Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Greatest Hits This Week

No live show this week as I'll be in transit to Hinckley, MN to ring announce ShoBox. Usually, I'm able to schedule my travel so that I'm in my room and can do the show remotely, like last week. However, it just wasn't possible for this Thursday.

To make it up to you, next week should be a great show with Emanuel Steward in the studio with us for the full hour.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Jan 24th

Real quick because I'm getting on a plane to Atlantic City to ring announce ShoXC tomorrow night.

Tonight we'll be talking to Lou DiBella and Jr. Middle prospect Ricardo Cortes, who fights on ShoBox next week. There's a different call in # tonight. If you want to talk to Lou, Ricardo or me, call 1-800-878-7529.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

In the Dark

So this week I sent out emails and made calls to all the usual suspects -- fighters who have big fights coming up in the next few weeks.

After an inquiry to Wlad Klitschko's people, I received a terse reply that he is not doing media interviews other than media week and the conference calls.

I was stunned.

I wrote back explaining what I thought was obvious -- that although Wlad is the heavyweight champion of the world, he could walk down the streets of most cities in the U.S. and no one would know who he is. I further explained that a few quotes from the conference call on the internet sites won't generate excitement for the fight. He needs to do more (and an appearance on the largest nationally syndicated boxing radio show would certainly help).

People should be excited about Wlad as heavyweight champ. He has heart (despite previous reports) hits like an S.O.B. and conducts himself as a true champion outside of the ring. He should be known. It boggles my mind that his management team prefers to keep him hidden.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Who Knows?

Trying to line up guests for this week has been a challenge, yet is typical. Here's a peek at what it's like to book guests each week.

When the show first started, I hired a guy to assist with the booking. He was useless and I ended up getting all of the guests myself in a panic on Wednesday nights. After I let him go, I started calling around on Monday, or even the week before.

For this week, I want to get George Foreman and Roy Jones. Foreman because this month is the 35th anniversary of his winning the title against Joe Frazier. Jones because he's fighting this week. I contacted Bill Caplan, one of Top Rank's PR people and a good friend of Big George's. He gave me George's son's (George #3) email address as he handles the former champ's schedule.

After sending him an email, I received a reply from Caplan saying Young George told him they would do the interview. Meanwhile, I have not heard from either George. When I got in touch with Caplan again, he said, no, George will be in touch with me, they hadn't agreed to anything yet, but I should keep trying. I've emailed Young George every day and received no response.

Meanwhile, Roy Jones has been even more difficult. After responding to an email offering up Roy, I was told to speak with a different PR person. That one suggested I call yet another one. The last one was very non committal and told me to get back to him this week. I called today and he basically said, we'll see what we can do. I explained that I need to have things scheduled i nadvance and he can't call me on Thursday at 5:00 to tell me Roy will do the interview at 9:30. He reiterated that he'll see what he can do.

So at this point, I have no idea what the odds are that we get George this week and I'd say Roy is less than 10%. So where does that leave us?

I interviewed Bruce Buffer today for an article I'm writing for ESPN.com. I asked if Michael was available on Thursday night. He thought he was but has not yet confirmed. Current odds about 50-50. By the way, Bruce is an incredibly nice guy and extremely sharp. This was my first time speaking with him at length.

This is where I stand on Tuesday night. If I don't hear anything in the next 24 hours, I go into panic mode and start going through my rolodex to see who we can book, so you don't have to listen to me blather on for an hour.

The good news is that Emanuel Steward and Andy Lee are going to come into the studio with me on Feb 7th for the full hour. So I've got that going for me, which is nice.

WED. NIGHT UPDATE -- Michael Buffer and Joe Tessitore are confirmed for this week's show. Talk to you tomorrow night.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Tonight's Show

Sorry I haven't posted earlier. I was on the West Coast all week and didn't have tonight's lineup set until early this morning while I was sitting on a plane ready to head home.

Tonight we'll have cruiserweight champ Steve Cunningham and promoter Joe DeGuardia.

Furthermore, I'm having trouble getting in touch with the folks at Fightnews, so if you usually listen to Through the Ropes on Fightnews, you may want to go over to www.sportsbyline.com to listen tonight.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Young and Old

I was able to reschedule Larry Holmes for this week's show. However, it will be a recorded interview. Shoot me an email at ttropes@earthlink.net if you have a question for him. It will be great to talk to him about being elected to the Hall of Fame, considering he never got his due while he was in his prime.

Also, on the show are Anthony and Lamont Peterson. The brothers fight on Shobox this weekend. They've been on the show before and were good interviews. If you're not familiar with these guys you need to be. Not only can they fight, they have personalities, an inspiring story and are stars in the making (as long as they keep winning.) They will be on live, so call in to speak with them.

Talk to you tomorrow night.