Very few managers are as honest and hardworking as Si Stern. Over the course of three years, Stern has built a former champion back into a top contender, pushed a career of a rising welterweight, restarted the career of an established heavyweight, recently signed a future Bantamweight champion, and created two local Key West heroes. Stern has also promoted five boxing cards in the southernmost city in the United States, including the annual ESPN Friday Night Fight Card from Mallory Square every January. Stern, who owns a very prominent bar and adult entertainment establishment in Key West, took time out to talk about his fighters and promotion.
On Randall Bailey
Right now, Randall is the most feared fighter at 140. He is the hardest puncher and has one of the longest reaches in that division. His fight with “Gato” Figueroa is a dream come true for Randall. He has been in deep training since December and I have never seen him in this kind of condition. Once he gets the IBF belt, these guys are going to have to start fighting Randall. Victor Ortiz backed out against us. Malignaggi wanted nothing of us. Lou Dibella told me, “Randall has been avoided like the plague.” We are curious to see if Urango will take the fight or give up his belt and move up to 147. When Randall was with Warriors, Leon (Margules) never would have put them in together because Randall would smoke him. Urango would stand there and try to bang with Randall and no one can do that. Look at Randall’s record and tell me who can bang with him at 140? Light Welterweight is the hot division now and this is where the big paydays are. It used to be 135 or 147, but 140 is becoming a melting pot and is there are some big fights to be made here. I can truly see Randall and Nate(Campbell) holding belts side by side
On Damian “Devo” Frias
We have had a number of inquiries about Devo. Several promoters have called about having him fight on their cards but he hurt his hand in his fight in January. He will be ready to go sometime in April. He is currently holding the WBC Latino title at 147 after he had the same title at 140. He will be ranked 14th in the next WBC rankings. Joey Hernandez and his people have been calling out Devo, and we would gladly oblige and take away his perfect record. All his fights have been against ‘bum of the week’ guys. That would be a big fight for South Florida and we would love to do it. Devo is a class act. I have never seen the man take a drink or party. He fights for his wife and son. That is his pride and joy.
On Sherman “Caribbean Tank” Williams
I picked Sherman up last year after he had a falling out with his previous manager. Sherman is working on a nine fight winning streak and we are looking forward to getting him back into contention. We had a crossroads fight between him and a good prospect Darrel Madison scheduled for this past January, but Sherman had hurt his hand in sparring and had to pull out. There are several options out there for Sherman. We are trying to work on getting him a fight in April and we are still interested in setting up a fight with Madison.
On Derrick Wilson
I just recently signed Derrick. This kid is from Ft. Myers and is about to turn 20. I saw him in the gym sparring Light Middleweights and thought they were nuts putting him in there with them. About a minute later, Derrick had the guy down for the count and his sparring session was over. I know this kid is going to be the real deal. He is so exciting to watch. I can’t wait to get him in the ring. He was on the U.S. National team twice before turning pro. He can fight anywhere between 120 and 126. The kid throws a million punches a minute. We had him a fight for Friday night in Kissimmee but the commission denied his opponent.
On Danny Van Staden and Sergi Ganjelashvilli
These two guys are like local heroes in Key West. I can have a world champion fighting on my card in Mallory Square and these two guys will get a louder ovation in a 4 round fight then they will. To the locals, these guys are their main event fighters. Sergi just had a big win in Miami last week against Alex Brenes, who actually beat Danny before. Danny works full time for me at my bar. If he had more time to devote to training instead of working his ass off for me he could really be a great fighter. Danny will fight anyone they put in front of him. He maybe is fighting April 10th in Tampa on the Lacy undercard.
On Promotion and Business
Currently we are working with our big fight card every year in January. The market here can’t really hold more than one card a year. We love building the anticipation up for our event. Everyone in Key West looks forward to it every year. We have thought about trying to do shows elsewhere in the Keys and throughout Florida but haven’t pursued other opportunities with the current state of the economy. My bar on Duval St., Biguns continues to be the only place in Key West to show the major fights. I will continue to support boxing in paradise.
For more information about Si Stern’s promotions and nightlife in Key West visit http://bigunskeywest.com/
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