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Abie Han boosts career with Top Rank contract
By Bill Knight \ El Paso Times
Posted: 02/16/2011 11:49:46 PM MST
Abie Han sat down Wednesday afternoon, signed on the dotted line and then let out a sigh of relief. He believes the door to his boxing career has finally been opened.
Han, 12-0 with 10 knockouts, signed with famed Top Rank Inc., putting his name on a four-year contract that guarantees him a minimum of five fights a year.
"I feel like this is the quick way to where I want to go," the 26-year-old light middleweight said. "I feel like I'm ready for anybody. I could only get two fights my first year. The last two years I've worked out, I've always been in the gym. But either we couldn't get fights or when we did, guys would back out. I feel good that somebody like Top Rank wanted to invest in me for four years."
Bruce Trampler, longtime matchmaker for Top Rank in Las Vegas, said, "At the end of the year, at the beginning of the new year, we are always looking to expand our roster. Abie's name kept coming up. Louie (Burke, Han's trainer) fought for us and so his name carries more weight. But we get dozens and dozens of fighters wanting us to look at them each year -- from amateurs to young professionals, like Abie, to seasoned veterans and world champions.
"There are no favor jobs in this business," Trampler said. "Bob (Arum, CEO) wasn't in town when Abie fought here in January. We showed Bob the tape of that fight in our video room and he loved it. He really likes Abie. You know how we operate. We don't push or rush. We want Abie to one day, not only fight for a world title, but win it."Burke, who began training Han as an amateur, said, "I'm really excited about this partnership. This is an opportunity for Abie to not only fight and fight regularly, but to also be on TV and get that exposure. In the past, nobody wanted to fight Abie. Now we are with the biggest promotional company in the world. And I'm not just blowing smoke. Abie will be a world champion."
Burke already trains one world champion in junior middleweight Austin Trout.
"I'm just excited and ready to go," said Han, the Irvin High graduate who will graduate from UTEP in May. "I think all this waiting might have helped me get ready and it didn't hurt anything but my patience. I'm still young and now I feel like I'm ready to fight anybody."
By Bill Knight \ El Paso Times
Posted: 02/16/2011 11:49:46 PM MST
Abie Han sat down Wednesday afternoon, signed on the dotted line and then let out a sigh of relief. He believes the door to his boxing career has finally been opened.
Han, 12-0 with 10 knockouts, signed with famed Top Rank Inc., putting his name on a four-year contract that guarantees him a minimum of five fights a year.
"I feel like this is the quick way to where I want to go," the 26-year-old light middleweight said. "I feel like I'm ready for anybody. I could only get two fights my first year. The last two years I've worked out, I've always been in the gym. But either we couldn't get fights or when we did, guys would back out. I feel good that somebody like Top Rank wanted to invest in me for four years."
Bruce Trampler, longtime matchmaker for Top Rank in Las Vegas, said, "At the end of the year, at the beginning of the new year, we are always looking to expand our roster. Abie's name kept coming up. Louie (Burke, Han's trainer) fought for us and so his name carries more weight. But we get dozens and dozens of fighters wanting us to look at them each year -- from amateurs to young professionals, like Abie, to seasoned veterans and world champions.
"There are no favor jobs in this business," Trampler said. "Bob (Arum, CEO) wasn't in town when Abie fought here in January. We showed Bob the tape of that fight in our video room and he loved it. He really likes Abie. You know how we operate. We don't push or rush. We want Abie to one day, not only fight for a world title, but win it."Burke, who began training Han as an amateur, said, "I'm really excited about this partnership. This is an opportunity for Abie to not only fight and fight regularly, but to also be on TV and get that exposure. In the past, nobody wanted to fight Abie. Now we are with the biggest promotional company in the world. And I'm not just blowing smoke. Abie will be a world champion."
Burke already trains one world champion in junior middleweight Austin Trout.
"I'm just excited and ready to go," said Han, the Irvin High graduate who will graduate from UTEP in May. "I think all this waiting might have helped me get ready and it didn't hurt anything but my patience. I'm still young and now I feel like I'm ready to fight anybody."
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