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 News from Around Banderas Bay | June 2005 
22nd IBF/USBA Annual Convention Held at Marriott
 Bob Cohen - PVNN
Puerto Vallarta - Last week, I received a phone call inviting me to a boxing event and presentation at the Marriott Hotel. Even though I didn't have any idea who the dinner represented, I did what any sportswriter would do; I dressed up in my best Hawaiian shirt and headed out.
As I walked into the banquet room, I immediately surmised that this was a "Big Event" - the tip off being that everyone in the room was wearing $1000+ suits and enough jewelry to stock all of our local precious gems stores. Looking around, I didn’t see any of the local sportswriters I'm accustomed to seeing at this type of event, and the looks of skepticism Erich and I received made us feel like we were in the wrong place.
I checked the invite, which stated that the event had something to do with international boxing, but what I didn't know was that this was the annual convention for the highly regarding IBF. We were saved from embarrassment by the president of the organization, Marian W. Muhammad, who welcomed us before seating us at an open table, telling me to look for Ricardo Salazar of the One More Round Corp out of New Jersey, and the public relations director for the IBF.
Before I had a chance to look for Ricardo, who had extended the invitation to us, he walked up to our table and started filling us in on the the evening's planned festivities. He also gave us a crash course on the world of professional boxing, which I will share with our readers.
In professional boxing there are three main associations, the WBA, WBC and the IBF. Twenty-two years ago, two things occurred in the world of boxing that resulted in the birth of the IBF. The first happened at the WBA’s annual convention, when Bob Lee, president of the USBA, lost his bid to become the president of the association, so he withdrew from the WBA and with others formed the IBF.
Then, world heavyweight champion Larry Holmes became recognized as the IBF heavyweight champion and actually became the figurehead of the newly formed International Boxing Federation, the IBF. Holmes relinquished his title with the WBC to give the IBF to be one of the three internationally recognized boxing federations.
Other great fighters recognized as champs were Marvin Hagler, Aaron Pryor and Donald Curry. Promoter Murad Muhammad was involved in launching the new federation along with Holmes. With a world champ in their corner, boxers now had more choices to earn bigger purses, and promoters began bidding wars to land huge money fights.
On Friday night, the banquet room was filled with promoters, boxers, and the IBF VIPs who put together fights with purses in excess of millions of dollars. Ringside seats for these bouts go for $2000-$5000 per seat and the pay-per-view television events cost consumers $49.95 just to watch the fight from home.
Three gentlemen sat at our table and we introduced ourselves, and little did we know that we were sitting and talking with one of the sports biggest promoters, Murad Muhammad of M & M Sports. This first thing Murad showed us was a magnificent, huge gold and diamond ring dedicated to the great Muhammad Ali. Then he started telling us stories about promoting high ticket fights in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, New York and Asia.
Murad proudly spoke about his achievements and those of the IBF. He told us about promoting the first $100 million pay-per-view event when Mike Tyson battled Roddick, which grossed $117 million. He then boasted of bringing boxing to New York’s Radio City Music Hall, which opened with a performance by Whitney Houston before the Roy Jones bout. It was quite interesting talking with these legends of the fight game and listening to the fascinating stories they told.
Salazar explained what the long weekend convention was all about. "Every year there is an annual convention where the membership feels they can have a nice long weekend getaway, while they tend to business. Officials and referees are taught to increase awareness of the safety standards in boxing. This year we invited Dr. Billy Lathan, one of boxing’s most respected ringside doctors, who gave a seminar that was intended to reduce ring injuries which everyone attended. We also had referee seminars, how to see in the action of a fight without interfering with the action of a bout, when to stop a fight, when not to stop a fight."
President Marian Muhammad took the microphone thanking all for attending and stated, "Puerto Vallarta is the perfect place to host an unforgettable convention. Aside from the informative seminars and convention activities, you are in one of the world’s most exotic beach destinations."
After some announcements were made, undisputed world welterweight champion Zab "Super" Judah was presented with the Jersey Joe Walcott award for the best boxer, which personifies the professionalism of the sport. Also in attendance were the Junior Flyweight champion, Will Grigsby, and the Marquez brothers, Juan Manuel and Rafael, both holders of IBF championship belts. I had the opportunity to speak very briefly with Judah, so I asked him who was on the agenda for his next fight. He responded with one name, "De La Hoya."
Before leaving, I told Murad about the convention center that Puerto Vallarta is planning to build, and he licked his lips in anticipation of bringing a main event championship match here. He told us he enjoys bring events to places where boxing has not gone before, so when the convention center gets built, look for the IBF and Muhammad to put on a boxing extravaganza in our town. |
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