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Final bell tolls for popular Boxing manager Si Stern

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KEY WEST, Fla (September 6, 2015) -Boxing manager Si Stern, president of SHS Boxing Management, passed away at the age of 81 this past Monday due to complications from a heart attack.
Stern managed three-time, two-division Randall “The Knock Out King” Bailey, veteran heavyweight Sherman “Tank” Williams, Marcus “Arillius” Upshaw and former Cuban Olympian Robert Alfonso.
A very successful businessman, Williams explained that Stern also had a law degree and studied at one point to be a rabbi.  Si recently returned from Romania, where he supported Williams at his fight, on Sunday, Aug. 30 and he suffered a heart attack the following day at home in Key West.  He was air lifted to a hospital in Miami, where he remained for a week before he succumbed.
Bailey and Stern’s partner, Dave Johnson, along with Stern’s son, Gary, and daughter, Cynthia, were bedside in the hospital with Si for several days until the end.  “I spoke to Si on Sunday night (August 30) and got a call the next day saying he had been admitted to the hospital,” Bailey explained.  “He suffered a massive heart attack. Things were up and down all week until last weekend.
Randall Bailey (L) with Si Stern (holding belt) and his son, Gary Stern, shown here after Bailey knocked out Mike Jones in 2012 for the IBF welterweight title
“Si was a great guy and a good friend.  As a manager, he always fought for his boxers.  If nobody else cared, Si cared; if they couldn’t do it, Si would do it.  I was with him nearly 10 years and nobody was throwing money our way.  It was hard for us.  I only made enough money in a few fights, like when I won the world title, where he took any money.   If Si had your back, he’d go to war with you.
“He’d drive up from Key West to Miami to see me but, instead of staying overnight, he’d drive back. He’d call me call me 10 times while he drove home.  He was so happy to get me a promotional contract (AK Promotions in Korea) and was really looking forward to my fight October 4th in Korea.  I’m dedicating that fight to Si and we’ll be doing something special.”
L-R: Si Stern & Sherman “Tank” Williams shown here in Romania
Williams was managed by Stern for the past 11 years and they had a special relationship.  They had dinner together in Romania and flew back to the U.S., arriving Sunday, August 30.
“Si was much more than my manager,” Williams offered.  “He was a good friend, a confident I could always rely on for advice, in and out of boxing.  Si was an all-around good man.  We had many deep discussion about politics and religion, me being a Christian and Si a Jew, especially spending so many days together in Romania.
“We all lost a good man in Si Stern.  I was proud to be represented by Si.  He wasn’t in boxing for the money.  He was an important part of my life.  He was always there for me and all of his fighters.  Si never took a short cut or spared money.  Si Stern was the best manager I ever had.”
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Randall Bailey serves notice to any & all Top rated junior middleweights in world

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  SHS BOXING MANAGEMENT     
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Undefeated Cuban heavyweight

Robert Alfonso also impresses

(L-R) Trainer Orlando Cuellar and Randall “KO King” Bailey celebrate after last Saturday’s victory

MIAMI (June 25, 2015) – Coming off 19-months of inactivity and making his junior middleweight debut last weekend, Randall “KO King” Bailey (45-8, 38 KOs) served notice that he’s making a serious run at yet another world title in a different weight class.

 

Three-time, two-division world champion Bailey stopped veteran Gundrick “Sho-Gun” King (18-15, 11 KOs) in the second round with a left hook, not his notorious right, in the main event at Riverdale Center of Arts in Riverdale, Georgia.

 

“In the first round,” the 40-year-old Bailey explained, “I just wanted to get the feel in the ring and start using my jab. I hit him with a couple of good right hands, but I knew he was experienced and that he was looking for my right. I came out in the second using my jab and left hook, starting to really feel it again. I crushed him with my left hook. I’ve been telling people I have more than my right but they haven’t listened.   I did have a little rust in the first round but, in the second, I had my jab working, backed him up with it, and started putting my punches together.

 

“Fighting at 154 was, well, just another fight. I did feel stronger, though. Now? I just want to stay busy. It doesn’t matter who I fight, I’m not worried about anybody at 154, but I don’t really have enough time left to take baby steps. I want to get right back in the ring. It’s go time for The King!”

 

“Sho-Gun” King may not be at the top of the junior middleweight ladder but, he’s a battle-tested, experienced opponent, especially as an opponent for a fighter coming off a 1-½ year layoff such as Bailey. Bailey certainly showed enough against King for his head trainer, Orlando Cuellar, to be impressed.

 

“This was our first fight working together but I’ve seen Randall fight for years,” Cuellar said. “We worked on masking his big right hand by staying busy with his left hand, sitting back on his jab, not falling in, and hooking off his jab. He did it in training camp but sparring and fighting are different. He touched his opponent with his jab in the first round as I instructed. I wanted everything to come off his jab and for him to throw rights to the body, always throwing the first and last punch. In the second round, he effectively used his left hook to the head and body.

 

“Randall Bailey looked better than he has in three years. He’s not backing up. Randall’s finding range with his jab, hooking off the jab, mixing it up and moving around, going to the head and body. His opponent never saw the left hook because he was looking for the big right. He listened and everything came off his jab. I believe he can be as good as he was five years ago. Now, he’s a real sharp shooter. I was very impressed by his performance and I’m very hopeful about his boxing future.”

 

Bailey’s longtime manager, Si Stern, summed it up best: “This was his first fight at 154 and he already looks like a champion. He was a little rusty at first but, unlike in the past, he started moving all over the place. With his knockout power and now this movement, left hook and jab, Randall Bailey is even more dangerous than ever before. I’m fielding some calls about fights for him. If it’s a big fight and the money is good, we’ll take that next. But he won’t fight for peanuts, so, if the big fight isn’t there next, we take another fight and hope the one after that is the big one. Randall is ready to fight any junior middleweight in the world……if the price is right.”

 

Follow him on Twitter @KOKING_Bailey.

 

Undefeated Cuban heavyweight prospect Robert Alfonso shines

 

Bailey’s stable-mate, undefeated Cuban heavyweight prospect Robert Alfonso (6-0, 2 KOs), also shined last week on the Bailey-King undercard, starching mammoth Kevin Kelley (1-4, 1 KO) with a thunderous punches in the third round.

 

The 2008 Cuban Olympian, who now lives and trains in Miami, gave away more than 100 pounds to his 353-pound opponent. Alfonso came out throwing punishing punches from the opening bell, right up until the fight was halted by the referee in the third round.

 

“I’m very proud of Robert,” his trainer Cuellar noted. “He wasn’t known for his power but Robert’s very strong and he can really crack. He hit this guy with a right-left-right and knocked him down face first. The fight should have been stopped then, but he beat the count and the ref let it continue. It lasted only one more punch. His opponent had never been down before. Robert showed his new character as a legitimate knockout artist. He let his hands go and put his punches together. This cat can really crack! He was aggressive from the start, generating power with every single punch he threw.”

 

Stern firmly believes he has a future world heavyweight champion in Alfonso. “Robert weighed in at 250 pounds and he delivered a knockout blow to his 363-pound opponent that was incredible to see,” Stern remarked. “He went straight up in the air and landed flat on his face. I was really impressed by Robert’s power. People love watching heavyweights who knockout people and Robert can do that and a lot more. He may have another six-round fight next, or move up to eight rounds. Another three-four fights or so and he’ll be fighting 10-rounders. Our plan is to get him to around 15-0 with 10-11 KOs, which should get him into a world title fight.”
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Randall Bailey returns June 20 in Atlanta area Moving up to junior middleweight for last hurrah

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  SHS BOXING MANAGEMENT     

MIAMI (June 11, 2015) – Three-time, two division world champion Randall “KO King” Bailey (44-8, 37 KOs) returns to the ring June 20 after a long absence to fight veteran Gundrick “Sho-Gun” King (18-14, 11 KOs) in the 10-round main event at Riverdale Center of Arts in Riverdale, Georgia.

 

Contrary to some erroneous reports and misconceptions, the 40-year-old Bailey never retired. Unfortunately, he hasn’t fought in 1 ½ years, only four times in nearly five years, due to his well-earned reputation as, pound-for-pound, one of the hardest one-punch boxers in the world.

 

Bailey, fighting out of Miami, last fought November 23, 2013 in Tampa, after a 13-months of inactivity, defeating Ecuador welterweight Humberto “Bam Bam” Toledo (41-11-2, 25 KOs) by way of an eighth-round disqualification. He will be making his junior welterweight debut against King, launching the final chapter of his storied boxing career.

 

“I haven’t been sitting out because I wanted to,” Bailey explained. “We’ve tried to get fights but I’ve been frozen out. It’s been rough but I won’t let it bother me. I just go with the flow, what’s been given to me. I couldn’t get the top junior welterweights to fight me; I’m not afraid to move up to junior middleweight, where I hope to fight ‘Canelo ‘(Saul Alvarez) or (Erislandy) Lara.

 

“I try to explain that I’m not your average 40-year-old boxer. I’m not out every night drinking, getting high, or doing any extra-curricular activities. If these guys really felt I was old, they’d be fighting me. In the Mike Jones fight, they saw a guy losing after 11 rounds but, with a drop of a dime, I let my hands go and ended the show. (Bailey knocked out 26-0 Jones in the 11th round to capture the IBF welterweight title.) They all fade but I don’t.”

 

Bailey has shattered many fighters’ dreams during his 19-year professional career. In addition to Jones, Bailey has defeated a strong group of junior welterweights and welterweights of the past two decades, including Rocky Martinez, Carlos Gonzalez,Hector Lopez, Demetrio Ceballos, Anthony Mora, DeMarcus Corley and Jackson Osei Bonsu. Seven of Bailey’s eight career losses have been to world champions Miguel Cotto, Diosbelys Hurtado, Ener Julio, Ishe Smith, Juan Urango, Corley and Devon Alexander. His only other professional loss was to two-time world title challenger Herman Ngoudjo.

 

Bailey is a promotional free agent. “I’ve come to the point where I’m been having trouble with it,” Bailey’s manager Si Stern spoke about his difficulties landing fights the past few years for a high-risk, dangerous fighter such as Bailey. “If I were a promoter who had a fighter with a great record, why wouldn’t I want to test him against Randall Bailey? I don’t understand these promoters. If Randall knocks his fighter out, they save a lot of time, energy and money. If Randall is beaten, they’ve got a hot fighter who beat a 3-time world champion. That makes all the sense in the world to me. I keep hearing the same excuses from promoters who say television doesn’t want Randall, but that’s BS because fans love watching a KO artist like Randall. And promoters always bring up his age as a safety factor. Most of Randall’s fights didn’t go the distance and he’s never really been on the wrong end of a war. His body hasn’t taken the wear and tear like a lot of other fighters his age. He just went up to Atlanta early to meet with the boxing commission just to show them that he’s in top shape, physically and mentally. We can do that every fight, if needed, without any problems whatsoever.

 

“Let’s face it, promoters and managers are afraid to let their guys fight Randall because they’ll get knocked out. Everybody knows Randall will fight anybody. He made himself available to fight (Floyd) Mayweather and (Manny) Pacquiao, but they didn’t want any part of him. This is what we’ve face with Randall Bailey the past few years.”

 

Bailey has been training for the first time with veteran coach Orlando Cuellar, who is best known for training former world champion Glen Johnson.

 

“Training with Orlando is all about hard work,” Bailey said. “The first week – I can’t really explain how my body felt – but everybody in the gym thought he was killing me. I wasn’t used to working like that but, once I got used to it, I started feeling it.

 

“I know I have power but, after working with Orlando, I realize it’s irrelevant without a good front hand. My jab orchestrates everything. My left look is just as good as my right, if it comes off my jab. Orlando’s helped me bring that back. I’m bringing my power to the 154-pound division and I’m excited about the change.”

 

The feeling is mutual. Cuellar, who also trains 46-year-old heavyweight contenderAntonio Tarver, the five-time, two-division world champion, as well as undefeated world light heavyweight contender Yunieski Gonzalez, among the more notables in his growing stable of fighters, believes age is simply a number for elite boxers who dedicate themselves to conditioning.

 

“Randall is still going to have his power and because he’s not depleting himself making 147,” Cuellar noted, “his power will be even greater at 154. He’ll have gas in his tank late in fights, instead of it being empty from working to make weight like he did at 147. He can run with the big dogs at 154 and still have the most knockout power.

 

“Randall was the most feared 147-pounder in boxing. Hopefully, it won’t be that way at 154, so he can be more active. As a fighter matures in age, sometimes, it’s best to move up in weight instead of using up so much energy to make weight. At 154, Randall will be better because he’ll be more active in the ring. We’re working on stuff other than his big right hand, which we’ll be masking with other punches. We’ve been together six months and he’s looked fantastic. Things are coming along nicely. I have him applying pressure, breaking down his opponent, using three distances – short, medium and long – and then using his signature (right) punch. I don’t want him to rely on knocking out a guy. We have Randall using his speed, movement, power and touching the (his opponent’s) body. He’s bought into my theory and the second coming of Randall Bailey is going to be very exciting.”

 

The final chapter, according to Bailey, will conclude with either his 50th career victory or 10th loss. “It’s all over for me if I win my 50th fight or lose my 10th,” he concluded. “I’m not going to be anybody’s opponent and, if I get to 50 wins, it’ll be all over for me.”

 

Bailey’s journey for his third divisional world title officially kicks-off June 20.

 

Follow him on Twitter @KOKING_Bailey.

 

 

Bailey’s SHS Boxing Management stablemate, 2008 Cuban Olympian Robert Alfonso (5-0, 1 KO), faces an opponent to be determined in a six-round heavyweight bout on the same June 20th card in Georgia..
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SHS Boxing Management signs Undefeated Cuban Olympian Heavyweight Robert Alfonso

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(L-R) Manager Si Stern, Cuban Olympian
Robert Alfonso and trainer Orlando Cuellar

 

MIAMI (Feb. 9, 2015) – Former Cuban Olympian Robert Alfonso has signed a managerial contract with Si Stern‘s SHS Boxing Management. The 28-year-old heavyweight prospect, who is undefeated in four professional fights, lives in Miami where he is trained by veteran Orlando Cuellar.

 

“I’m very happy and proud to be working with Si and Orlando,” Alfonso recently aid between training sessions. “I’m optimistic about my future and plan to take advantage of this great opportunity to achieve my goal of becoming undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. I haven’t had a good manager and trainer to get me going in the right direction until now.”

 

The 6′ 5″, 235-pound Alfonso is a hidden jewel who is continuing his native country’s proud heavyweight tradition, established by the late Teofilo Stevenson and carried on by Felix Savon. Alfonso’s classic style reminds some of Hall of Fame-bound Riddick Bowe.

 

A decorated amateur boxer, Alfonso reached the semifinals of the 2004 World Junior Championships, later becoming Cuba’s No. 1 super heavyweight by defeating Michel Lopez Nunez in the 2007 and 2008 Cuban National Boxing Championships.

 

At the prestigious Pan American Games in Rio, Alfonso captured a gold medal by beating Brazilian Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, 4-0, in the semifinals and Colombian Oscar Rivas, 8-4, in the championship final. Norgueira went on to become a mixed- martial-arts star in the UFC and PRIDE, while Rivas, a Colombian Olympian who now lives in Canada, is a 15-0 (10 KOs) heavyweight in the pro ranks.

 

Alfonso won a decision over United States Olympic super heavyweight Michael Hunter, Jr., 9-1, to qualify for the 2008 Olympics.

 

“As most people in boxing know,” Stern commented, “I’ve been involved in the sport for quite a while and have seen a number of good young fighters.  It’s rare to sign a management contract with someone like Robert Alfonso.  He’s in perfect heavyweight shape his background as an amateur in Cuba is remarkable. Although he’s undefeated as a pro, he needs a first-class trainer like Orlando, who has trained champions like Glen Johnson and Orlando raves about Robert’s future. I truly believe he has all the tools and heart to get to the top of the heavyweight division very quickly. I feel great about his future.”

 

Alfonso’s professional career has been relatively slow to develop because he is a free agent who didn’t defect to the United States until 2011. He made his pro debut December 7, 2012, winning a four-round decision over Robert Murray in Kissimmee. Alfonso has won all four of his pro fights, including his first six-round bout a year in his last action to previously unbeaten Zakki Scott (4-0) in Maryland.

 

Cuba-native Cuellar, perhaps best known for training world champions Glen Johnson and Luis DeValle, has also trained fellow countrymen of his and Alfonso’s such as YourkisGamboa, Juan Carlos Gomez and Yan Barthelemy, in addition to his current unbeaten world light heavyweight contender Yunieski Gonzalez. 

“Robert was a highly decorated Cuban amateur who won gold medals at several tournaments and he was an Olympian,” Cuellar said. “He is a physical specimen at 6′ 5″, 235 pounds. I train my fighters to drop and stop their opponents and we’re working hard so he can do that in his fights. Robert trains hard and is smart. I’m very high on him.”

 

SHS Management’s boxing clients also include three-time, two-division world champion Randall “KO King” Bailey, heavyweight Sherman “Tank” Williams, middleweight Marcus “Arillius” Upshaw and welterweight Damian “Devo” Frias.