More with The Champ…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
A week late, so apologize about that. But it’s always interesting picking the brain of someone who doesn’t just live and breathe boxing but understands the sport like nobody else that I know.
Yes, there is someone who knows the sport better than me. So when former lightweight champ Sean O’Grady speaks, you best believe I listen.
Not everything made it into the Collected Wisdom from last week, so here are some goodies that just couldn’t be put in.
O’Grady has a ton of respect for famous trainer Lou Duva. And Duva always liked O’Grady. For the final fight of his career, Duva was in O’Grady’s corner. O’Grady lost the fight but said he’ll never forget the experience of being with Duva.
He said the sport is cyclical and expanded on the fact that boxing needs to build stars. He talked more about how network TV (or any kind of TV) was vital to the success.
“It needs to be where the masses can see it. With Wide World of Sports, everybody knew where it was and when to watch it. Now, it’s buried. Can you think of another sport that does what boxing does?
“If you’re a good fighter, you work your way up to ESPN or something like that. As you get better, you move to HBO or Showtime. That move narrows the potential audience a great deal.
“Then if you’re one of the best, you move to pay-per-view. That narrows your small audience even more. PPV is a detriment to the sport. The best fights are being seen by the least amount of people.”
O’Grady said there will be a future for boxing on TV – Web TV that is. Live stream shows and YouTube and stuff of that nature are really opening up more eyes to the sport.
I had no idea his parents did so much in the sport. His parents owned a gym and eventually went on to promote. They promoted such names as Ken Norton, Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Oscar Bonavena if I may name drop.
He said he likes working with Oklahoma City lightweight Noah Zuhdi (who just won the Oklahoma lightweight title last week). For now, O’Grady said he doesn’t plan on being in the corner with Zuhdi.
O’Grady works with Zuhdi a lot during camp and said that is when he teaches. He quizzes Zuhdi during the workouts and has built a strong trust with him.
I found it interesting about not working the corner because as Zuhdi works his way up the ranks, what’s going to happen when he faces adversary? A voice like O’Grady, I think, could navigate him through the muddy waters better.
And of course, wanted to remind people that Sugar Ray Leonard will be in Oklahoma City in January for a charity fight night. I’m trying to snag an interview with Sugar before the event.
Be back later this week with some WEC thoughts (Johny Hendricks and Shane Roller are both fighting) and of course, an in-depth look at Oscar de La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao, Saturday’s megafight.
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