This is the Middendorf Interview!

Here is the exclusive interview with matchmaker Chris Middendorf! Thanks to all of you who sent in questions. Unfortunately, I didn't get as many as I hope, so I added some of my own. However, I think this is one of the most interesting and informative interviews I've ever been a part of. My thanks also to Chris for taking time to answer the questions.

Q. A couple of folks wanted to know about your background. I know you are in the Harvard Athletic Hall of Fame as a champion sailor. But a couple of folks wanted to know about your background and how you got into this business of matchmaking.

A. In May of 1987 I made a deal with a friend of mine and ended up with a piece of the then current USBA Light Heavyweight champion, Prince Charles Williams. Six months later he beat Bobby Czyz and he reigned as World Champ for three years. It was fun, I was a silent partner and I made some money. A few years later together with that same friend, I became a more active manager and signed a number of fighters in the area and a few across the country. We signed Teddy Reid when he was 2-1, a group of heavyweights including Gerard Jones, Derek Amos, Nelson Adams and a kid from Texas named Calvin Lampkin who was 1-2. Teddy had tremendous success, and was one fight away from a world title and Lampkin ran off 19 straight wins and was about to fight his biggest fight against Oleg Maskaev, when he failed a blood test and his career was over. Throughout the four or five years that I was a manager, I did everything I could to absorb as much about the sport as I could. I was in the gyms everyday, and went to every fight I could. I worked corners, carried the spit bucket, made decisions about opponents, hustled to make fights for our fighters, traveled everywhere. During that time I invested a lot in the fighters and lost every cent of it!

I really owe becoming a matchmaker to (Maryland State Athletic Commission Executive Director) Pat Pannella. I was very careful always and probably a real pain with matchmakers about whom my guys were fighting. Pat finally said to me that I was too involved in the choosing of opponents and if I wanted to stay being a manager that I could not do that. He told me that if I was going to be that involved that I had to become a matchmaker. After a little thought I decided to go that way and a few months later I was doing the shows at Ballroom and some small shows in different places. I knew within a very short period of time that it was a good fit for me. I liked the people and I loved the challenge of trying to put on a good match. So at that point I gave up the management end of representing fighters and turned to working for various promoters across the country to make their matches.

Q. This question comes from another great matchmaker in our area, DC Boxing Hall of Famer J.D. Brown:

"As a former matchmaker for some of the biggest fights in boxing history (Leonard vs. Duran, Leonard vs Hearns, Bowe
vs. Holyfield, and Buster Douglas vs. Holyfield), I know the pressure you get in putting good fights on. Tell the audience what it takes to make a fight happen because I don’t think they have a clue of what goes on behind the scenes, and a fight is not a fight until the bell rings."

A.“I was running and I took a different route because the rain had caused there to be puddles on this one street, and I got chased by a dog, jumped over a fence to get away and sprained my ankle so I can’t fight on tomorrow nights card”!

I received that message one night from a fighter after a weigh-in. Why was the fighter running at night after a weigh-in I will never know, or maybe he was not running at all! But working as a matchmaker you have to love what you do and you have to take these calls in stride. Fighters get hurt; have problems with their managers, fall outs with their trainers, problems with their families, their jobs, their parole officers. They have all sorts of medical problems, all sorts of reasons why they might not climb through the ropes. What I am doing is working with the managers or the fighters to make a match for them against someone that they feel that they can beat at an amount of money that is appropriate to the level of the fight, the type of promotion, whether or not it is televised and whether it fits with their schedule and the development of their career. It is a constant negotiation until the contract that I sent out gets signed and returned.

Then there is the harrowing time leading up to the weigh-in, where I am hoping that the fights stay together at the same time as I am looking forward to what I imagine to be good fights. I have been blessed by doing so many shows at the Ballroom where Scott and Mike Wagner have not had promotional deals with fighters. This has allowed them to try to simply put on good fights and be willing to pay for them. For many years the shows were broadcast everywhere and it was more than easy for managers or promoters to be willing to take a riskier fight with their prospect because of the television exposure. That made it much easier to convince them and the fighters. Knowing that you were getting national television exposure, managers knew that they stood to gain a lot by having their fighter look good at the Ballroom. For a period we have been without that, which has made it much harder, but there will be television at the Ballroom again soon enough, and then things will change back. But whether there is TV or not what makes it great being a matchmaker is when the stars align and you get a great fight, whether it is a four rounder between two pro debuts or a main event.

Just like any fan, if I can sit back and enjoy a great fight and an enthusiastic crowd, what could be better? Maybe the last at bat in the bottom of the ninth, or overtime in Stanley Cup hockey, or the finals of March Madness are comparable, but for me, I will take two great, well matched fighters and the ebb and flow of an even fight. When fights can be a combination of brilliant tactics and fantastic athletic ability, combined with the tension of the moment and a wild crowd, that is, for me, a peak moment in sport. At those moments, there is no greater sport in the world, and to play a small part in it by being the matchmaker is very, very special.


Q. One person wanted to know about your thoughts on the Beltway Boxing scene, the champions and contenders.

I have lived in the DC area since 1974. This area has always been one of the most important areas in the world for producing great fighters and tremendous champions. Just look at the fighters of the last ten years- Joppy, Holmes, Reggie Green, Coley, Lamont Pearson, Mitchell, Too Sharp, Teddy Reid, Corley, Andrew Council, Rahman...the list goes on. And then look at what is going on now with Aiken as a world champ, Rahman defending his belt, the world finally waking up to Tony Thompson, Corley getting ready to win a world title again, Joppy ready to make another go of it. Then you have a youth movement with the Peterson brothers, Buchanan, Arvin, Tim Coleman, Tyrell Samuel and a terrific group of rising stud young amateurs. One of the reasons it has been so great to be involved in the boxing scene here is the fact that we have such a knowledgeable fan base. Maybe it is because of the amateur programs or just because of the quality of fighters that grew up here, but doing shows across the country, the fans here are far and away some of the most sophisticated fight fans. They can appreciate a great tactical fight where the same fight might be booed someplace else. They know what they are looking at and that is terrific. In addition it means if I put someone on who I consider prospect and folks have never heard of him, but see him work, get behind him and get excited by him and want to see him again, it becomes very rewarding.

Q. Another person asked why you don't use talent like Mike Paschall, Mike Ricasa, Dean White, Jessie Nicklow and Russ Shifflett. Are they under exclusive contract to Jake Smith?

A. I try and see most of the shows in the area, and especially almost all of Jake Smiths shows, because they are some of the more professional shows in the area. And I go there to enjoy a fight and to check out and see if there is someone that I should be using either at the Ballroom or on shows across the country. As a matter of fact, I saw Dean White beat Ricasa and he impressed the hell out of me. So when I wanted to put Nick Casal in a fight that was a step up for him, I called Dean and made the fight against Casal in Las Vegas. Now it was a very hard fight to make because Dean fell into the age category where he needed to get a huge amount of tests. So I worked with his team and we got it done. And he fought a tremendous fight which ended in a draw. It was a close fight and Dean’s team thought he won. I told him that I would work to do a rematch here in Maryland and it would be a huge attraction at the Ballroom since Casal has fought here before.

Of the other fighters on the list, I have spoken with Russ Shifflett, who is currently not fighting, to try and get him to come out and restart his career. In terms of the others, I do roughly forty shows a year across the country, which seems like a lot and that I should have plenty of slots to put whomever I want on. But in actuality every show has its required fighters, either driven by television or by the site or by the needs of the promoter, so when I go to see Mike or Jessie Nicklow fight, I am watching where they are at and judging how they are developing and just making a mental note so in the future if I see an opportunity to put them in a fair fight then I will. And fair fight is the guiding principle here.

Q. A sidebar question was why wasn't Paschall considered for the Shobox tournament? The writer felt that Paschall had a similar record Lucas Arias who will face Henry Buchanan.

In the case of Buchanan, I have made most of his fights, know him extremely well and know what I think he is capable of. So I am putting him in the Showtime Super Middleweight tournament because I think that he is ready for a step up. He could rise to the occasion and over the next six months win three fights on television and turn into a tremendous young star. So he is going in on a level playing field. Dean White is a tough kid and I knew that he would not only be a test for Casal, but an opportunity for Dean to step up and show us how good he is. He is late in his career, and I am very pleased that he is now going to get the chance to fight Monte Clay next month. And unlike the shows where I am the matchmaker and therefore try to be neutral, I will definitely be rooting for Dean. He deserves success.

I do not know whether Jake Smith has exclusive promotional contracts with fighters. I do not think that he does. In order to ask a fighter to sign an exclusive promotional contract, the promoter must be able to guarantee the fighter certain minimum purse amounts and guarantee a certain number of fights each year. In addition the promoter must have the strength to put the fighter on television and to be able to move the fighter up in the world rankings and to attract quality opponents to come fight his or her fighters.

Q. A few people wanted to know how you as a matchmaker get paid. Is it straight fee, percentage, do you get extra if the matchups are great.


A. Matchmakers get paid by the promoters a set fee per fight card. If it is a high profile TV show it might pay a little more than a club show, but basically the promoters consider that you are making the fights on their card and pay you accordingly. I wish there were extra fees for good matchups, but unfortunately there are none.


Q. A fan wanted to know who is this jr. welterweight out of Texas Americo Santos, and when can we see him again?

A. Americo Santos is a 25-1 jr. welterweight prospect out of Garland, Texas that I work with for Gary Shaw. Every fight he is in is exciting. In his last fight he fought a very tough Mexican fighter named William Morelo for a minor WBC belt. Now Americo is an all offense, no defense type of fighter and for 8 rounds his defense was to stop every one of Morelo’s punches with his face and keep charging forward. There must have been some point where Morelo had to say to himself “who is this crazy mother f*****?”. And by the 9th and 10th round, Americo started to just wear poor Morelo out and finally knocked him out with forty seconds left in the twelfth round. I had ok’d the opponent, knew it was going to be a tough fight, but at the same time since it was for a title the rewards were worth it (Americo’s next fight will either be a main event on an upcoming ShoBox show I am working on, and also coincidentally trying to bring another undefeated area fighter on as the co-feature, or on the Evander Holyfield show in Dallas in August).

Q. What generated the idea for the tournament and why did you pick the Super Middleweight division as the weight class to do a tournament?

A. Several factors- first, I see the day ahead where I will read about a prospect in Zaire on a boxing website over breakfast and be able to click and suddenly be watching his last fight. When that comes and it is almost here, we will become more and more of a global sport. Doing so many shows on Showtime that operates on a smaller budget than HBO, I wanted to seek a new way to attract a broader group of fighters from around the world. This tournament is getting attention around the world and with it will be more and more contacts and calls from fighters who no one has ever heard of who can really fight and want an opportunity and they will be part of future shows. I am already in the planning stages for next year’s version which will be in a different weight class. What I hope is that the first two weeks of the tournament next year can be in another country to help to expand the world view.

And another important factor is so much of what you read in the media is that the audience here is Hispanic and that you must have Hispanic fighters to attract the really large audiences. I think that is a very provincial attitude. The fact is that Hispanic fight fans are great fight fans and right now they come out the most for their fellow fighters, but they know the sport and have great respect for good fights and fighters. If we are able to put on a tournament each year that brings people from all over the world, we create more of a world audience with less pure nationalism driving their choices, and more pure love of great fights.


I was attracted to the super middleweight division because there were seventeen undefeated young guys most of whom were unknowns. I have ended up with six committed to the tournament although one has had visa problems so 5 of the 8 in the tournament are undefeated.

And being from Maryland how could I not include Sugar Poo! Clearly I had to give the world a chance to appreciate him in all his glory. But as I mentioned above I like him as a fighter, he has tremendous heart and I have seen him in fights where he did not train, had problems with the weight, got into deep water and just dug down and knocked the other guy out. I think he has great potential- and what is exciting for me is that I am in the position to give him an opportunity whereby if he wins three fights he will be making some money and on his way to being a star. The question is, will he rise to the occasion and do it. So make sure to tell all your readers to tune in to Showtime at 11pm on July 28th and watch him work!

Q. Is there a "seeding" process that determined the matchups for the first round? If so, where was Buchanan ranked?

A. Seedings were simple as I did not want to put Americans against each other in the first round, and four of the fighters had to fight on August 4th (the second Friday show) so the seedings fell easily into place.


Q. When you make a bout for a promoter, do you do it based on what you think would make the best matchups or do you do it based on what the promoter has brought out in the past? In other words; is your matchmaking gameplan different for Ballroom Boxing than it is for Gary Shaw?

A. The way I do my match ups for each promoter is different. With Shaw there is the tremendous pressure of Showtime or HBO and making quality matchups that work for them. The key is to make a quality match up whereby the style of our fighter works with the style of the opponent so that GSP comes away with a win and then gets a future date on the network for that fighter. Matching up of styles and imagining how a fight will take place, speaking to colleagues in the business about match ups is what I find to be the most intellectually challenging aspect of the sport. For the Ballroom, the matchmaking plan has really been to make Glen Burnie a spot on the boxing map where top prospects go to fight. So bringing in the young guns, matching them up in quality fights and seeing how they perform is what that is about and at the same time putting on the type of fights that the crowd there is used to seeing. If you went with me for a year and saw all the fights that I do, you would realize how few early knockouts there are on any of the shows. And the reason for that is simple and is the basis for my matchmaking- the bottom line is that I am going to be sitting ringside for each fight and I am a fan of fights. I do not want to be bored nor do I want to see a kid get gored. I want to see even fights with quality fighters, sit back and enjoy them. I want all the hours that I spend on the telephone, all the fights that I watch on TV and all the gym visits to mean something and be worth something. And to me that means I want a great fight.

Middendorf's closing comments: "I really appreciate the opportunity to answer these questions. I wish that there were more. I also wish that there was a fair way for me to respond to the really negative comments. Unfortunately, people are going to say whatever they want and the nature of your blog is that they can with complete impunity and anonymity. The sad thing is that that limits the ability of the blog to drive constructive dialogue and it becomes a forum where people feel free to vent. The funny thing to me is that people who have serious questions of how the boxing world works or how fights are made don’t just come up and ask me. If they don’t want to do it in person, they can email me at chris@middendorfsports.com."