Tweet
Shaun George Looks to take his Frustrations out on Chris Henry
By Gabriel Montoya/MaxBoxing.com
When light heavyweight contender Shaun George (18-2-2 with 9 KOs) walked right through and stopped former heavyweight titleholder turned light heavyweight hopeful Chris Byrd last May in dominant dramatic fashion, you’d have thought that a new star had emerged on the light heavyweight scene. Such an upset generally garners bigger fights, more TV dates, and fan buzz. But what should have been a career making turn instead was drowned out by the noise surrounding Byrd.
Coming into the bout George was almost an afterthought as fans and media alike salivated at the possibilities having a name like Byrd in a low key division might bring. Afterward, with Byrd knocked down three times and dominated throughout en route to a ninth round TKO loss, the buzz turned negative and still focused solely on Byrd. What should have been Shaun George’s coming out party turned out to be more like a going out of business sale. No US TV dates followed. No internet buzz. Just frustration as time passed and the momentum from that big win dissipated.
But things would change in September of 2008 when George signed on with Lou DiBella’s promotional company. George returned to action this past February, scoring a first round TKO over Jaffo Ballogou. Now this Friday, George will attempt to regain his momentum and get the credit he knows he is due when he returns to television to take on the very tough light heavyweight contender Chris Henry (23-2 with 18 KOs) on this week’s edition of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights.
“It’s frustrating. I’m not going to lie,” George would tell me last week, “because I want to be fighting more. Fight 3-4 times a year. It actually feels like the Byrd fight was my last fight. But I’m prepared. I’m focused. When it all comes down to it, I know how to fight. You know what it feels like? It actually feels like I got demoted. You know when you did good in order to go to the next level? I felt like I did something good and everyone was like ‘Oh. Whatever.’ And no one gave me a chance to fight on their airwaves or whatever. It felt like I got demoted. If it was anybody else fighting Chris Byrd, they would have a big opportunity in their next fight. Chris Byrd would have been fighting Glen Johnson, Antonio Tarver, Chad Dawson. [Byrd] would have had his pick after he fought me. Everyone was excited that Chris Byrd moved down. Everybody was talking about fighting Chris Byrd. So I beat Chris Byrd and what happens with me? Nothing. Right now, I’m staying totally out of the politics of the game because it’s frustrating. I let my team take care of that. Right now I’m just going back to good old fashioned boxing. Everything else is frustrating for me. You have to politic for everything.”
Looking back at the Byrd fight, George is hard pressed to answer whether wining the way he did was a good thing for him or a bad thing. At 6’1” and a southpaw and despite two losses on his ledger, Shaun George is a tough match-up for anyone in the division.
“I don’t know,” George would tell me this past week. “They were scared anyways. I don’t know if it helped me or hurt me. It got my name out there. The politics definitely hurt me. I looked too good against Chris Byrd and now fighters aren’t stepping up to the plate. And I want to fight the best in the world.”
But the best in the world don’t want to hear about an unknown to the casual fan rangy southpaw who seems to be coming into his own and fighting with a chip on his shoulder. Sadly, the politics of the game allow that to happen. But along with politics, part of the reason he feels he is either avoided or gets no credit for the Byrd win is the usual fickle critics who feel one way before a fight and then do a 180 when the fight is over.
“They said ‘He’s stronger. He’s faster. He’ll be walking these guys down,” says George. “No one gave me a chance to win this fight. All of sudden, I beat him convincingly and no one wants to give me my credit. ‘Oh Chris Byrd wasn’t that fast or that strong.’ He did the same things he did at heavyweight. I just took away his strengths. I’d been a fan of Chris’ for a really long time. If I’m a fan of yours I respect you. And if I respect you, you can’t beat me.”
As was the case in our last interview, the conversation veered from simply breaking down a fight to things in and around boxing. Particularly the politics and structure of boxing. With its current star system, boxing has a tendency to keep guys like George out of the limelight in favor of younger, more marketable up and comers. In recent months we have seen this turn on the idol makers of the sports who are now left rebuilding these would be stars of tomorrow while fighters along the lines of George scratch and scrabble for everything they get. I threw out the idea of restructuring boxing into a league to George and I was not surprised he already had thoughts on the subject.
“Me and my trainer Tommy Brooks were talking about that the other day,” George said, his excitement for the subject coming through the phone. “The promoters need to come up with a league. Everybody is trying to outdo each other. [One promoter] every chance he gets, he goes after [another promoter} and vice versa. You get managers or promoters saying ‘this fighter will never fight this fighter.’ Everybody wants to make money. Everybody wants to get caught on camera. But everybody has to play their role. Promoters need to come together. There needs to be league. It needs to be an organization. There are too many things. Everybody is trying to get their money and everybody trying to squeeze the fighters dry. It’s not just the fighters. It’s the promoters, the managers, TV executives. Everybody needs to come together and say ‘You know what, let’s make boxing big again.’ That’s what it comes down to.”
“[The UFC] don’t have a commissioner or whatever but they have an organized league,” he continued. “They have fighters on shows you want to see and tune into. They introduce the fighters. They have commercials on. They actually advertise on TV. They actually do promotional work. No one does promotional work anymore. They make a TV date and put out a couple press releases on the internet. But what about the people who are watching TV? What about the good old fashioned TV and radio ads? They don’t do it. It cost money but it makes money, too.”
Under the current structure of boxing, it’s hard to impossible sometimes for a fighter to get a title shot. With 4 major sanctioning bodies that are universally recognized, it’s easy for a tough match-up like George to get overlooked. But that’s the game.
“You have the WBO champ who refuses to fight anybody,” explains George. “You have Chad Dawson who every time he has to fight his mandatory he vacates. I don’t know what Jean Pascal is going to do. But every time, you can’t get a title shot because of politics. In order for me to get a fight, I have to sell my soul. And the thing about it is people act like I’m just about the money. I’m not. I just want to be treated fairly.”
“It sucks how it works out,” he continues, “but right now I’m just taking it one fight at a time. I’m really just trying to support my family and this makes it hard for me to do that. This is all I do for a living. This is how I eat. This is how I earn my living. And it’s hard to do this. And it’s not like I’m making the dollars where I can fight one time a year. I’m not. I have a son now and right now that’s what important to me Giving him an easier life than I had. But I will become world champion. I will make the money. Everybody is not Oscar De la Hoya or Floyd Mayweather. You have other type of fighters that got to fight. That’s what Bernard Hopkins had.”
Listening to his frustration, which was palpable over the phone, I didn’t get the sense that this is a bitter man who wants it all right now because of some sense of entitlement. But rather George comes across intelligently and hard working. Blue collar if you will. Just a man who wants his due for the hard work he puts in. But like an intelligent, hard working man should, George takes it all in stride and realizes not only the sport but the business he is and its shortcomings.
“It’s frustrating when everyone takes away the credit for what you’ve done” he explains “But its ok. It’s the sport of boxing. You’re only as good as your last fight. Right now, I’m very focused on Chris Henry who is very tough, dangerous light heavyweight. You have to be able to fight for all ten rounds. For every minute of every round. If you aren’t he’s going to beat you.”
In Henry, George has in front of him an orthodox but at times awkward, aggressive fighter from Houston, TX. With solid power and good experience, Henry is perhaps the most dangerous guy George has faced thus far. In any case, he is not someone George plans on taking lightly.
“I think that he is he is a strong guy,” says George. “I think he has good punching power. I think he’s aggressive with great condition. He comes to fight. That’s what he knows how to do. That’s what he knows how to do. And that’s what motivates me more than anything about Chris Henry. He’s a world contender. He’s ranked in the top ten. I don’t think it’s going to be an even fight but I do think it’s going to be a fan friendly fight. Our styles will make for that kind of fight. I think its going to be fun to watch. But I’m confident I’m going to win this fight. I’m ready for this fight and on July 10, I’ll be ready to go. I have frustrations and I have to take it out on Chris Henry.”
By Gabriel Montoya/MaxBoxing.com
When light heavyweight contender Shaun George (18-2-2 with 9 KOs) walked right through and stopped former heavyweight titleholder turned light heavyweight hopeful Chris Byrd last May in dominant dramatic fashion, you’d have thought that a new star had emerged on the light heavyweight scene. Such an upset generally garners bigger fights, more TV dates, and fan buzz. But what should have been a career making turn instead was drowned out by the noise surrounding Byrd.
Coming into the bout George was almost an afterthought as fans and media alike salivated at the possibilities having a name like Byrd in a low key division might bring. Afterward, with Byrd knocked down three times and dominated throughout en route to a ninth round TKO loss, the buzz turned negative and still focused solely on Byrd. What should have been Shaun George’s coming out party turned out to be more like a going out of business sale. No US TV dates followed. No internet buzz. Just frustration as time passed and the momentum from that big win dissipated.
But things would change in September of 2008 when George signed on with Lou DiBella’s promotional company. George returned to action this past February, scoring a first round TKO over Jaffo Ballogou. Now this Friday, George will attempt to regain his momentum and get the credit he knows he is due when he returns to television to take on the very tough light heavyweight contender Chris Henry (23-2 with 18 KOs) on this week’s edition of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights.
“It’s frustrating. I’m not going to lie,” George would tell me last week, “because I want to be fighting more. Fight 3-4 times a year. It actually feels like the Byrd fight was my last fight. But I’m prepared. I’m focused. When it all comes down to it, I know how to fight. You know what it feels like? It actually feels like I got demoted. You know when you did good in order to go to the next level? I felt like I did something good and everyone was like ‘Oh. Whatever.’ And no one gave me a chance to fight on their airwaves or whatever. It felt like I got demoted. If it was anybody else fighting Chris Byrd, they would have a big opportunity in their next fight. Chris Byrd would have been fighting Glen Johnson, Antonio Tarver, Chad Dawson. [Byrd] would have had his pick after he fought me. Everyone was excited that Chris Byrd moved down. Everybody was talking about fighting Chris Byrd. So I beat Chris Byrd and what happens with me? Nothing. Right now, I’m staying totally out of the politics of the game because it’s frustrating. I let my team take care of that. Right now I’m just going back to good old fashioned boxing. Everything else is frustrating for me. You have to politic for everything.”
Looking back at the Byrd fight, George is hard pressed to answer whether wining the way he did was a good thing for him or a bad thing. At 6’1” and a southpaw and despite two losses on his ledger, Shaun George is a tough match-up for anyone in the division.
“I don’t know,” George would tell me this past week. “They were scared anyways. I don’t know if it helped me or hurt me. It got my name out there. The politics definitely hurt me. I looked too good against Chris Byrd and now fighters aren’t stepping up to the plate. And I want to fight the best in the world.”
But the best in the world don’t want to hear about an unknown to the casual fan rangy southpaw who seems to be coming into his own and fighting with a chip on his shoulder. Sadly, the politics of the game allow that to happen. But along with politics, part of the reason he feels he is either avoided or gets no credit for the Byrd win is the usual fickle critics who feel one way before a fight and then do a 180 when the fight is over.
“They said ‘He’s stronger. He’s faster. He’ll be walking these guys down,” says George. “No one gave me a chance to win this fight. All of sudden, I beat him convincingly and no one wants to give me my credit. ‘Oh Chris Byrd wasn’t that fast or that strong.’ He did the same things he did at heavyweight. I just took away his strengths. I’d been a fan of Chris’ for a really long time. If I’m a fan of yours I respect you. And if I respect you, you can’t beat me.”
As was the case in our last interview, the conversation veered from simply breaking down a fight to things in and around boxing. Particularly the politics and structure of boxing. With its current star system, boxing has a tendency to keep guys like George out of the limelight in favor of younger, more marketable up and comers. In recent months we have seen this turn on the idol makers of the sports who are now left rebuilding these would be stars of tomorrow while fighters along the lines of George scratch and scrabble for everything they get. I threw out the idea of restructuring boxing into a league to George and I was not surprised he already had thoughts on the subject.
“Me and my trainer Tommy Brooks were talking about that the other day,” George said, his excitement for the subject coming through the phone. “The promoters need to come up with a league. Everybody is trying to outdo each other. [One promoter] every chance he gets, he goes after [another promoter} and vice versa. You get managers or promoters saying ‘this fighter will never fight this fighter.’ Everybody wants to make money. Everybody wants to get caught on camera. But everybody has to play their role. Promoters need to come together. There needs to be league. It needs to be an organization. There are too many things. Everybody is trying to get their money and everybody trying to squeeze the fighters dry. It’s not just the fighters. It’s the promoters, the managers, TV executives. Everybody needs to come together and say ‘You know what, let’s make boxing big again.’ That’s what it comes down to.”
“[The UFC] don’t have a commissioner or whatever but they have an organized league,” he continued. “They have fighters on shows you want to see and tune into. They introduce the fighters. They have commercials on. They actually advertise on TV. They actually do promotional work. No one does promotional work anymore. They make a TV date and put out a couple press releases on the internet. But what about the people who are watching TV? What about the good old fashioned TV and radio ads? They don’t do it. It cost money but it makes money, too.”
Under the current structure of boxing, it’s hard to impossible sometimes for a fighter to get a title shot. With 4 major sanctioning bodies that are universally recognized, it’s easy for a tough match-up like George to get overlooked. But that’s the game.
“You have the WBO champ who refuses to fight anybody,” explains George. “You have Chad Dawson who every time he has to fight his mandatory he vacates. I don’t know what Jean Pascal is going to do. But every time, you can’t get a title shot because of politics. In order for me to get a fight, I have to sell my soul. And the thing about it is people act like I’m just about the money. I’m not. I just want to be treated fairly.”
“It sucks how it works out,” he continues, “but right now I’m just taking it one fight at a time. I’m really just trying to support my family and this makes it hard for me to do that. This is all I do for a living. This is how I eat. This is how I earn my living. And it’s hard to do this. And it’s not like I’m making the dollars where I can fight one time a year. I’m not. I have a son now and right now that’s what important to me Giving him an easier life than I had. But I will become world champion. I will make the money. Everybody is not Oscar De la Hoya or Floyd Mayweather. You have other type of fighters that got to fight. That’s what Bernard Hopkins had.”
Listening to his frustration, which was palpable over the phone, I didn’t get the sense that this is a bitter man who wants it all right now because of some sense of entitlement. But rather George comes across intelligently and hard working. Blue collar if you will. Just a man who wants his due for the hard work he puts in. But like an intelligent, hard working man should, George takes it all in stride and realizes not only the sport but the business he is and its shortcomings.
“It’s frustrating when everyone takes away the credit for what you’ve done” he explains “But its ok. It’s the sport of boxing. You’re only as good as your last fight. Right now, I’m very focused on Chris Henry who is very tough, dangerous light heavyweight. You have to be able to fight for all ten rounds. For every minute of every round. If you aren’t he’s going to beat you.”
In Henry, George has in front of him an orthodox but at times awkward, aggressive fighter from Houston, TX. With solid power and good experience, Henry is perhaps the most dangerous guy George has faced thus far. In any case, he is not someone George plans on taking lightly.
“I think that he is he is a strong guy,” says George. “I think he has good punching power. I think he’s aggressive with great condition. He comes to fight. That’s what he knows how to do. That’s what he knows how to do. And that’s what motivates me more than anything about Chris Henry. He’s a world contender. He’s ranked in the top ten. I don’t think it’s going to be an even fight but I do think it’s going to be a fan friendly fight. Our styles will make for that kind of fight. I think its going to be fun to watch. But I’m confident I’m going to win this fight. I’m ready for this fight and on July 10, I’ll be ready to go. I have frustrations and I have to take it out on Chris Henry.”
Comment