March 10, 2004

Heavyweight Jeremy Williams grew up in Southern California with Willie McGinest. Williams' athletic skills guided him toward boxing. McGinest went with football.

"Willie McGinest went into the NFL at the same time that I was getting into boxing," Williams said. "He's got a couple of world championships, and I'm a pretty good boxer. But he also has a pension, a union rep and he's in a video game. If I quit boxing today I have nothing other than what I have at home and my wife and kids."

Williams has spent 12 years boxing, and with no pension and health benefits, he could wind up with nothing to show for it if he suffers a career-ending injury in the ring.

That's why Williams has signed up to be a member of the Joint Association of Boxers, a boxing union under the Teamsters' umbrella. Williams will meet Attila Levin in the main event of a card at the Hammerstein Ballroom on April 15. The bout will be broadcast on Showtime's "ShoBox" program.

The problem with a boxing union is boxing. Yes, there are unions in other sports. But those team sports are more organized than boxing. They have a league with owners and a commissioner, which means there are centralized groups for the players union to negotiate things like pensions and health benefits. You think promoters Don King or Bob Arum are going to fund a pension for a boxer? How about enrolling them in an HMO? You think Oscar De La Hoya would do it?

Boxing has operated as a financial free-for-all for so long it will be very difficult to get everyone to work for the collective good of the sport and the long-term health and wealth of the boxers.

Promoter Cedric Kushner signed an agreement with the union that set minimums on the purses, which means all the boxers on the April 15 card are J.A.B.members. The $800 purse for four-round boxers is double what they normally get, according to Walter Kane, the union's lawyer. The boxers have to pay the J.A.B. 3% of their purse.

Kushner and Kane think that a boxing union can give the sport a needed shot of credibility. That in turn could attract major sponsors for promoters and endorsements for boxers, meaning there could be money for pensions and health plans.

Former light heavyweight champ Eddie Mustafa Muhammad is president of the J.A.B. He said he has led the effort to recruit and sign up boxers (200 so far) and has already gotten interest from boxers in Europe and Africa. Jameel McCline, also on the April 15 card, learned about the union last week and joined.

"My vision is that at the end of the day boxers who retire will still keep their dignity," Muhammad said. "I don't want boxers to go around asking for handouts. I want them to be able to say 'I'm a member of Local 202 and I've got my pension and my health benefits.'"

There is no pension plan and there are no health benefits yet, which raises suspicions. Muhammad said that people are throwing darts from all quarters, but he's not ducking or caving in.

"I've been a fighter all my life," Muhammad said. "I've been 15 rounds. I'm going the distance with this one."

Heavy Date

Former heavyweight champ Hasim Rahman, who lost the WBA title to John Ruiz on Dec. 13, returns to the ring against Al Cole in the popular "Ballroom Boxing" series in Glen Burnie, Md., tomorrow night on Comcast SportsNet at 9 p.m.... Tony Paige will do his WFAN radio show from the site of the Shane Mosley-Winky Wright match at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on Friday night (10 p.m.-2 a.m.) and Saturday night (11:30 p.m.-2 a.m.)....Madison Square Garden is back in the running for a Floyd Mayweather Jr. match on May 22 because Paul Spadafora, who couldn't get licensed by the NYSAC, pulled out as an opponent. A search for a new opponent continues. Puerto Rican lightweight sensation Miguel Cotto will be on the undercard....Brooklyn lightweight Paulie Malignaggi will headline a ShoBox card at the Grand Ballroom at Manhattan Center on April 22.

This article appeared in the New York Daily News on March 10, 2004.
 

©2003-2007 Joint Association of Boxers
P.O. Box 2662
New York, NY 10108
Eddie Mustafa Muhammad
(202) 437-5755
info@boxersunion.org