Gatekeepers

I've often commented that one of the great things about boxing is that they athletes are so accessible. As an example, back around 2001 or 2002 when I was just a young cub reporter for Boxing Digest, I covered a show in San Jose where Jose Celaya was the main event. At that time Shane Mosley and his father were Celaya's manager.

After the fight I went back to Celaya's dressing room and spoke to Shane. I asked him how I could get in touch with him in the future and he gave me his cell number.

Now, if I was in the Lakers' locker room at that time, do you think Shaq would have given me his cell number?

That's not to say there aren't gatekeepers in the sport. In fact, the biggest stars have them, including Shane. But the number of boxers that have them are few and are generally only among the elite in the sport.

That being said, the gatekeepers can be quite difficult to deal with. Although, I have had Shane on the show several times, I have to go through his gatekeepers and have to work incredibly hard each time. His cell number from a few years ago isn't good anymore. With the fight just two weeks away, I've been calling and emailing Cotto and Mosley's people non-stop. No response. I'd rather hear, "No, we're not interested," than no return call or email. At least then I could move on and book someone else. However, I need to leave a slot open in case one of those guys become available.

Meanwhile, one guest who is booked should be tremendous. Gordon Hall runs the ShoBox franchise for Showtime. I thought I was the biggest boxing geek until I met Gordon. He knows so much about the sport and loves nothing more than to talk about it. I'm sure 12 minutes won't be enough. Don't forget, he's the guy that picks and makes most of the bouts on ShoBox. There are a lot of guys were won titles who were 9-0 when Gordon picked them to fight on ShoBox.

I'll update the blog when we hear from Mosley/Cotto's gatekeepers.