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The Birth of A Boxers' Guild
By Eddie Goldman (March 12, 2003)
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NEW YORK, March 11 — Boxing history was made Tuesday in New York, but what happened didn't occur in a ring, no title belts were at stake, and it all may result in some rare happy endings in a sport whose constant companion is tragedy.
F.I.S.T. -- the Fighters' Initiative for Support and Training -- a non-profit organization founded in 1998 by former heavyweight contender Gerry Cooney to provide services and counseling to fighters, announced an affiliation agreement with the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), Local 153, AFL-CIO, to become a Boxers' Guild. Officials and supporters of F.I.S.T., which has over 200 members, and the OPEIU applauded as the agreement was formally signed and card number one was issued to Gerry Cooney.
The gathering at a press conference at Gallagher's Steak House in Manhattan included numerous greats from the past. Besides Cooney, in attendance were former world middleweight champion Jake LaMotta of "Raging Bull" fame, former two-time world lightweight champion Carlos Ortiz, former world middleweight champion Vito Antuofermo, former heavyweight contender and current referee Randy Neumann, former middleweight contender "Irish" Bobby Cassidy, and women's boxing pioneer Jackie Tonawanda.
When the former fighters and the Guild members and supporters posed for group photographs, Ortiz, who had a title reign in 1959-60 at junior welterweight and two more at lightweight in 1962-65 and 1965-68, tellingly asked aloud, "Hey, F.I.S.T. Where were you when I was fighting?"
At the press conference, Cooney, who also serves as the Chairman of F.I.S.T., outlined what this Boxers' Guild will do.
"We are a guild," he stated. "We are fortunate enough to have some of the unions helping us with job training, job skills, and job placement. We are a voice for the fighter who has no one, no place to go." Cooney recounted the tale of a fighter whom he identified only as "a guy from the 1980 Olympics" who is presently a sparring partner. That fighter is "catching punches for $200 a week as a sparring partner. That's got to stop, because that guy's got to know there's a place for him to come to find out what's next for him in his life. And most fighters don't know that yet."
Cooney sees his fellow fighters, both former and present, as people first. "When I see a fighter get into the ring, I don't just see the fighter," he said. "I see his children. I see his wife. I see his family. I think about his future. And those are the things we need to start looking at."
He added that, "Boxing was very good to me. I was one of the lucky guys."
But he is painfully aware that every former fighter is not as fortunate. "Unlike baseball, football, and basketball, boxing, the oldest professional sport in the U.S., remains the only sport without a uniform support system." That was why he founded F.I.S.T., "so that fighters that didn't have it big will know they have options. Without an education, vocational training or job skills, many boxers sink to lives of poverty and despair when their careers end."
When he broke from his prepared remarks, Cooney said, "It's is a fight. This is another fight. You know, I took those extra shots I shouldn't have taken a couple of years later. I didn't know where to go. I didn't know the questions. I didn't know who to ask the questions of, let alone find out where the answers were. This is going to help those fighters get some of those answers to the questions they have."
And he stressed, "We have a saying: We don't give them a fish. We teach these guys how to fish, and we help them up. We give a hand-up, not a hand-out."
The Boxers' Guild, though, will not perform the same functions that a boxers' union would.
The difference between this guild and a union was explained by Joe Sano, President of F.I.S.T. and also a union man himself, as Executive Director of the Organization of NYS Management/Confidential Employees, which is an affiliate of the OPEIU, Local 153.
"The difference as we see it is that, based on the four years of experience we've had in working with the boxer, and the members that we have, that it's very important to recognize that individuality," he said. "When you talk about the difference between the guild and the union, what we're really talking about is the affinity for collective bargaining. We have enough time organizing the boxers, let alone the other side of the table. So what we have decided to do is to spend our efforts on helping that individual boxer. That active boxer needs our assistance in reviewing a contract, if there's a problem in litigating that contract. Then we feel that that's the best way to put our efforts at this time. That's where the industry is at. I don't know what the future is going to bring. I don't know what the future of boxing is going to be. I can tell you that we are dedicated to the individual, and have a track record to prove that."
The efforts of F.I.S.T. are seen as complementary, rather than in competition to those of Paul Johnson and the Boxers' Organizing Committee (BOC), which is seeking to form a boxers' union.
"We had a conversation as late as yesterday with Paul," said Sano. "We see that there is a natural synergy between the organizations. Believe me, there is a lot of fertile ground out there to do good for professional prizefighters. And we've been at it for four years. We have the track record to prove that we've been at it, and we welcome everybody that wishes to work in that field."
Cooney also stated, "We respect the fighters' individuality, and the fact that they are independent contractors. We also represent the boxer's right to fair and equitable contracts modeled on the Muhammad Ali boxing bill, and the model contract spelled out by the Attorney General's Task Force on Boxing."
Reached by phone after the press conference, Paul Johnson, the chairman of the BOC, said, "The Boxers Organizing Committee commends the work of Gerry Cooney and Joe Sano. The work of the BOC has always been to organize all professional boxers in a representative organization, like the other sports currently enjoy. We agree with Gerry and Joe that the synergies between the two organizations are definitely in the best interests of all boxers.
Given the attendance at the press conference and the current makeup of the members and supporters of F.I.S.T., the focus initially seems to be on helping former fighters. But the Guild was also described as "a work in progress." Cooney commented, "F.I.S.T. remains a non-profit organization dedicated to the good and welfare of the fighters who seek mutual support and assistance. Our alliance will give us the opportunity to reach out to even more fighters, offer more services, and begin to offer services to active fighters as well."
Cooney also said that the Boxers' Guild intends to organize nationally across the U.S., and has been in contact with former WBA featherweight champion Barry McGuigan, who has been involved in similar efforts in Britain.
We will have more on F.I.S.T. and the new Boxers' Guild, including interviews with Gerry Cooney, Jake LaMotta, Carlos Ortiz, Jackie Tonawanda, and Joe Sano, on this week's upcoming edition of "Knockout Radio."
For more information on F.I.S.T., and the new Boxers' Guild, call 888-765-FIST (3478), or on the web go to:
http://helpboxers.org
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E-Mail Eddie Goldman at knockoutradio@yahoo.com
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