Rodney Berman of Golden Glove Promotions: Interview

By Henry Martin:

Rodney Berman of Golden Gloves Promotions has steadily been working his way onto the global boxing scene in recent times. He has successfully secured fights all across the globe, expanded the industry to Monaco, and has most recently signed former world title challenger Martin Murray to a lucrative contract. Berman is now looking to breakthrough into the UK market by luring even more boxers from one of the boxing worlds hottest markets to collaborate with him and ultimately stage shows there in the near future.

On October 25th, Berman will be hosting another big card in Monaco which will feature a minimumweight title fight, a vacant bantamweight title and a possible precursor to a another title fight between two undefeated light heavyweight prospects. There is a lot at stake in Monaco on October 26th and the man behind it all sat down with me for a short interview about his upcoming card, and the future of some of his fighters.

Do you have any comments on the rumors of Miguel Cotto vacating his WBC title to move down in weight? Murray is the current WBC Silver champion and number one contender for the WBC title, it seems he is next in line if Cotto were to vacate his title.

My personal take is that Cotto will eventually move down because the only meaningful fight for him at the weight is against Golovkin, who I’m sure he doesn’t want to meet. If Cotto were to vacate, I’m certain Martin Murray will be the mandatory.

What are your thoughts on the proposed “unification” between WBA Middleweight Super champion Gennady Golovkin and interim belt holder Marco Antonio Rubio?

First: this brings Martin Murray one step closer to fighting for the WBC title. Rubio is going to go the same way as Golovkin’s previous opponents; he won’t put up meaningful opposition.

With that said, if Golovkin gets past Rubio, what would be your thoughts of a potential Monaco showdown early next year? Murray has built a solid fan base there since signing with Golden Gloves and a proposed match-up between the two has been a topic of discussion since Murray’s 2013 fight with Sergio Martinez. It seems to be a fight many fans would love to see at 160.

Watch this space! Get ready for a major extravaganza in Monaco next February.

WBA Minimumweight champion Hekkie Budler is fighting on your October 26th card in Monaco. What are the plans for his future as far as possible unification bouts with the other title holders? The unification between Takayama and Rodriguez Jr. captured the attention of boxing fans around the world. What are the chances he unifies with Rodriguez Jr. or the winner of Novao/Menayothin next year?

All our attempts to entice the other champions have seen them running scared. But Golden Gloves will continue to make non-refusable offers. Menayothin turned us down, as did Novoa and Takayama. I can’t say I blame them given Hekkie’s form, but I hope this situation doesn’t result in Hekkie being deprived of being a unified champion. For now he’s fighting recent champion Xiong Zhao Zhong on the Monte Carlo card. Needless to say, we had to offer an enormous purse.

Ryno Liebenberg earned his biggest win against Denis Grachev earlier this month in a gutsy performance that put his heart on full display. With his next fight being against fellow prospect Eleider Alvarez, a stable mate of Adonis Stevenson, do you think a win would set him up with a future bout against 175lb lineal champ Adonis Stevenson?

Ryno versus Alvarez will be one of the fights of the year. In my discussions with Yvon Michel, we’ve agreed the winner will go on to fight Stevenson.

Is the fight between Thomas Oosthuizen and Denis Grachev more than simply just a fight to shake off the rust after a year of inactivity? Grachev just fought Ryno and undoubtedly, comparisons will rise up between the two men against this common opponent.

It’s far more than merely shaking off the rust. Grachev is a very credible fighter and Tommy fighting him will provide a yardstick on whether Tommy still has it. There’s no comparison – Tommy and Ryno have totally different styles. Also, Ryno has surpassed Tommy in the public reckoning and in the rankings. Tommy has to win back trust and confidence.

Due to Thomas Oosthuizen’s inactivity, he left a void that could possibly be filled by Ryno as the best Light Heavyweight from South Africa. Is there any possibility these two will get together in the ring in the near future? This could be a huge domestic fight if it were to happen.

It might happen and would be a real South African super-fight if it did. I would never discount it, but for now the focus is on getting Ryno a world title shot and checking whether Tommy still has the drive to make it. It’s up to him.

This might be a delicate issue, but I’ll take a shot in the dark and ask anyway. What is the ongoing situation with IIunga Makabu? This has been a hot topic among the boxing community for quite some time now.

I’m used to boxers jumping ship; it’s an occupational hazard. Makabu did us a great disservice. If his actions weren’t so pathetic they would be laughable. Time will show that he made a grave error. Golden Gloves is finished and done with him.

Finally, it sounds like your trip to the UK was very successful, congratulations on that! It sounds like Martin Murray will play a vital part when you start promoting shows in the UK next year. I don’t suppose you could tease us and maybe hint at who could possibly be on-board for next year?

A number of leading UK fighters have come knocking, but it would be unfair to name them because some are still coming out of current contracts. Martin Murray will play a huge part in our UK business. I have great confidence in him as a human being. He will be a tremendous ambassador  for our UK operation.