Nice Guys in the Sport

In my year as a low-end press presence at a lot of major fights in CA and LV, I've come in contact with a lot of cool people. And a lot of not-so-cool people. Here are some of the nicer guys in my experience.

John Molina: Recognized me and came up to me despite us never having met. He had just seen me around.

Chris Arreola: Very friendly chap. Even his more harder-edge support group are really cool people.

Team Pavlik: They pay no mind to the press hierarchy, which is rare. A lot of guys will only mess with higher-profile press people. These guys have no airs like that.

Miguel Diaz: Super nice guy. Makes you feel like you're somebody.

Cornelius Bundrage: I said what's up to him and he came over like he knew me for ten years. I wrote an article about him and he was really appreciative, even though about 14 people probably read it. A genuinely nice man.

Larry Merchant: Went up to say hi in Ontario at the Arreola-Adamek fight and we ended up chatting for a couple minutes. Very approachable and friendly.

Ines Sainz: Not arrogant at all. Stopped by press row and asked me a few questions about the card at Cotto-Mayorga. Then she waved to me later. Not typical starlet behavior, where I'm usually ignored altogether. Nice lady.

Oh, and Dan Rafael and Kevin Iole walk around the press room like they're hot shit. Dan walks incredibly fast for such a big man, he just whooshes around.

Well, Kevin Iole got a stick up his ass because he spreads it to Dana

Al Bernstein and Antonio Tarver - Met them at Ward vs Green, both just a pleasure to talk boxing to.

Nonito Donaire - met him at will call for Ward vs Miranda. Real cool dude

Victor Conte - Nice guy, kinda too nice lol

Michael Marley - just like his ridiculous articles, funny guy in person

Yeah, Bernstein is really cool. Tarver too. I'm wondering if maybe Conte liked you.

ScottLevinson wrote:Yeah, Bernstein is really cool. Tarver too. I'm wondering if maybe Conte liked you.

lol nah meant it as in I can see why this guy was the PED dealing king

Paulie Malignaggi is a really cool guy, in person he's humble, friendly and funny. He can play basketball too. His team, not so much. Bunch of goons.

Buddy McGirt is an old friend of my Uncle. I've met him time to time since I was about three years old. The last time was about five years ago at a BBQ. For a guy that had so many fights he had a great memory and remembered exactly who I was.

Gerry Cooney is an absolute sweetheart. I was working for a small production company on Long Island a few years back (2003) that he hired to video tape a benefit for his F.I.S.T. foundation. He took care of us like crazy and was extremely laid back. Made the whole process that much easier.

Joe Frazier was on Morning Joe on MSNBC a few years ago and I got to say hello and ask a few questions. They tape it right up stairs from where I work. As soon as his segment was done I rushed to the elevator and hit the button, sure enough he was on the elevator and I had a few seconds (I work on the second floor) to talk with him. Very approachable and nice. He remains the first and only celebrity I've ever approached at work in ten years of working in TV.

i wish that i could meet some of these people. haha

on msn.com home page ray states one of his amatuer boxing coaches sexualy abused him.ray didnt say how many times but added a few years later the coach got in rays car and was talking about the 76 games.rays a pro at that time and states the man unziped his pants then put his mouth on little ray.ray states he opened the car door and ran...im wondering how the guy unziped rays pants first then took little ray in his mouth and why ray did nothing..how come no punches flew..interesting article..

dmar5143 wrote:on msn.com home page ray states one of his amatuer boxing coaches sexualy abused him.ray didnt say how many times but added a few years later the coach got in rays car and was talking about the 76 games.rays a pro at that time and states the man unziped his pants then put his mouth on little ray.ray states he opened the car door and ran...im wondering how the guy unziped rays pants first then took little ray in his mouth and why ray did nothing..how come no punches flew..interesting article..

Ummm, I don't think this constitutes a nice guy in the sport.

HARDCORE I PUSHED WRONG BUTTON.IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A NEW TOPIC..LOL I AGREE.

dmar5143 wrote:HARDCORE I PUSHED WRONG BUTTON.IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A NEW TOPIC..LOL I AGREE.

LOL I figured. My smartassness wouldn't allow me to ignore it. ha ha.

Oh, and Dan Rafael and Kevin Iole walk around the press room like they're hot shit. Dan walks incredibly fast for such a big man, he just whooshes around.

ScottLevinson wrote:In my year as a low-end press presence at a lot of major fights in CA and LV, I've come in contact with a lot of cool people. And a lot of not-so-cool people. Here are some of the nicer guys in my experience.

Why do you always denigrate what you do? You were good enough for me to find you on the internet and post your articles here. You're a great boxing writer, a fuck ton better than that Iole and Fat Dan. You should seriously continue your pursuits in this arena. You're also more articulate and knowledgeable than most if not all of the staff at The Ring. You're living the dream the way I think most of us envision it and you're doing it well. Rock on and keep up with the stories of those you meet.

[/quote]

Why do you always denigrate what you do? You were good enough for me to find you on the internet and post your articles here. You're a great boxing writer, a fuck ton better than that Iole and Fat Dan. You should seriously continue your pursuits in this arena. You're also more articulate and knowledgeable than most if not all of the staff at The Ring. You're living the dream the way I think most of us envision it and you're doing it well. Rock on and keep up with the stories of those you meet. [/quote]

Hardcore, I appreciate that very much. I'm trying. And I appreciate the feedback on the site too. Thanks bruh. That's nice of you to say.

Scott, have you ever come across Dan in his infamous Cotto vs Margarito shorts yet ?

Ali wrote:Scott, have you ever come across Dan in his infamous Cotto vs Margarito shorts yet ?

I was at Cotto-Mayorga. There was a lot to take in. He was wearing shorts?

ScottLevinson wrote:

Ali wrote:Scott, have you ever come across Dan in his infamous Cotto vs Margarito shorts yet ?

I was at Cotto-Mayorga. There was a lot to take in. He was wearing shorts?

I don't know. Just remember that image from an ESPN article where Dan was wearing these hilarious shorts.

Ali wrote:

ScottLevinson wrote:

Ali wrote:Scott, have you ever come across Dan in his infamous Cotto vs Margarito shorts yet ?

I was at Cotto-Mayorga. There was a lot to take in. He was wearing shorts?

I don't know. Just remember that image from an ESPN article where Dan was wearing these hilarious shorts.

I'm a real loner in the press room. I usually end up kicking it with the Telemundo crew or I'm sitting in a corner with a coffee.

But shorts for a press guy, especially a known outfit, seems psycho. But if he can do it, I'm gonna start.

ScottLevinson wrote:

Ali wrote:

ScottLevinson wrote:

Ali wrote:Scott, have you ever come across Dan in his infamous Cotto vs Margarito shorts yet ?

I was at Cotto-Mayorga. There was a lot to take in. He was wearing shorts?

I don't know. Just remember that image from an ESPN article where Dan was wearing these hilarious shorts.

I'm a real loner in the press room. I usually end up kicking it with the Telemundo crew or I'm sitting in a corner with a coffee.

But shorts for a press guy, especially a known outfit, seems psycho. But if he can do it, I'm gonna start.

Well this is a grown man who openly admits to watching WWE on a regular basis

Try and spark up a conversation with Kieran Mulvaney, whenever I spoke to him on ESPN he was extremely friendly and down to earth.

Ali wrote:

ScottLevinson wrote:

Ali wrote:

ScottLevinson wrote:

Ali wrote:Scott, have you ever come across Dan in his infamous Cotto vs Margarito shorts yet ?

I was at Cotto-Mayorga. There was a lot to take in. He was wearing shorts?

I don't know. Just remember that image from an ESPN article where Dan was wearing these hilarious shorts.

I'm a real loner in the press room. I usually end up kicking it with the Telemundo crew or I'm sitting in a corner with a coffee.

But shorts for a press guy, especially a known outfit, seems psycho. But if he can do it, I'm gonna start.

Well this is a grown man who openly admits to watching WWE on a regular basis

Try and spark up a conversation with Kieran Mulvaney, whenever I spoke to him on ESPN he was extremely friendly and down to earth.

I like Mulvaney. There's a lot of guys I enjoy or at least know, but I can't put a face to any of these dudes. So in the press room, you see Iole, Rafael, and then just a bunch of guys. But if I see him, I'll try to rap with him.

ScottLevinson wrote:

Why do you always denigrate what you do? You were good enough for me to find you on the internet and post your articles here. You're a great boxing writer, a fuck ton better than that Iole and Fat Dan. You should seriously continue your pursuits in this arena. You're also more articulate and knowledgeable than most if not all of the staff at The Ring. You're living the dream the way I think most of us envision it and you're doing it well. Rock on and keep up with the stories of those you meet. [/quote]

Hardcore, I appreciate that very much. I'm trying. And I appreciate the feedback on the site too. Thanks bruh. That's nice of you to say. [/quote]

No homo.

And dollars to doughnuts Mulvaney knows who you are. He knows Ali and most of us that posted at ESPN. He said he read the message boards all the time. Anyway if you run into the guys I mentioned tell them I said what's up.

I'm really glad you guys met some boxers you look up to and came way with good experiences. I loved meeting Ali (3 times. Great guy) and Leonard (Made me feel like I was the star, however this was right before he fought Benitez and I was only 14.).

However, first impressions can be deceiving. Who was one of the most pleasant personalities I ever met? Well, there was a party being thown at what was then (1997 or something like that) the Omni in Atlanta. Very nice guy stood at the door as my friend and I approached. He had one of the biggest smiles I ever saw and stuck his hand out before we stuck out ours to greet us. We walked in and discovered we were at the wrong party and left, however the host of the party (Guy at the door) treated us like we were VIPs and there's no doubt we could've stayed and had a ball. That man's name was "Don King." No, it didn't change my opinion of him. Kinda scared the shit out of me though. However, if your looking for nice guys to meet, there are none more charming than Don King. Approach him and you'll see.

Frank wrote:I'm really glad you guys met some boxers you look up to and came way with good experiences. I loved meeting Ali (3 times. Great guy) and Leonard (Make me feel like I was the star, however this was right before he fought Benitez and I was only 14.).

However, first impressions can be deceiving. Who was one of the most pleasant personalities I ever met? Well, there was a party being thown at what was then (1997 or something like that) the Omni in Atlanta. Very nice guy stood at the door as my friend and I approached. He had one of the biggest smiles I ever saw and stuck his hand out before we stuck out ours to greet us. We walked in and discovered we were at the wrong party and left, however the host of the party (Guy at the door) treated us like we were VIPs and there's no doubt we could've stayed and had a ball. That man's name was "Don King." No, it didn't change my opinion of him. Kinda scared the shit out of me though. However, if your looking for nice guys to meet, there are none more charming than Don King. Approach him and you'll see.

i have no doubt that don king is a very approachable guy. thats why hes so rich.

True Story on Don:

Back in 1987 my dad meets him at an airport bar in Phoenix. My dad asks him how he's doing and he goes "Oh it has been a GLORIOUS day" (he had stolen a few million more from Tyson). More than twenty years later I meet Don at the Adamek-Cunningham fight and mention that my dad met him once and he goes "Oh I remember your dad". No fucking way he remembers a guy from an airport over 20 years ago. You can see why he's so good at robbing people.

And Adamek is probably one of the nicest guys i've seen in boxing. Always makes himself available to the fans.

Asshole boxers are the exception, not the rule imo. Some are nicer than others. People who work in the sport are also generally good guys. From my experience, here are a few.

Larry Merchant- great guy. Very friendly and happy to chat for a while. If you want to get him going down memory lane, mention Oklahoma Sooner football. He played there and will talk about it as long as you let him.

Al Bernstien- Extremely friendly guy and actually a bit of a "cowboy".

Harold Lederman- Nicest man in the sport. Nobody is kinder or more sincere. A great human being.

Vinny Pazienza - Will do ANYTHING to make a fan happy. Photo, autographs, chat, whatever. Good guy. easy to see why he was always so popular.

Other "good guys". Diego Corrales (signing autographs after the Vargas vs Quartey fight when a mini-riot broke out and everyone scattered. Looked me up afterwards to give me back my pen and a signed fight program!) James Toney (FUNNY as hell too), Mark Breland, Julian Jackson, Ray Mercer, Michael Spinks, James Thunder. Joe frazier (see below)

Not so nice guys in my experience would be. Roy Jones (stood behind a VIP rope at a $500 a plate dinner and refused to come out and sign autographs all night, Joe Frazier was there and actually signed for anyone that tried to approach RJJ and got refused), Razor Ruddock (timing might have been bad, but he was a real douche), Floyd Mayweather (too busy to sign or pose, but stood in the corner chatting for a full hour after), Julio Chavez (COMPLETLEY ignored us, acted like he was deaf or something). Michael Nunn (biggest ass I have ever come across).

Met Tommy Morrison on 6 occassions and he was both cool and later an ass. Guess it depended on where he was in the steroid cycle.