Tag Archives: Kelly Swanson

SWANSON COMMUNICATIONS PRESIDENT AND BUFFALO, NEW YORK NATIVE KELLY SWANSON INDUCTED INTO BUFFALO’S RING 44 BOXING HALL OF FAME ON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23

 

(Left Photo from left to right: Swanson along with Amateur Boxer of the Year Kristin McMurtree, boxing judge & inductee Dave Moretti, former heavyweight & inductee Billy Tompkins & Buffalo Veterans Boxing Association President Bob Caico; Right Photo: Swanson with her family)

 
 
BROOKLYN (September 26, 2016) – The Buffalo Veteran Boxers Association inducted Swanson Communications President Kelly Swanson into the Ring 44 Buffalo Boxing Hall of Fame on Friday, September 23 as part of its 20th class.
Swanson, along with five other new inductees, including Dave Moretti, Billy Tompkins, Dummy Burns, Stan Myka and Pete Tamalonis were honored at the organization’s annual dinner and awards ceremony at Ilio Dipaolo Restaurant in Blasdell, NY
“It is such an honor to be recognized by my hometown for my work in boxing over the last 20 years,” said Swanson, a North Buffalo-native who has worked in boxing for over two decades, representing some of the sport’s biggest names including Floyd Mayweather, Bernard Hopkins and Riddick Bowe.  “I am proud to be from the Queen City and thrilled to join an incredible class of inductees.
“Boxing is a sport of opportunity and it has opened so many doors for me. I have been privileged to with some of the best fighters and work on some of the biggest events the sport has witnessed over the course of these 20 years.  I don’t remember a time when I didn’t love boxing and I look forward to continuing to publicize and promote fighters and events for many years to come.”
“Congratulations to Kelly for her honor,” said Mayweather. “We’ve been together for a long time, more than 10 years, and I am happy she is being recognized for all of her great work.”
“There’s no woman in this game that has accomplished as much as Kelly,” said Hopkins. “She’s the top as far as publicists go and everyone knows it. I’ve been with her for 10 plus years and she always did her best and took her job seriously. She has no problem telling any fighter – from a prospect to a champion – how she feels and what she believes will make them succeed. This honor is well deserved.”
Swanson not only works in boxing, but stays involved in the sport in her off time as well. She works out at the famed Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, blocks from her New York City office. She is also a board member for the gym’s “Give a Kid a Dream” program, which offers children from disadvantaged backgrounds a place to develop themselves physically and mentally through boxing.
“I have worked for Kelly for over eight years and I’m still learning,” said Lisa Milner Goldberg, Vice President of Swanson Communications. “I constantly find myself in awe of the ideas she dreams up, her creativity and her loyalty to her clients. She is very deserving of this recognition, especially because she is so proud of her hometown.”

BOXING’S TOP WOMEN TO HONOR KATHY DUVA WITH “RAGING BABE LUMINARY” AWARD AT RAGING BABE BRUNCH, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 

NEW YORK – May 24, 2016 – The weekend of June 11th, boxing’s most influential women will gather for brunch in the Big Apple for the 7th Raging Babe event of its kind, dubbed New York, New York. Attendees will include promoters, network executives, public relations representatives, referees, fighters and others, and come from diverse backgrounds, cultures and levels of experience. Women who have attended Raging Babe events have networked, forged business and personal relationships and have been inspired by the stories of success and persistence shared by the hundreds of attendees over the past few years. There may be no woman that better personifies a story of success and persistence than Kathy Duva, who will be honored with the Raging Babe Luminary Award at the brunch.

Duva, the CEO of Main Events, and a mother of three, has been involved with boxing for nearly forty years, entering the business while in college with her then boyfriend Dan Duva. The Duvas teamed up to promote some of boxing’s top talent over the years under the Main Events banner, including Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Pernell Whitacker, Arturo Gatti and Fernando Vargas, all while cultivating powerful relationships with HBO and other networks. Kathy continued her husband’s legacy after his passing in 1996, becoming one of the most recognized figures in boxing. Most recently, Duva and Main Events have developed one of boxing’s most avoided superstars in Sergey Kovalev.

“Kathy Duva is the perfect honoree for our first New York City Brunch,” said Raging Babe founder and namesake Michelle Rosado. “Boxing, like the ‘Concrete Jungle,’ has so many hard edges, and can be tough to navigate…but like New York City, it is full of opportunity for the right type of person, and Kathy Duva is that kind of person. She’s a headstrong, smart and persistent woman, who has an uncanny ability to endear people to her while not taking any gruff from anyone. It’s our honor to recognize her at the brunch.”

Past Raging Babe event honorees have included the “First Lady of Boxing” Jackie Kallen, Public Relations ace Kelly Swanson, TV trailblazer Claudia Trejo, heart transplant recipient Kennedy Cunningham,  Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame Chief Operating Officer Michelle Corrales-Lewis, and Golden Boy’s Monica Sears. “It’s a privilege to stand in a room with women of this caliber,” said Rosado. “The Raging Babe Brunch started as a concept…something we might try to do yearly, but it’s become such a powerful and valuable event for attendees, we’re growing and doing more than one event per year. We’re able to do this because of the women of boxing that continue to support the event, and of course, thanks to our event partners.
 
The East Coast is well overdue for a Raging Babe Brunch, and I’m so pleased to be able to work with our partners to bring the event to New York City.”

The Raging Babe Brunch is made possible by the generous support of World Boxing Organization (WBO), War Tape, Box Stats, Boss Case (owned and operated by Raging Babe Livvy Cunningham), World Boxing Council (WBC) and Youth Fighting Forward.

For information on attending or sponsoring this prestigious event, please contactmichelle@ragingbabe.com.

BOXING’S MOST INFLUENTIAL WOMEN TO “STAY GOLDEN” AT RAGING BABE BRUNCH

LAS VEGAS – November 5, 2015 – In less than three weeks, fight fans and boxing’s top industry talents from all over the world will descend on the “Boxing Capital of the World” for the highly anticipated clash between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Miguel Cotto. On the morning of the November 21st showdown, boxing’s brightest and most influential women will gather for brunch at Mandalay Bay to honor Golden Boy Promotions’ Vice President of Operations, Monica Sears. This year’s event, dubbed “Stay Golden,” will continue the long-standing Raging Babe tradition of hosting events that are exclusive, powerful platforms for building personal and professional relationships between boxing businesswomen. 
This year’s Raging Babe Brunch, the sixth such event, will be hosted by “Raging Babe” Michelle Rosado, and “The First Lady of Boxing,” Jackie Kallen. This year’s honoree, the multi-talented Monica Sears, first began her journey with Golden Boy Promotions in 2007 as a Public Relations Coordinator. She quickly established herself as the go-to person for the company, its fighters, television, venue and sponsorship partners, and media. In 2010, she was promoted to Director of Communications and Events. It was in this role that she earned accolades for her “in the trenches,” all-encompassing style of producing boxing events. If she wasn’t accommodating or credentialing media at an event, she was backstage, in the ring, advising a camera operator of the best angle… In short, she was everywhere. In 2013, she was promoted to her current role of Vice President of Operations for the boxing powerhouse. Said Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions’ Sr. Vice President of Sears, “I am very proud of Monica and her development as a promoter.  In my opinion she is the hardest working woman in boxing.  It is a pleasure to have her on our team.”
Past Raging Babe event honorees have included Jackie Kallen, Public Relations ace Kelly Swanson, TV trailblazer Claudia Trejos, Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame Chief Operating Officer Michelle Corrales-Lewis, and, most recently, heart transplant recipient and the epitome of a “Raging Babe,” Kennedy Cunningham. “The Raging Babe Brunch and other events have far exceeded any expectations I had when I conceived this idea of bringing women together to network and share their experiences and triumphs as women in the boxing industry,” said Michelle Rosado. “Lifetime friendships and business partnerships have been forged at previous events, and Stay Golden will be no different. It’s a pleasure to have the opportunity to honor Monica Sears, and I’m thrilled to see the event continue to grow and be successful.” 
Rosado mentor Jackie Kallen, who has been an enduring presence at Raging Babe events, will be on hand to co-host the event. “I couldn’t be happier to step into the role of co-host at this valuable event,” said Kallen. “I am thrilled to see both Raging Babe the company, and ‘Raging Babe’ Michelle Rosado continue to bring women together to move forward in a productive way in the boxing industry. Monica Sears is the perfect honoree for this occasion, given the magnitude of that weekend’s fights, and the many others she produced.” 
This year’s event is made possible by the generous support of the World Boxing Council and Youth Fighting Forward, a New York-based non-profit organization dedicated to creating champions inside and outside the ring. Youth Fighting Forward has branches in Brooklyn and in Danbury, Connecticut. 
For information on attending or sponsoring this prestigious event, please contactmichelle@ragingbabe.com.

FLOYD MAYWEATHER MEDIA CONFERENCE CALL TRANSCRIPT

 Kelly Swanson         

Thanks, everybody, for joining us today. Today on the call we have none other than ‘TBE’ the greatest fighter on the earth, Floyd Mayweather, 11-time World Champion. We also have Leonard Ellerbe, CEO, Mayweather Promotions.  Leonard, please start with the introductions.  Thank you.

 

Leonard Ellerbe       

Thank you, everyone, for joining us on the call. We’ll jump right into this without further ado.  None other than Floyd Mayweather himself.

 

Floyd Mayweather   

Hey, how is everyone doing?  I want to thank Leonard.  I want to thank Kelly.  I want to thank my team.  I want to thank all the media from around the world that have been covering this fight.  I want to thank everyone, I just want to say that you guys are doing a great job and I appreciate you.

 

Q

That thing on SportsCenter the other night, when you were talking about your place in boxing history and you said you thought you were greater than Muhammad Ali.  Can you expand on your reasons why you feel that way?

 

F. Mayweather         

I just feel like, like I said before, I take my hat off and then acknowledge all of the past champions. Ali, I think he was a legend.  I respect Ali like I respect any other champion.  I just feel like I’ve done everything I can do in this sport over my whole life, for 30-something years.  I feel like I’ve done just as much in this sport as Ali did.

 

There’s no disrespect to him.  I just feel like, when you look at it, Ali was great in one weight class, which is heavyweight.  But he stood up for a good cause; he stood up for a hell of a cause in his era.

 

I think that it’s hard for a guy to beat me. I’m still sharp, still very, very sharp at the age of 38.  Still going strong at the age of 38.  There’s no disrespect to Ali, as I said before.  I just feel like I’m the best, no different from how he called himself ‘The Greatest,’ I call myself ‘TBE.’

 

I’m pretty sure that I will get criticized for what I said, but I can care less.  I couldn’t care less about the backlash.  I believe what I believe like he probably got criticized at one particular time when he said that he was the greatest.  He felt like he was better than Sugar Ray Robinson.  The list goes on and on.  I’m pretty sure there’s going to be another fighter that’s going to come along and say he’s better than Floyd Mayweather and he’s going to get criticized.

 

Q        

Do you think that Manny Pacquiao believes anything that Freddie Roach is saying when it comes to the bad guy and all this other stuff?  Or do you think he’s just blowing smoke?

 

F. Mayweather         

I’m not going to speak negative about Freddie Roach.  I don’t have to at all.  If I say something about the guy, they’re going to think Floyd is picking on a guy, who is not 100 percent healthy.

 

Then, if I comment on some of the stuff he says, he’s making this basically a God and devil type thing.  The best way to handle a situation like that, is not to say anything at all, if you don’t have anything positive to say.  He don’t have to get in there and fight, so when it comes down to it, it’s up to the two fighters.

 

He’s entitled to say what he wants to say, but the fighter is not speaking like that.  I couldn’t care less because it comes down to the two fighters.  I wish Freddie Roach nothing but the best; I don’t have anything negative to say about him.  I’m truly blessed to be where I’m at and I’m thankful to be where I’m at.

 

Q

The magnitude of this fight, I know you treat it like just another fight, but what about your team?  How has your team dealt with the press?

 

F. Mayweather         

I’m very happy, like I said before.  A little bit of everything got me to this point. Everybody played a major key.  I try to keep my team grounded.  People talk about the money.  That plays a major key.  My place in history plays a major key.  Performing well plays a major key.  Everything plays a major, major key.

 

I just try to keep my team grounded and try to keep them focused and just try to teach them every day how to go out there and fish for themselves.  That’s the only thing I try to teach my team.  I tell them to stay positive, and what I’ve heard was keep a positive environment around myself, which keeps me comfortable and happy.

 

Q

Are you excited at any point of this fight?  I know you say you treat this like a job, but are you excited to finally get in the ring and have this fight happen?

 

F. Mayweather         

It’s just like I said before.  I’m not really going crazy.  It’s just a fight to me.  I know it’s the biggest fight in boxing history, but I can’t approach it like that because I’m not going to put any unnecessary pressure on myself.

 

He’s a fighter that’s extremely talented, he’s a very good fighter also, and my thing is just to be Floyd Mayweather.  People actually don’t know, how is this fight going to be fought?  I can’t say.  Like I said before, I’m not a psychic.  I cannot predict the future.  But I will be at my best May 2nd.

 

Q

Listen, if you believe Bob Arum, this fight might not happen.  That there’s issues with tickets, there’s the contract has not been signed, whatever.  Do you know anything about that?

 

F. Mayweather         

When it comes to the business side, that’s for Leonard Ellerbe.  I don’t try to worry about tickets; I try to worry about the guy that’s in front of in me, which is going to be Manny Pacquiao.  That’s my whole focus.  Tickets are something I don’t really deal with.

 

Q

Have you trained harder for any previous fight than you have for this one, and would that be down to your respect for Manny or the fact that you need to work a bit harder the older you get?

 

F. Mayweather         

When you’re trying to perform, when you’re at this level, you always want to perform extremely well.  You don’t want to overtrain.  You want to train to where you know you’re completely ready.  Go out there and be at just 100 percent.  As far as this training camp, I’ve trained extremely hard.  I believe that we’ll just see how everything plays out.

 

Q

I’m hearing reports, Floyd, that you’re looking stronger and fitter than ever.

 

F. Mayweather         

Well, some people say that, you might not believe that depending on who is telling you. Hopefully.  Hopefully I am.  We’ll just have to see.  That’s why I’m at this level, at the pinnacle of my career, because I’ve been pushing myself for so long and working so hard.

 

Q

Can I just ask you about Amir Khan?  Is he still in your plans?

 

F. Mayweather

My focus right now is the guy that’s in front of me.  My last fight is in September.  I never want to overlook anyone.  I believe you take it one fighter at a time.  As of right now, Manny Pacquaio is the guy that’s in front of me, and that’s my focus.

 

Q

My question is regarding, Manny Pacquiao has said he thinks it’s Floyd’s time to lose.  He’s almost implying that it’s maybe, God is on his side.  I was wondering how you think, if God actually does care who wins prizefights?

 

F. Mayweather         

I actually believe God loves us all.  The people that are on this call, every writer, every fighter, every athlete that goes out there and competes.  God loves us all.  Once again, I’m a fighter.  What I do, I’m a professional prizefighter.  I believe in God and I love God. I don’t think God takes sides.

 

Q

Lot of stuff gets reported in the fourth or the sixth weeks leading up to this.  We don’t always get a chance to ask you yourself, so I want to give you the opportunity.  Is there anything that was reported that you want to clear up that you want to actually say no, that isn’t true, you guys got it wrong?

 

F. Mayweather         

No, nothing at all.  Because once my career is over, that’s when I’m going to read everything, anyway, all the articles that people have written.  When I come home, I leave boxing at the boxing gym.  When I go to the gym or when I go to train, I work.  I dedicate myself to my craft.

 

When I come home and I’m not on the computer, I’m not looking at myself.  I’m not buying magazine covers with me on the cover.  I’m not on the computer looking up articles.  I could care less about all that.  My job is to go out there and perform and be at my best, and be the best that I can be in the sport of boxing.

 

Q

My question for you is, in your opinion, what would a victory against Pacquiao do for your legacy?  And then how much would it enhance your legacy.

 

F. Mayweather         

It’s just another fight. I just look at the situation.  He’s another guy that I faced.  You’re just going to say in history, that these two faced each other at one particular time.  It was hard to make the fight happen, eventually they made the fight happen, and we faced each other.

 

Q

Do you believe, though, that a victory would in some way enhance your legacy?

 

F. Mayweather         

I’m not sure, because I’m not the one that’s putting myself in the history books.

 

Q

Do you think it’s true that the winner of the fight will be declared, in essence, by the public, as the king of this era?

 

F. Mayweather         

I can’t really say.  I don’t really know.  Just look at Ali’s career.  When he fought, he looked like the best when he fought.  I think he lost seven fights.  When I got older I noticed that he lost seven fights and lost some other fight that he lost.  He still was known as the greatest. Because that’s what he put out there.  So, that’s what it is.

 

Q

The wonderment on a lot of people’s minds is when the career is over, will you have enough money for the rest of your life?  Do you ever worry about losing at all?

 

F. Mayweather         

I’m blessed. I made some good investments to where if I wanted to retire today, I could.

 

Q

That means there’s no fear of bankruptcy whatsoever in terms of the gambling and the other involvements that you’ve spent?

 

F. Mayweather         

I made some good investments, and if I wanted to retire today, I could.

 

Q        

My question is, you said at the press conference that you though that Pacquiao was surprised at how much bigger you were than him.  Can you talk a little bit about that, and then also some of the strategic aspects of being the bigger fighter in the ring on May 2?

 

F. Mayweather         

Normally when I face an opponent, they normally outweighed me by 17 to 20 pounds on fight nights.  This has been going on for a good while now.  You can read a guy’s body language.  When Pacquiao first saw me in Miami, he didn’t expect to see me over there at the basketball game. He looked shocked, like, ‘Damn, he is taller than me.  He’s bigger than what I thought he was.’ Just being in the sport for so long, you’re able to read body language; you’re able to read a fighter’s eyes.

 

Q

Do you feel that some of the trash talking is Freddie Roach being nervous about the fight and trying to get a psychological edge on you?

 

F. Mayweather         

I’m not fighting Freddie Roach, so I’m not worried about that at all.  Freddie Roach, he’s Pacquiao’s trainer and he’s going to do what he has to do for his fighter to win.  If that’s trying to get an edge, then that’s what he should do.

 

Q

All of your other fights, you’ve always been a very vocal, always been a vocal fighter.  Why the silence this time?

 

F. Mayweather         

This is exactly what I’ve said.  Even in my interviews, I’ve said we had to bring a game plan.  Even from day one when I was with Bob Arum, I said I wanted to work extremely hard to get to a certain point in my career, which is to get to a point to be the first fighter to ever make nine figures in one night.

 

It took a game plan to me going out there on my own.  It’s just me speaking out with a very, very loud voice.  Having a lot of personality.  But as you get older, you mature.  After trash talking for 17, 18 years, and constantly saying, look what I’ve done.  Look at me.  Look at me.  You know what I’m saying?  I’m the best.  Look at me.  And everybody they’ve put in front of me I’ve beaten.

 

I’m at a point where you just say, you know what?  It is what it is.  I know what I can do.  I know what I bring to the table.  God has truly blessed me to be in this situation.  I have a good team.  My children are healthy, so I don’t have to do all that.

 

It’s more like I did all that loud talking and everything to get to a certain point.  I’ve still got a lot of personality, I did what I had to do to get to a certain point in my career, and that’s what I did.  It was a brilliant game plan.

 

Q

From your personal point of view, how has this fight and this promotion been different from the many other big events that you’ve been a part of?

 

F. Mayweather         

It’s actually been kind of the same.  It’s just a little bit over the top, but I just try to stay relaxed.  That’s my main thing.  It’s a very, very huge event.  I can remember every day.

 

Sometimes I think about when Mike Tyson got out of prison and he was boxing, and when he was fighting at the MGM Grand.  I would go to the MGM Grand, because I wasn’t a professional at that particular time.  Just starting.  I would go to the MGM Grand and some people would know me so I would take pictures and just sign a few autographs.  I was like, man, MGM Grand would never be this packed again.  That’s what I thought.  I was only 19 years old at that particular time.  That was in ’96.  I kept believing though. I always believed that I could do record-breaking numbers.  I just needed the right team with me and it took a little bit of everything.  The right fights, the right team, and we made it happen.

 

Q

Beyond all the trash talk and salesmanship, you’ve always been a guy that, when it comes down to it, is very respectful of his opponents.  I think it’s part of your secret.  Is there anything that you admire about Manny Pacquiao, either the fighter or the person?

 

F. Mayweather         

Well, he’s got to this point by doing something right.  It’s obvious he’s done something right to get to this point.  I have to respect that.

 

Q        

The Filipino fans are expecting or hoping for a very aggressive Manny in the ring.  Is this something that you’re training for, or are you just going in the ring to fight your fight, make the adjustments along the way as you have so successfully throughout your career?

 

F. Mayweather         

If you’re basically asking what’s my game plan, my game plan is to win.  That’s actually what my game plan has always been is to win.

 

Q

A lot of the animosity from the Filipino fans towards you is not directed to you as a great boxer, but more as someone who can put an end towards a Filipino hero’s career. Do you honestly believe that you would put an end to a Filipino hero’s career?

 

F. Mayweather         

Well, my thing is this.  I’ve heard that we’re all God’s children, whether you’re American, Filipino, African, Dominican, Asian, we’re all God’s children.  People are going to root for who they want to root for and simple and plain I’m pretty sure I’ve got Filipino fans that like me, and I’m pretty sure that you’ve got some black American fans that like Pacquiao.

 

I never try to focus on anything like that.  My focus is to give the people what they really want to see.  Just facing the facts.  That’s what I’ve done throughout my career.  He’s one of the last guys, he’s one of the last good fighters of this era.  It’s a fight that has to happen, and I’m glad that the fight is happening.

 

Q

How much strength and effort and support from family does it take to get you where you are right now?

 

F. Mayweather         

Well, the support came a lot.  I had a hell of a supporting cast to get to this point, before I became a professional.  There’s this guy that I never talk about to anyone.  I never say anything about him to anyone.  And he’s doing extremely badly right now, not financially but health-wise.  I believe he’s lost his memory, which hurts extremely bad.  A guy by the name of Frank Brown, I’ve known him since I was the age of three.

 

He has supported me more than anyone.  He has always said that, “Floyd, one day you will be the best fighter in the world.”  He’s always taking me to church, taking me through different activities.  He was like a grandfather to me.  Frank Brown.  When I used to fight, he would drive anywhere.  It could be in Little Rock, Arkansas.  He would drive from Grand Rapids, Michigan to come support me.  He would sit in the room with me and say prayers with me.

 

He’s a guy that I would never forget, because he was there from the age of three until after I fought De La Hoya, because he’s up there in age now.  He eventually lost his memory, so he’s at a home.  He’s at an old folks’ home.  It really hurts, but I love that guy so much.  I think about him all the time.

 

K. Swanson  

Okay, that’s our last question.  Thank you, everybody, for joining us.  Floyd, any final comments?

 

F. Mayweather         

I just want to tell everybody, thank you for all the stories, and all the articles you guys wrote.  Thank you so much.  My team appreciates you all, as well as myself.  Thank you.

 

*          *          *

 

Mayweather vs. Pacquiao is a 12-round welterweight world championship unification bout promoted by Mayweather Promotions and Top Rank Inc., and is sponsored by Tecate con caracter, Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions -Terminator Genisys, in theaters July 1st, Paramount Pictures & Skydance Productions present MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: ROGUE NATION, in theaters & IMAX July 31st, The Weinstein Company and the new movie Southpaw, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, in theaters everywhere July 24 and Mexico, Live it to Believe it. The pay-per-view telecast will be co-produced and co-distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View® and SHOWTIME PPV® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.