others I can't even remember.

What fighters have you guys met?

So, Greg Sorrentino is your brother? Cool.
Yeah, Johnny Heard was a tough, rugged journeyman who faced some of the best in the business. The one fight I'd love to ask him about though is his loss to Tony Danza. That fight's always fascinated me because Danza took him out in three rounds while he was able to take much better fighters like Murray Sutherland, "Superbad" Mays & Robbie Sims much later into fights.
I'd have loved to have been able to meet "Quick" Tillis & Renaldo Snipes two of my favorite heavies from back in the day.

I was lucky enough to meet rocking robin deaks once

I met the uncrowned middleweight champion himself...Billy Graham (and his wife) a few years before he died. I was working for Macy's and I had a call to go to luggage. I get there and this cute old couple are having issues with their briefcase. I ask for his card, and I see William Graham. So I ask him, "you wouldn't be the uncrowned middleweight champion? Would you?"

He lit up like Christmas tree and we spent about 90 minutes talking boxing. Him talking, me listening. I came in a few days later and there was a package on my desk. An autographed 8x10 of Graham v. Kid Gavilan! I love that picture. I was so very fortunate.

Sugar Ray Leonard
Roberto Duran
Iran Barkley
Roger Mayweather
Greg Haugen
Vinnie Pazienza
Lennox Lewis
Dave Boy Green
Frank Bruno
Dave McCauley
Naseem Hamed
Enzo Maccarinelli
Cornelious Boza Edwards

bigjack wrote: ↑21 Apr 2018, 17:36 Sugar Ray Leonard
Roberto Duran
Iran Barkley
Roger Mayweather
Greg Haugen
Vinnie Pazienza
Lennox Lewis
Dave Boy Green
Frank Bruno
Dave McCauley
Naseem Hamed
Enzo Maccarinelli
Cornelious Boza Edwards

Did Ray give you any strange, weird vibes?

Nile4000 wrote: ↑22 Apr 2018, 13:53

bigjack wrote: ↑21 Apr 2018, 17:36 Sugar Ray Leonard
Roberto Duran
Iran Barkley
Roger Mayweather
Greg Haugen
Vinnie Pazienza
Lennox Lewis
Dave Boy Green
Frank Bruno
Dave McCauley
Naseem Hamed
Enzo Maccarinelli
Cornelious Boza Edwards

Did Ray give you any strange, weird vibes?

No,he was great,signed his autograph for me.

sweetviolenturge wrote: ↑21 Apr 2018, 16:50

Silas1066 wrote: ↑20 Apr 2018, 14:05 I come from a boxing family to some extent. My brother was a pro-fighter (used to post here with the name of expug) and three of my cousins were also boxers.

When I was a kid/teenager, I spent a lot of time a boxing gyms with family members. I also boxed a bit in Germany when I lived there.

Some fighters I've met include

Johnny Heard: great guy, tough-as-nails
Hermann Mills: terrific trainer and good guy
James "Quick" Tillis
Johnny Lira
John Collins
Lenny LaPaglia
Graziano Rocchigiani
Renaldo Snipes

and many others I can't even remember.

What fighters have you guys met?

So, Greg Sorrentino is your brother? Cool.
Yeah, Johnny Heard was a tough, rugged journeyman who faced some of the best in the business. The one fight I'd love to ask him about though is his loss to Tony Danza. That fight's always fascinated me because Danza took him out in three rounds while he was able to take much better fighters like Murray Sutherland, "Superbad" Mays & Robbie Sims much later into fights.
I'd have loved to have been able to meet "Quick" Tillis & Renaldo Snipes two of my favorite heavies from back in the day.

Trainers who actually saw Danza in the gym and in the ring, say the guy could legitimately punch big time.

He didn't have a chin, however.

Not counting people I've interviewed, since all of that was over the phone, but I've met Evander Holyfield. The only other boxers I've met were Brian Paul, Jleon Love, Wilshaun Boxley, Edner Cherry, Rayonta Whitfield, Michael Finney, Kelvin Kibler, Deon Nash, Dimitris Labatos, Dean Nichols, and Corey Budd. I did meet Jody Poff, too, though he was a kickboxer and MMA fighter, but when I knew him he was a promoter. I knew alot of wrestlers too.

In my 45 years as a sportswriter I've specialized in boxing and been lucky enough to meet and interview most of the big names since the mid-'70s, including: Ali, Foreman, Frazier, Terrell, Patterson, Chuvalo, Spinks (both of 'em), Lyle, Holmes, Cooney, Holyfield, Tyson, Douglas, Morrison, Moorer, Lewis, Chagaev, Hagler, Hearns, Duran, Leonard, Arguello, Mayweather Jr., Pacquiao, Zou Shiming (I'm currently working in China).

In the early 80s I met Michael Dokes when he came to Australia he said he had to many moves for Larry Holmes lol

I've had the pleasure of meeting quite a few including:
Tim Witherspoon
Michael Sprott
Barry McGuigan
Glenn McCrory
Lennox Lewis
Frank Bruno
Earnie Shavers
David Haye
Danny Williams
Jim Watt
Mark Potter
etc.

sweetviolenturge:

no, Brian Higgins is my brother (I thought he posted here under the name expug --pretty sure that was him)

he had like 40+ amateur fights and then went 4-0-1 as a pro

Silas1066 wrote: ↑24 Apr 2018, 11:14 sweetviolenturge:

no, Brian Higgins is my brother (I thought he posted here under the name expug --pretty sure that was him)

he had like 40+ amateur fights and then went 4-0-1 as a pro

Oh, OK. Gotcha. My bad.

Silas1066 wrote: ↑24 Apr 2018, 11:14 sweetviolenturge:

no, Brian Higgins is my brother (I thought he posted here under the name expug --pretty sure that was him)

he had like 40+ amateur fights and then went 4-0-1 as a pro

Great guy and poster, he is missed on here.

sweetviolenturge wrote: ↑21 Apr 2018, 16:50

So, Greg Sorrentino is your brother? Cool.

Sorrentino used to post under the name cosand

ClivePatrickLyons wrote: ↑23 Apr 2018, 00:29 In the early 80s I met Michael Dokes when he came to Australia he said he had to many moves for Larry Holmes lol

Was he cool, or a bit of a jerk?

writehooks wrote: ↑23 Apr 2018, 00:25 In my 45 years as a sportswriter I've specialized in boxing and been lucky enough to meet and interview most of the big names since the mid-'70s, including: Ali, Foreman, Frazier, Terrell, Patterson, Chuvalo, Spinks (both of 'em), Lyle, Holmes, Cooney, Holyfield, Tyson, Douglas, Morrison, Moorer, Lewis, Chagaev, Hagler, Hearns, Duran, Leonard, Arguello, Mayweather Jr., Pacquiao, Zou Shiming (I'm currently working in China).

Yo Bro! Love the screen name!!!