"They are destroying it. From the TV person, to the politicians to the Commissioners all over the country and all over the world, they are destroying it and that's why you do not see new talents coming out of boxing because nobody knows what they are doing in there. They absolutely don't know what they are doing. As good as TV is good for boxing, it's actually destroying boxing...Only in boxing, because it's a minority sport, they allow these immature and amateur acts to take place. You can't do it in baseball, can't do it in football or tennis or golf, but in boxing, your mother could be a Commissioner and your father could be a referee or a judge. It's because of who you know. You can come into our sport with no knowledge or credibility behind you whatsoever," stated the legendary Al Certo, trainer, manager, matchmaker, promoter, you name it, as he talked about the current state of boxing. Certo has met, seen and worked with literally all of the biggest names in the sport in some way, shape or form, including Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Marciano, Jersey Joe Walcott, Willie Pep, Buddy McGirt and many more. You don't want to miss what he had to say as he discusses some of the problems with boxing today and shares his thoughts on a few of the top trainers in the sport. Check it out!
PC: Hey Al, you have a ton of experience in the sport of boxing. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
AC: I am a custom tailor and all of the great fighters used to pass through my business here. I make suits. I've made suits for just about everybody; from Muhammad Ali all the way to Frank Sinatra. Jersey Joe Walcott gave me the inspiration to be a fighter a hundred years ago (laughing). Marciano was a personal friend of mind; Willie Pep as well. Marciano was a guy...you tried to pick his mind and he would never tell you a thing that you wanted to hear. One day, he loosened up to me though. I could go on for the next 45 years and we won't get done.
PC: You're not happy with the situation in boxing right now, are you?
AC: No! They are destroying it. From the TV person, to the politicians to the Commissioners all over the country and all over the world, they are destroying it and that's why you do not see new talents coming out of boxing because nobody knows what they are doing in there. They absolutely don't know what they are doing. As good as TV is good for boxing, it's actually destroying boxing. I don't even know where to start.
PC: You have been involved in every aspect of boxing: training, promoting and fighting. Do you feel they have good trainers out there right now?
AC: I have been a trainer all of my life...well, a boxing guy. I have been through all phases of this business; from a fighter to a promoter to a trainer. I have done it all and seen it all with the best in boxing. The fundamental of boxing is when you teach somebody boxing, the first thing you should teach is balance, which they don't do today. Then you teach a good stance and distance and the timing of a punch. You can't necessarily teach timing and distance, but you could show them. You can teach them on a double end bag, which is something that hangs from the ceiling to the floor and it's tied in. the first time I seen one of them was in the early 40's. Ray Robinson was in Upstate New York, he used to train up there, and I see him hitting this bag and I say, "What the fuck is that?" He made music with it. He was the greatest fighter I have ever seen in my life, but anyhow...that made me realize how great that bag is because it moves like the human being. A reporter like you would come into the gym and you will see a guy hitting the bag and you will walk over to him and watch him, but you wouldn't know what the hell he's doing. You don't fight like that, so why make all of that noise? I can hit the heavy bag for 2 hours and not even look at the bag, so what the hell good is it going to do me in a fight? You can't fight a guy like that. But the double end bag, you fight and you can move around; you gotta time it, hit that thing and you have to hit it straight. It's straight boxing. Year's ago, nobody had mitts. There was no such thing as mitts. It was bullshit. You teach straight boxing. The guys that use the mitts, if they were to use them the right way, maybe I would approve of them a little bit. If you were an amateur and just starting in the business, the mitts are okay, but you gotta teach them the right way. Your left hand goes to his right hand and your right hand goes to his left hand. That's shooting straight punches. What they doing today is teaching these kids how to cross their arms in front of them. You never do that. You're doing it wrong. You're causing an X. That's totally wrong. How can you go from teaching a guy straight punches on the heavy bag and then go in the ring and put the mitts on your hand and do it all wrong? And that's what happening in boxing. If you see, a lot of the Latinos cross their hands all of the time. I'm so against that. I might be one of the last 5 so-called trainers that hate that...or whatever's left in this goddamn business. It's pathetic they don't teach them nothing. They are teaching them all wrong and they are spoiling so much talent, it's pathetic. It's sickening. That's one of the beefs that I got.
PC: Could you name a couple of trainers that you like out there?
AC: I don't even know who is out there anymore.
PC: I will name a couple and you give me your opinion.
AC: Okay.
PC: Emanuel Steward.
AC: Emanuel Steward is a sweetheart and a nice guy, but he is a legend in his own mind, which is okay. Most of these guys are good characters, but not great trainers.
PC: How about Freddie Roach?
AC: Freddie Roach is a poor soul. I go back to McCoy, who used to have him. I can't think of McCoy's first name [Jackie]. He had all champions at one time from the west coast. It was him and then another Italian guy that would train him. As far as a fighter, Freddie Roach was the greatest catcher I have ever seen. He should have been playing baseball. He was a catcher; that's all he was. He wasn't a great fighter, but you don't have to be a great fighter or a bad fighter to become a good trainer. Just because you are a fighter doesn't make you a trainer. If you put all of the trainers out there from day one, when boxing first started, and if you developed somebody, you became a great trainer. You gotta look at the raw talent that a guy has and develop whatever is there and develop that into a good fighter and then you can call yourself a trainer and I don't think Roach has done that yet. Great trainers are known for taking fighters that can't spell the word boxing and raise them up to become a world champion, not a guy that inherits a former world champion or takes a guy that's had 30 fights already.
PC: You're also upset with some of the matchups that we get in boxing now. A lot of these contenders could never win any big fights, but they remain in the rankings. What are your thoughts on that?
AC: Whoa, somebody must be doing something very good with a pencil (laughing). As much as I love boxing, there is nothing like watching 2 great fighters that know how to fight go at it. There is no better thing than that. But we need to start all over again. Get rid of all of the bullshit in it, from the politicians on down. You build a house from the foundation. You don't start from the top. You gotta do the same thing with anything that you do in life. I'm a boxing buff and just say I don't know nothing about boxing. The average person watching boxing don't know what they are looking at. But their cousin gets involved in the commission and makes a big donation and some politician owes him a favor, so they make his cousin a Commissioner. And his cousin, who knows nothing about boxing, is now sitting on the committee. And you have a guy like me, who has been in this sport 62 years and took my ass whoopings and came up through all of the ranks, and this guy is going to tell me what it's all about? He's going to tell me that it's wrong to do it this way or that way? When I was a matchmaker and I would make bouts for Murad Muhammad, I'm an expert. I know what I'm talking about. He wouldn't okay this particular bout and say, "It's no good." I'm an expert. I know what I'm talking about and he knocks the bout out that I just gave the okay to. How could you give me a license then? If you know it all, you be the fucking matchmaker then. It's all done wrong. It's all done wrong because they have a badge on their chest that makes them the boss. Only in boxing, because it's a minority sport, they allow these immature and amateur acts to take place. You can't do it in baseball, can't do it in football or tennis or golf, but in boxing, your mother could be a Commissioner and your father could be a referee or a judge. It's because of who you know. You can come into our sport with no knowledge or credibility behind you whatsoever. All you need is 5 hours. I don't know if you have ever worked the corner of a fighter Percy.
PC: No sir.
AC: I bet you I could get you a license and you could work for me and be a fucking expert. They would laugh at you in any other sport if you tried to get a license that easily. Only in the stupid sport of boxing, because they have no perception of what they are doing. You are dealing with human beings and the fucking assholes in it don't realize they are dealing with human beings. Put somebody in a position where he knows what he's doing. They don't care though. They just want to just hang their hats up on medicals. The thing that is corrupting boxing is politics and politicians owing favors. So they have nowhere to put that guy for $60,000 or $80,000 a year, so where do we stick them? In boxing! He makes them a Commissioner or inspector. Now here is a guy inspecting a glove and he's never seen a glove in his life. They're inspecting the wraps and don't know anything about wrapping hands.
MUCH MORE TO COME WITH BOXING LEGEND AL CERTO...
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