Heavyweight Champ’s Induction THIS Weekend
Former heavyweight champ Lamon Brewster will be inducted into the California Boxing Hall of Fame (CBHOF) this Saturday, October 19 at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City. I caught up with the slugger known as “Relentless” in the ring as the weekend ceremony neared. Here’s the scoop from the “Chatter Box”!
With his hulking presence standing over 6′ 2″ and a fierce demeanor inside the ropes, he went to war against Wladimir Klitschko, Sergei Liakhovich, Robert Helenius and more. Outside of the squared circle, Lamon is a favorite in boxing circles for his down-to-earth likability and “gentle giant” persona. I have known the ex-champion for a few years now and he remains one of the most humble boxers you will ever meet.
Best known for toppling a Klitschko with his TKO win over Wladimir Klitschko in 2004, the WBO heavyweight titlist moved back to his native Indiana last year to be closer to his mom and family there. He may be Indi born and bred, but Southern California will always remain part of Team Brewster. The champ and his wife Juana raised three young children in SoCal and this Saturday’s awards ceremony (with George Foreman, Andre Ward, Chris Arreola, Abner Mares, Wayne McCullough and more also being inducted) will be a very special one for the slugger.
“I have moved back to Indianapolis; that’s my home,” Lamon tells me during our recent phone interview. “But my heart is in California with the ocean, the mountains, the snow, the desert! And I love how it’s so laid back there.”
And now he will return to Cali to be part of the Class of 2013 new honorees.
Famed boxing veteran and CBHOF President Don Fraser said Brewster is a well-deserved inductee.
“The Klitschko fight made him,” Don mentioned to me when Lamon’s name was first announced, “and we are happy to induct him.”
The ex-champ is also a WBO NABO and WBC Continental Americas title holder with a record of 35-6 with 30 KOs. After coming up in the amateurs, he turned pro in 1996; his last bout was in 2010. Early in his career, the knockout artist fought on SoCal soil including battles in Irvine, Beverly Hills, the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, and the storied Olympic Auditorium. He is really looking forward to this weekend’s bash honoring his years in the sport. “I first met Don Fraser years ago when I was training with Bill Slayton at the Broadway Gym,” Brewster marvels. “And now I’m being inducted into his California Hall of Fame. I’m so blessed!”
Boxing has been his business for decades having first laced up at the tender age of 7. Although retired from the ring, Lamon has kept an active role in the fight game. He is one of the busiest people I know, always thinking “outside the box” in his many business endeavors. He is the Founder/President of the “Fighting Connection” geared on linking the boxing world together in networking gyms, sparring partners, etc.
Lamon has also shared exclusive news with me about his invitational boxing tournaments around the U.S. and an update on his brand new “The Art of Fighting” instructional videos. His latest venture will offer fans and fighters special online training segments with the champs demonstrating their signature punches and techniques in which Brewster will be showcasing his own left hook. Boxers and MMA fighters including James Toney, Frank Shamrock, Randy Couture, Chris Byrd, Antonio Tarver, Reggie Johnson, and Laila Ali and more are already on board to take part in this video series.
The champ recalls a funny anecdote when I asked him about sparring with the daughter of “The Greatest.”
“Yep, I sparred with Laila one time. She threw a jab and I rolled with it,” he remembers with a chuckle. “She threw two more jabs and I ran into her right hand. It felt like a MAN hit me! I went full speed to hit back until I realized she was a woman.”
Now fans can learn the secrets of the pros in Brewster’s “The Art of Fighting.” He is enjoying the process of gathering the champs and filming the 5-10 minute vids.
“Laila’s like a sister to me,” he comments. “And a great fighter…And now people can learn how she does it!”
And now you can meet Lamon Brewster and all the other inductees in person at the 2013 California Boxing Hall of Fame gala.
“I’m truly honored and grateful to all to be recognized in the sport of boxing and to be immortalized in the history books of the sweet science,” an appreciative Brewster said. “Thank you to all that ever encouraged or cheered for me at one time or another in my career.”
This awards show always sells out and, personally, it is one of my favorite events of the year. It’s a great place for fans to meet their boxing idols and the perfect gathering for the former champs and ex-pugilists to reconnect in this fistic fraternity. Besides photos and autographs with the boxing stars, there’s also a lunch included and live entertainment from the Denise Fraser Trio Band.
THIS INDUCTION CEREMONY ALWAYS SELLS OUT SO BE SURE TO GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!
Ticket Info: 50.00 (Includes Lunch/Awards Ceremony)
(818) 761-4887
Photos by Michele Chong
After viewing the video of the Roach vs. Rios camp, we all have our share of bad decision’s and moment’s in our lives, and there’s fault on both sides of the fence as a result of poor judgment. When Muhammad Ali made his career out of memorable moment’s filled with controversial taunt’s and slur’s toward his opponent’s, it was all designed to help promote the FIGHT. But in a strange way Ali sparked interest in the Sport. But the Roach vs. Rios camp incident is bad for Boxing, and maybe we should all adopt the precept’s and principle’s of how a George Foreman would react as an ambassador to our Great Sport.
Lamon Brewster’s recent induction was an honorable and deserving selection to the California Boxing Hall of Fame. Boxing is blessed to have a Champion with the caliber
and integrity of a Lamon Brewster.
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