 'The Boxing Banker' Comes Home a Contender
15 Rounds with Steve Kim (November 14, 2005) Photo © German Villasenor
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The last time Calvin Brock performed at the Cricket Arena in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, he would stop journeyman Ken Murphy in three rounds to improve to 18-0 back in November of 2003. At that time, Brock was an afterthought, a guy who - unlike his much more heralded Olympic teammates like Jermain Taylor and Jeff Lacy - big things were not forecast for.
But fast forward to this weekend, when he faces the well-traveled veteran David Bostice at the same venue, and he comes into the bout as a legitimate heavyweight contender.
"It's been very exciting, it makes me feel like the businessman that I am, having to talk with Donald Tremblay, the Main Events publicist, a lot, coordinating with people back at home on the promotion," Brock told Maxboxing. "I'm looking forward to packing the arena, so this event didn't just come down to just training; I also had to take care of the business side of the boxing match too. So it makes me out to be the businessman that I am."
When he last fought in Charlotte, Brock was basically an anonymous figure in the sport of boxing and for the most part, in his hometown. But this time around, he comes in with his name on the marquee.
According to Tremblay, Brock will have a busy week promoting the bout. On Sunday night he will do a live segment on the local Fox Sports affiliate. On Monday he has an interview scheduled with the Charlotte Observer's business scribe. The following day he will do various radio spots. Wednesday will be an open workout for the media. Then the final press conference will be conducted on Thursday and the week's festivities will conclude with the weigh-in on Friday afternoon.
While this is just a 'stay-busy' bout for Brock, it could be the biggest bout in this region in years.
"Yeah, absolutely," said Tremblay. "They had Tommy Hearns here in the late 90's but it wasn't a quality card; he was well past his prime at that point."
The local media seems to be interested in the fight.
"The media's very excited about the event and as far as credentials, they were coming in slow at first because people tend to be last minute when it comes to those things, but they've started pouring in the last couple of days," Tremblay says. "So I'm expecting a pretty good turnout, which is not surprising since when we had the press conference to announce the show, the media turnout was excellent as well."
For Brock, who earned a business management degree from UNC-Charlotte, focusing in on the promotion while keeping his training camp just an hour outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has not been distracting.
"No, it's been very enjoyable," he claims." I always keep my laptop with me. If it's not concentrating on boxing, I'm doing other things in my life that I'm concentrating on, along with boxing. I'm keeping my mind busy while I'm not boxing. I'm taking David Bostice very serious, and I'm very well prepared. I'm a better, sharper, and more fundamentally sound boxer than when I fought Jameel McCline."
His win over 'Big Time' in April was a watershed moment for Brock. His come-off-the-canvas victory convinced many observers and pundits that Brock was a legitimate heavyweight contender, although when he was flattened by a left-hook in the seventh frame of that bout, it looked like 'The Boxing Banker' was knocked from his dollars and senses.
"I'm making sure I'm all right," he recalled of that moment at the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. "When I first hit the canvas I was all right; my head wasn't spinning, I wasn't dazed. I have to say he caught me with a good punch and put me down for the first time in my career and now I'm going to get up, go out there and try to take him out. That was my attitude."
Which is precisely what Brock did. He would actually finish the round by hurting his foe with a series of hard punches that had the much-bigger McCline backing up into the ropes. He would use that momentum to take a well-earned, hard-fought decision.
Coming into the bout, McCline and his people felt that Brock would be an easy mark, seeing as though they had knocked down Brock more than once as a sparring partner as they prepped for Chris Byrd last fall.
"I didn't get legitimately knocked down in the sparring sessions with Jameel McCline," explained the 30-year old Brock. "I was boxing him southpaw, which means my balance is off and I was weak in that position. I was basically knocked off balance. I would be off balance and he would hit me or sometimes my foot would get stepped on. It was never where I was legitimately knocked down where I was hurt. I would jump right up and finish the sparring sessions. It wasn't even right for him to call it a knockdown."
Brock is currently rated in the top ten of all four major sanctioning organizations (WBC-9, WBA-5, IBF-3, and WBO-7), but right now the heavyweight division has a cadre of belt-holders and no real recognized champion. Things got even murkier with Vitali Klitschko's 'retirement' and abdication of the WBC title, which is now held by Hasim Rahman.
But perhaps Klitschko's stepping aside is actually good news for the division. After all, when the world's most recognized belt-holder (and that's all he was to anyone outside of HBO and 'The Ring') can't get to the starting block, it holds up the rest of the division.
"I heard the news," said Brock, "and I was glad that the belt was at least given to Hasim Rahman because it's not right for him (Klitschko) to hold the title and be called a champion and not defend it."
But where does this place Brock in the heavyweight hierarchy?
"It depends," says Carl Moretti, V.P. and matchmaker of Main Events. "The big thing is, where does it leave the rest of the heavyweights and what fights are going to be bought and everything like that. I'd like to think that whether it's HBO or Showtime, whatever fight they buy involving heavyweights, that they're meaningful heavyweight fights and sometimes that's not always the case just because a guy has the titles.
"We had a chance of getting Klitschko with Brock in September. It fell through. I don't know, but I think time will dictate where it leads him."
After his big win over McCline in April, Brock would get some work in on the untelevised portion of the Mayweather-Gatti undercard by halting Kenny Craven in four rounds.
So after taking on Bostice, what next?
"Clearly, we want to get back on a major cable network against a highly ranked opponent or a bigger name," said Moretti. "We worked on that today, we're looking for the first quarter of '06."
There is talk that Brock could take on David Tua on January 28th, underneath Gatti's return on HBO versus Thomas Damgaard.
But Moretti says, "I don't know if we'll be able to have a triple-header because of the delay of Morales-Pacquiao. So that's still up in the air a little bit. And I don't know if Tua really wants to fight Calvin Brock. But it's not like he was given an offer and turned it down, either, because we're not at that point, yet."
Brock is still a bit unproven, and while he's certainly a contender, he still has work to do to solidify a title shot.
But he knows where he thinks he stands in the division: "In my own mind," he states, "I'm the heavyweight champion of the world. I just have to win a title and manifest it to the public."
KLITSCHKO KO'D?
I don't know, but is anyone else a bit suspicious about Vitali Klitschko's 'retirement'? I think in less than a year or so that you'll hear rumblings about his return and statements from him on how rejuvenated he and his body are.
In the meantime, I hope Don King finally consolidates the champions (since he has all four titles) and brings some clarity to this division.
But I find it interesting how some are overstating the importance of Klitschko's hiatus (which is what I'm calling it). First of all, his last outing on pay-per-view did a paltry 100,000 buys against Danny Williams. Secondly, can you miss something that never showed up? And lastly, the game lost the WBC titlist, nothing more. Sorry, but wins against Corrie Sanders, Kirk Johnson and Williams do not give him any claim of being THE champion.
But now that he's gone, who will HBO anoint as their champion?
FINAL FLURRIES
It's funny that Laila Ali put out a press release stating she wasn't a lesbian. Honestly, that may have been the most appealing thing about her personality if that was indeed true..... And of course, there's nothing wrong with that, either....OK, I'm not the type of tell boxers to call it a day, but I get more and more worried about the health and safety of Courtney Burton every time I see him get stopped....Anyone else as unexcited about this supposed comeback of Naseem Hamed as I am?.....Don't forget, Maxboxing will telecast the Brock-Bostice fight on November 19th....
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E-Mail Steve Kim at k9kim@maxboxing.com
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