Howard Ross is Smiling

Great show this week. We've got Andre Dirrell and I'll introduce you to undefeated welterweight prospect Lanard Lane.

Now on to more important matters.

Despite its reputation for being filled with backstabbers and snakes, one of my favorite things about working in boxing is the people. I've met plenty of interesting characters and good folk. Some of them have become close friends.

When I first moved to Florida in 2003, I met Howard Ross. He was a retired senior citizen who lived near the gym and seemed to be there all the time. He knew a lot about the sport and everything about the local scene. As the years went by, we would talk on the phone and compare notes.

Howard was always honest with his assessment of boxers. With me or with the boxers themselves. The world class fighters like Kassim Ouma and Richard Hall would all turn to Howard when their yes men would tell them they looked great. "What do you think, Howard?" they would ask. "You looked like shit and you're going to get your ass kicked if you don't get your butt in gear and start training like you mean it," was often the reply.

Howard had a soft spot for local fighters, who didn't have management or couldn't get breaks. He would help them out, offer career advice, try to get them fights or do whatever he could. One fighter he particularly liked was a heavyweight out of West Palm Beach named Dieuly Arisitilde.

If he didn't think you were championship material, he'd tell you. But then explain what you need to do to still make some money in the sport.

That was the relationship he had with Dieuly. No one will confuse Dieuly with a top contender. But he is a brawler, with plenty of heart and he sells a ton of tickets. Dieuly is a likable guy and his many friends show up to support him, so promoters are happy to put him on their cards.

Somewhere around 2006 Howard got sick and told me he didn't have long. He would say the same thing every time I spoke to him for the next few years. In fact, in late 2008, his doctor told me he passed away. Every hair on my body stood up straight when one day in early 2009 I got a call and his unmistakable voice said, "Marc? This is Howard Ross." He was alive and living in New Jersey. Despite being quite ill, he still was up to date on the South Florida boxing scene and we once again compared notes.

Howard died a few months later. When I spoke with Dieuly about it in September, he was clearly upset. It was amazing how an old crotchety jewish retiree affected a young Haitian slugger. We swapped stories about Howard and remembered him together.

Last night, Dieuly fought at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, FL. Oliver McCall was supposed to be in the main event, but he was in jail on drug charges. So McCall's son, Elijah was moved to the main event and Aristilde was his opponent.

Going into the fight, McCall was 4-0 (4). He clearly had genetics on his side. Plus, he had proper training. Dieuly was the proverbial opponent. He was 6-1 but was brought in to lose.

During the first round, it looked like your typical prospect blowing out his opposition. Dieuly hit the canvass twice and looked awful heading back to his corner. In the second, he fought much better, likely winning the round. The third was McCall's as Dieuly was out of gas.

But in the fourth, Dieuly landed a left hook that sent McCall into the ropes. Dieuly went after him and connected with several big shots including a right hand while McCall was on his way down. McCall was knocked cold and Dieuly had scored the upset.

Despite being exhausted, Dieuly paraded around the ring like he had just won the biggest fight of his career, which he had. Climbing out of the ring, he strutted like a peacock, enjoying the moment and shaking hands.

I grabbed his hand and offered my congratulations. Still brimming with adrenalin he practically looked past me. "Hey Dieuly," I said. "Somewhere, Howard Ross is smiling right now." Dieuly stopped in his tracks and looked me in the eye. "Yeah. He is," he said calmly." He went back to strutting down the aisle and I headed home with a smile, thinking about my friend.

Where Were You When...?

Every boxing fan remembers where they were when Buster Douglas pulled off the greatest upset in boxing history and possibly all of sports, when he knocked out the unbeatable Mike Tyson.

This Thursday night is the 20th anniversary of that incredible night. And we'll hear from the man who did it -- Buster Douglas will join us as will Jim Lampley, who called the fight for HBO. It's going to be an incredible show.

As for me, I never saw the fight live. I was working at Sportsphone (anyone remember Sportsphone?) and we didn't have HBO. We received the blow by blow from a friend on the phone who was watching. We thought for sure he was kidding when he told us Tyson had been KO'd.

I had to get about 30 college basketball scores on the air in 50 seconds with no time to mention the fight. But I was determined.I blurted out Buster Douglas knocks out Mike Tyson to win the heavyweight championship in about a second and a half.

Tune in tomorrow night to talk to Buster and relive the memories.

And post your comments below. Where were you when Douglas knocked out Tyson?

The Boxing Biz

With no major fight this weekend, we're going to focus on the business of boxing on this week's show.

Joe DeGuardia, President of the Boxing Promoter's Association will discuss what the new organization hopes to accomplish and how they'll go about doing it. I'd love to be a fly on the wall when King, Arum, Schaeffer, Shaw, DiBella and others try to figure out how to stop trying to grab bigger pieces of the pie, but instead make the whole pie bigger.

If it helps boxing, I'm in favor of it. But a more pressing need is some kind of organization for boxers.

A while back the Teamsters joined with an organization spear headed by former light heavyweight champ Eddie Mustafa Muhammad to create a boxer's union. A couple of promoters held shows with union guys, but the idea went nowhere. The problem is how do you get a guy who is making $600 for a fight to kick in 2%, 5% or whatever for his dues. After he's paid his trainer, cutman, manager, licensing fees, etc. he's lucky to have a few hundred bucks left. Furthermore, a guy who is making $1 million for a fight is probably not going to put any money in because he thinks he's set for life and the money will always be there.

It's a tough situation, but if any sport's athletes need a union, it's boxing. I don't think it will ever happen though.

We'll also speak with IBO President Ed Levine, who will go in depth discussing how his organization's computerized rankings are calculated.

Tune in Thursday night.

To the Max

People seem to love or hate Max Kellerman. I lo.. well, I like him a lot. I always have. Ever since he impressed the hell out of me as a 16 year old kid on Manhattan basic cable. Like him or not, Max knows his stuff.

I thought he was good on HBO from the beginning. But now I think he's very good. On Saturday night's HBO Boxing After Dark, he summarized the evening perfectly. Yes, we know that Lopez's win was a better win because it came against better opposition. But we can't deny how excited we got about Gamboa.

The great thing about Max is he's still so young that he has plenty of room to get even better.

He may not be completely appreciated today, but one day, years from now, he's going to be acknowledged as the greatest boxing broadcaster in television history.

Bookmark this blog entry and 30 years from now, when you're jetting around in your flying car, have your robot servant call it up and read it to you. You'll see I was right.

He's Back

Nick Charles is back on ShoBox this weekend and I couldn't be happier to have him on the show tonight. Nick is truly one of the good guys in the sport.

I remember after my first ring announcing gig with ShoBox, Nick invited me back to the production truck for pizza. We talked like we were old friends, despite having met that night. At the next show I saw him hang out with fans for over an hour, happily talking boxing.

I'm thrilled that his health has improved enough that he is working again.

We'll also talk with Adam Pollack, who penned Bob Fitzsimmons' biography, In the Ring with Bob Fitzimmons. It is exhaustively researched and is the authoritative Fitz biography.

Tune in tonight.

My Dinner with Andre

Don't know if he'll want to grab a bite to eat after the show, but WBA Super Middleweight champ and Olympic Gold medalist Andre Ward will be in the studio as special guest co-host.

We'll talk to him about his incredible win against Kessler, what happens next in the tournament now that Jermain Taylor is out as well as his thoughts on Pacquiao, Mayweather and all other things boxing.

Talk to you tomorrow.

All the Single Ladies!

Last time Andre Berto was on the show, our phones lit up with women wanting to talk to the champ. During that one show, more ladies called Through the Ropes than all shows combined.

Will the girls show up again tomorrow?

For those of you who want to talk boxing as well, Andre will discuss his upcoming fight with Sugar Shane Mosley.

We'll also speak with 2004 U.S. Olympian and undefeated junior middleweight prospect Vanes Martirosyan. Vanes takes on former champ Kassim Ouma on January 16th, in the biggest fight of his career.

Both boxers will be glad to take your calls. Especially if you're female.