by Brad Cooney
8/31 - Born on May 8th, 1966 in Boston, Massachusetts, Brian Young is considered by many as one of boxing's best promoters. As you will read within this interview, Brian considers the late Dan Duva to be one of his greatest mentors and instrumental components of Brian's life, steering his life into the fight world. When you meet Brian Young, you are immediately stuck by his business approach, yet generous and warm side just the same. Brian Young's Prize Fight Promotions landed one of boxing's great Heavyweight Championship fights in 2002 with the Lennox Lewis/Mike Tyson fight in Memphis, Tennessee, and is proud to announce the promotion of the upcoming Roy Jones Jr. and Glen Johnson fight on September 25th, 2004.
TalkingBoxing.com recently had the opportunity to speak with Brian Young, speaking about his position on boxing today, the Tyson-Lewis fight and his upcoming Jones-Johnson IBF title fight. This is what he had to say!
BRIAN YOUNG - PRIZE FIGHT PROMOTIONS
Brad Cooney: Brian, thanks for taking some time out of your busy schedule to talk to me...
Brian Young: No problem.
Brad Cooney: Brian, you were born on May 8th 1966, in Boston Massachusetts, when did you get down to the southern part of the country?
Brian Young: I moved to Georgia when I was 5 years old, so I consider myself a southerner.
Brad Cooney: Brian, talk about your next big fight that you will be promoting, the Roy Jones-Glenn Johnson fight.
Brian Young: Brad Jacobs called me an had asked me if I would be interested in doing the fight. I told him I would be interested. I have always wanted to work with Roy Jones....I think a lot of Roy Jones Jr. Now I am excited that Prize Fight will get its chance to do a Roy Jones Fight and I am equally excited that one of my fighters Ivan Hernandez who's undefeated, will be fighting for the WBO World Title. I feel he's ready. He will be fighting Mark "TOO SHARP" Johnson.
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Brian Young: One of my other undefeated fighters .. John Johnson (5-0) 5 Knockouts.
Brad Cooney: Brian, when did you first start promoting fights..and how did you get into doing this for a living?
Brian Young: Well I was in the business when I fought in the amatuers. I was in 7th grade, and my dad took me to a boxing gym. When I was younger I was a big Larry Holmes fan. I learned from a young age that boxing is something I wanted to be a part of. When I was in graduate school one of my professors asked me, if I could have one person to speak at the graduation who would it be. and I said without question, Dan Duva. Dan unfortunately just 5 years later died of brain cancer.
Brad Cooney: Brian what was the first fight you ever promoted?
Brian Young: Well I was the strength and conditioning coach for Michael Moorer for 6 years. The first fight I promoted (Prize Fight) was in 1999 July 31st. It was at the Lady Luck Casino in Lula Mississippi. I worked for Main Events for awhile and I learned that part of the business. Dan Duva was like a mentor to me. Dan taught me a lot about the business and basically got me my start in the business side of boxing after graduate school. I owe a lot to Dan Duva. Dan was the person that I admired the most in boxing.
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Brian Young: Shelly Finkel. Shelly has been doing this stuff for a long time now. He knows the sport well and he's extremely knowledgable. and he is another one that has reached out to me, and tried to help me.. Shelly continues to have good years in boxing year after year...and that impresses me.
Brad Cooney: Talk about the Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis fight that you promoted a few years back in Memphis. what did that fight do for you, and your career?
Brian Young: Well it put me on the map. It took me to a whole new level. Instead of doing fights at the National Guard Armory, and small Casino shows,it provided an opportunity to put my company on a world stage. You know, we set a world record for the largest live gate ever, which I am very appreciative for. We also set a world record for the largest gate ever for a womens fight with Layla Ali, and Ann Wolfe.
Brad Cooney: I read somewere that Prize Fight has sold out 19 times in a row?
Brian Young: Yes, we have sold out 19 straight shows at Sams Town Casino on a monthly series.
Brad Cooney: You fought some as an amateur.. how many fights did you have?
Brian Young: Well just a couple at that time I was wearing eye contacts and every time I got hit my eyes would bleed. I was borderline legally blind without my contacts. So I got out.
Brad Cooney: What does your company, Prize Fight bring to the fans that other boxing promotion companies do not?
Brian Young: I think we bring a breath of fresh air. We don't take our casino's for granted. We work very hard to sell out the shows. We treat our fighters like family. We stay in touch with them on a weekly basis. We do not negotiate any contracts without the fighters being there. We do not negotiate the purses without the fighters being there. We have never stolen a dime from a fighter. I take this personally, I don't take the fans lightly. I want to give them a quality show every time. I want them to come back.
Brad Cooney: Brian, talk about your stable some..
Brian Young: Well I am very proud of Ivan Hernandez at 19-0-1 he has proven to me that he his ready for a World Champion shot. Ronnie Shield, his trainer says he's ready. He is having a great training camp in Houston. Ivan has fast hands and tremendous skills. I think he's ready for Mark "TOO SHARP" Johnson. I think he's going to shock the world. I also have John Johnson. He's a great prospect at Light Heavyweight. He is 5-0 with 5 Ko's. I am equally excited about Adam Hubinger, who is 4 and 0 with 4 Ko's.Adam is the Czech Republic National Champion. Both of these guys take there careers seriously. I am very pleased with there development thus far.
Brad Cooney: As a fight promoter.. what is your take on boxing today?
Brian Young: Well, I'm not going to jump on the position today like others do, and say that boxing is in trouble. I think that boxing is a billion dollar industry. On the pro level it is pretty strong. I think on the amateur level we need to have more gyms in our neighborhoods. We need to make boxing more available to young kids, as a viable choice for the kids. You have seen the drop off with Olympic medals over the years. More kids are being pushed into football, basketball, and other sports. We need to concentrate on giving the kids in our community an opportunity to box. Hence the opening of the Tunica Boxing Club in Tunica Mississippi.
Brad Cooney: To follow up on that question, if you had the power to change boxing for the better, what would be the first thing you would do?
Brian Young: I think the Networks need to be more open to working with a variety of promoters instead of just one or a selected few.
Brad Cooney: Lastly tell the fans what they can expect out of Prize Fight Promotions over the next coming year.
Brian Young: God willing, we will continue to grow. We are looking to add more people to our staff. We have 14 fighters in out stable right now and ooking to add a few more. We will continue our monthly boxing series. We hope to bring John Johnson, and Adam Hubinger to an NABF, or USBA level of title fight appearances. We hope to get both of these guys the kind of fights that will be title fights as you know, Ann Wolfe is also in our stable. I would like to get a fight together with Ann Wolfe and Layla Ali. I have a temendous amount of respect for both Layla, and YaYa. I truly believe that Ann Wolfe brings the biggest threat to beat Layla Ali, then any other woman in the world.
Brad Cooney: Thank you very much for doing this interview. I really appreciate it.
Brian Young: Brad, thank you very much for the opportunity.
Email Brad Cooney with comments at bradcooney1@bellsouth.net
Visit Brian Young's webiste at www.prizefightpromoters.com
