Shaun George: Now You Know Who He Is

Shaun George: Now You Know Who He Is Jerry Glick http://www.secondsout.com/world-boxing-news/world-boxing-news/shaun-george-now-you-know-who-he-is http://socontent.emojo.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/015/George_Shaun_r_hand_Byrd_HoganPhotos1_lx.jpg Shaun George has been a professional boxer for nine years and at thirty he is only now about to scream his name out to the boxing public. Only now does he have the kind of team who will help amplify that scream. Hot off an impressive victory over superstar Chris Byrd, George was all set to make that big career move, but it didn’t happen. His big win over Byrd should have brought boxing fortune both monetarily and fistically, but nothing has happened to advance his career. He should have become the hottest thing out there in the light-heavyweight division but little happened. He followed the Bryd fight up with an impressive blowout of hard hitting Jaffa Ballogou (one round KO), with no big offers. He is hoping that things will change after his next fight. Come July 10th he will square off with another ranked light-heavyweight, Chris Henry, and George is ready. Team George George signed up with DiBella Entertainment back in August of last year and he couldn’t be happier. “I think he’s a great guy,” said George of Lou DiBella. “He’s man of his word. I love his team. We’re hoping to do big things with each other.” He is happy that he has confidence in his team so that he can concentrate on training and boxing while his people take care of the business end of his career. After the Chris Byrd win he had all sorts of promoters coming his way but DiBella was the most striking to George. He is trained by his father-in-law Tommy Brooks, who has trained Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Pernell Whitaker, and George is ably advised by Donna Duva Brooks. Boxing has a long history of failed relationships between fighters and family. When family becomes a part of the team it can lead to trouble but George, who is married to Tommy Brook’s daughter, Casey, an attorney, is determined to maintain a separation between the two Tommy Brooks, the trainer and the father-in-law. “We separate everything, like we could not agree in the house, if we don’t agree on family matters, but when we go into the gym it’s like nothing ever happened.” “Over the years I had been independent in training relying on my natural talents, but I never valued what a trainer really does. He sees everything from the outside looking in. Right now we’re getting along, but sometimes he wants me to do something and I want to do something else, but on fight night I will listen to everything he says.” Chris Byrd Fight “Absolutely not,” said George. He did not dominate former two time heavyweight belt holder Chris Byrd because Byrd was shot after a drastic weight loss. “What people don’t understand is that I’m a real student of the game,” explained George. “I’ve been a really big fan of Chris Byrd from ’92 when he beat Chris Johnson and lost to Areil Hernandez in the finals (of the Olympics) as a middleweight, as a super-middleweight, as a light-heavyweight, and as a heavyweight. If I know that much about you it’s going to be very hard for you to beat me. I’ve been ready for him for a very long time. I took away all of his advantages.” The only surprise that he had was in the aftermath. After such a big win, he expected big things. “A lot of people promise you things, a lot of people tell you things, but if Chris Byrd would have won that fight he would have been fighting a Roy Jones or Antonio Tarver or Bernard Hopkins, or Glen Johnson, or Chad Dawson.” He points out what happens all too often in boxing, if you are too dangerous, or not a big enough name who would at least make the risk worth taking, no one wants to fight you. That’s what happened to George. “Even Glen Johnson don’t want to fight me,” he laments. “And that’s just crazy.” He is relying on his team to handle all the politics that go on in boxing more than any other sport, to secure for him the fights that will lead him to the top. George has suffered a common woe of talented fighters looking to move up, opportunities evaporate. He had sought fights with Glen Johnson and Eric Harding but both pulled out of the fight. "My belief in myself, it’s strong. I don’t want my career to go to waste. I believe I have a lot of talent and ability. Up until now, I haven’t put it all together. Eric Harding pulled out of the fight, I believe Glen Johnson has ducked me. Everything happened for a reason. It was a hidden blessing because I’m here now where I need to be." The Light-heavyweights Shaun sees himself, at the top of the 175 pound division. “The light-heavyweight division is a great division,” said George, “if everybody will just fight each other. Everybody tries to maneuver and get the most money. One guy won’t fight for less than five million; all those guys I’ve mentioned plus you have the Chris Henrys, the Tavoris Clouds, the Adrian Diaconu, there are many great fights in this division, if you guys and TV would just put it on. Everybody tries to ignore this division, we’ve got punchers, we’ve got bangers, we’ve got smooth boxers, we have slick fighters and guy who can do both. We have so many talented guys in this division, what’s ruining boxing is the politics, that’s what is ruining boxing right now.” He is correct when he points out how many great fights can be made among the 175 pound fighters today. There are many opportunities to make fights with new names without having to recycle as is often the case in boxing. “My fight on July 10th, it’s going to be great fight,” said George. “I guarantee it, our styles only makes for a great fight. July 10th in Philly, that’s where it is right now.” Matt Godfrey It took Matt Godfrey 2:21 to hand George his first loss. It took George a while to come to grips with the notion of losing. After all, it was his first one as a pro. “That hurt me,” said George. “It really did, it hurt me deep down, but they always tell you that adversity builds character. Before I fought Godfrey I’d never been rocked, I’d never been hurt. It is a sport, you win some, you lose some.” He sees it differently now. “I’m looking forward to our trilogy,” said George already having beaten Godfrey in a rematch in his mind, so confident of victory in a rematch when it occurs is he. In his mind he is waiting for the tie breaker; the rubber match, with each having won one. “Right now he’s fighting at cruiserweight so the fight’s not going to happen anytime soon.” Now that is confidence. “That’s the fight I’m looking forward to, the rematch.” The Beginning Shaun George arrived in boxing with the sport in his blood. His uncle Lenox Blackmoore challenged the great Aaron Pryor for the 140 pound crown back in 1981. Shaun entered this world only a few years before, in Brooklyn, NY on March 20, 1979. As is often the case among boxers his beginnings were tough but he survived to become the fighter that he is today. "Growing up in New York is like any other inner city," George says. "Only the strong survive and the weak get preyed on. Growing up wasn’t easy at all because I was always moving around a lot. We once lived in the back of a store in a single room. It wasn’t easy until we found a place in the Bronx where we lived for five years. That was my first steady home." It wasn’t his uncle who most influenced George to fall in love with boxing, it happened when two great fighters fought a classic, Sugar Ray Leonard won the Middleweight title from Marvelous Marvin Hagler in 1987. “It was the history behind it,” recalled George. “Sugar Ray had taken three years off just before the fight and Hagler was the most feared middleweight in the world. It was a great fight to see two champions go at it like that. I fell in love with the sport right then and there. I love watching James Toney, you have Roy Jones, who I love watching, you have Sugar Ray Robinson, a lot of people don’t talk about him but I believe he was one of the best of all times.” George admits that he doesn’t just like boxing, “I’m a boxing fanatic.” He is proud that his office is full of videos and other boxing memorabilia. It all really started when in an effort to keep Shaun away from the wrong people his dad brought him to The Bed-Stuy Boxing Club. It worked. Young Shaun loved boxing and he won his first title, the Junior Olympic Title, in 1993 when he was 14. The following year he withdrew from the Junior Olympics due to an injury sustained playing basketball in spite of his being the favorite to win. He repeated his ’93 win in 1995 attaining a national ranking of third in the US. He won the 178 pound New York Golden Gloves again in 1996 and 1997. In ’97 he also took the home the National Golden Gloves title and graduated from South Shore High School then went on to attend Northern Michigan University majoring in paralegal studies. George’s amateur record was 51-7, and among those wins were two victories over future IBF cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham, the highly regarded Felix Cora Jr., and 2004 Olympian Devin Vargas. The pro ranks beckoned. In 2000 he turned pro with a one round KO over Kenneth Pinkney. He ran off eleven wins and two draws before suffering his first loss to Matt Godfrey via a one round knockout. Since then he added seven wins and a close loss by decision to Alexander Gurov. It is only now that his career is about to fly. He is now 18-2-2 (9 KOs). PUNCHLINES His best story is how he defeated Richard Hall in spite of having a very bad stomach. He won the fight and controlled his stomach until he got back to the dressing where he threw up all over Oscar Diaz’ shoes as he was talking to Shaun. He points to this to indicate how he has been able to fight through adversity. Now that’s adversity!