Fred Sternburg, who was part of some of El Paso's biggest fights, earns Hall of Fame nod
Fred Sternburg, who was part of some of El Paso's biggest fights, earned a spot in the Boxing Hall of Fame this past weekend. Fred Sternburg, a publicist who was part of some of El Paso's biggest fights, has been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Sternburg was introduced to the boxing scene by his publicist, Charlie Brotman, who managed Sugar Ray Leonard's career. Since then, Sternburg has worked for America Presents, Top Rank Boxing and started his own publicity company, Sternberg Communications. He has represented a who’s who of boxing royalty, including Manny Pacquiao, Winky Wright, Deigo Corrales, Shane Mosley, Gennadiy Golovkin, and Freddie Roach. Despite his success in selling the image of Pacquiano to the media and his ability to create a global superstar, Sternbur remains committed to his clients.
Opublikowany : 10 miesięcy temu za pomocą Matthew Aguilar, El Paso Times w Sports
Fred Sternburg, who was part of some of El Paso's biggest fights, earns Hall of Fame nod
I can’t remember when I met Fred Sternburg. Because it seems like I’ve always known him. Every big fight that came to El Paso — whether it was a Jose Luis Castillo mismatch or Oscar De La Hoya dining on a French pastry in the Sun Bowl — that big Fred smile greeted us before he unfurled the red carpet like we were the New York Times on the Border.
But it didn’t have to be El Paso. It was also Las Vegas, Chicago, wherever. He always came to our promotional rescue. And we were all — and continue to be — better off for it.
Fred was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame this past weekend in Canastota, N.Y. Really, it’s years too late. This should’ve been done years ago. Because there’s never been a better publicist in the history of boxing.
First thing you notice about Fred is the grin. The one that’s in the photo accompanying this story. It’s always there. Big and booming but also pleasant and welcoming. As my former El Paso Times colleague Bill Knight said, he is always smiling and when he’s not — he’s laughing.
“Fred is a special person who obviously loves what he does,” Knight said. “He is not only knowledgeable but really good with the media — a lot of that because of his happy demeanor.”
A native of the Washington D.C. area, Sternburg graduated from Syracuse and started in the sports publicity biz at just the right time. He began working under legendary publicist Charlie Brotman, who just happened to be handling Sugar Ray Leonard’s career in perhaps the greatest era of boxing ever.
Sternburg worked Leonard’s 1987 upset over Marvelous Marvin Hagler, and he was hooked.
Since then, he has worked for America Presents, Top Rank Boxing and started his own publicity company, Sternburg Communications. He has also represented a who’s who of boxing royalty, from Winky Wright to Deigo Corrales to Shane Mosley to Gennadiy Golovkin to Manny Pacquiao. Today, he represents PPV.com, Jim Lampley and Freddie Roach.
But Pacquiao was his home run. That’s where Fred showed all that he learned over a brilliant career. Where he applied all of those juicy Brotman tidbits and years of experience and honed it into a work of art. It all went into the image construction of Pacquiao — and out in the form of fascinating leads and colorful, engaging paragraphs.
Yes, “Pac-Man” could fight a little. But anyone who told you that the blonde-tipped Filipino who fought on an Oscar De La Hoya undercard in 2001 would become one of the most recognized, beloved and wealthy fighters on the planet would tell you you’re insane.
Pacquiao’s rise is one of the most incredible ascensions the sport has seen. An anonymous, flawed flyweight blossoming into a powerful boxing blockbuster. Certainly, that type of emergence can’t be achieved by one person. There was a team at Top Rank and others who helped build that. But it was Sternburg’s cleverness and inventiveness in selling this fun-loving, fresh-faced, humble killer to the media that helped him become a worldwide phenomenon.
Consider, in 2005, Pacquiao lost to Erik Morales and many (me!) predicted that the end of a great career was in the offing. Four years later, Pac-Man became one of only 10 boxers to ever appear on the cover of Time Magazine.
He is always and continues to talk not about himself — but his clients. Whether it be Pacquiao, or anybody else. Whether they were interesting or not — Fred made them so.
Boxing scribe George Willis worked with Sternburg throughout his career at the New York Times and New York Post.
“Don King and Bob Arum are Hall of Fame promoters. Now add Fred to the list, a pro's pro, who cares about his clients, the event and fans of the sport,” he said. “He took Winky Wright from unknown to the Hall of Fame and Manny Pacquiao from ‘Who’s this guy?’ to a global superstar. He’s the best in the business.”
Sternburg happened to be in El Paso working a fight in 1999 when Knight was inducted into the El Paso Boxing Hall of Fame. He hasn’t called Knight anything but “hall of famer” since then.
Now, the compliment can be reciprocated.
Matthew Aguilar may be reached at [email protected] @MatthewAguilar5 on X