Some Managers, Agents Lose Backstage Pass

Matthew Kaplowitz/Sherdog.com

Monte Cox believes managers
must pick their battles.

“I’m more concerned about who we can or can’t have as sponsors now, something that takes money directly from the fighters,” said Cox, who has also promoted his own events since 1996.

Cox said he has never applied for a manager’s license or requested a backstage credential, preferring to take on the cornerman’s role when needed at events big and small. He said he has even worked solo from the apron at overseas events.

“It all depends on your relationship with the fighter,” Cox said. “If they want me backstage, they'll ask me to be there and give me one of their credentials. If not, I have no problem getting a ticket and watching from the stands.”

Not all representatives are as willing to pay their own way. An argument for the promotion arises when backstage crowds begin to multiply like rabbits.

“The manager of the fighter from the first or second fight of the night suddenly becomes three managers, and they all try to sit in the front row for the main event and security has to kick them out,” said Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer.

Although Kizer acknowledged that this scenario doesn’t occur in every instance, he said he’s taken issue with bloated boxing entourages -- some totaling up to 30 people between relatives, managers, trainers and priests, all there to support a single fighter and clog up the locker rooms in the process. Kizer said excused persons have also tried to join the procession to the ring or cage in the hallway, which becomes a safety concern, and the commission has had to enlist a second credentialing system to weed out the hangers-on.

New Jersey Athletic Control Board Deputy Attorney General Nick Lembo said he had to pull an unlicensed individual from a corner at a show the commission regulated just last Saturday after the man wandered out with the fighter from backstage.

One fighter representative argued that order isn’t Zuffa’s motivation, though.

“If there were overbearing managers that get in the way or take advantage, I could totally understand [Zuffa’s] point if they’re back there just trying to make the fight go smoothly and there’s too many bodies back there. But this really isn’t the issue,” said the representative.

Managers and agents provided a laundry list of their backstage responsibilities, some of which involve direct commission contact. While the cornermen concentrate on the fighter’s pre-fight preparation, a manager or agent could be responsible for details as minute as retrieving forgotten mouthpieces and approved beverages to the handling of lucrative sponsorship materials, including T-shirts and banners.

Al Quintero/Sherdog.com

Ken Pavia believes
his services are
needed backstage at UFCs.

Some tasks run deeper.

One fighter representative said he had to tend to a fighter that had an anxiety attack and hyperventilated before his bout. Another rep said he was asked by his client to look over his check before he signed it -- a check that was calculated incorrectly. The manager sat with the commission backstage until the check was remedied.

Managers and agents can also act as liaisons between fighters and their families and often become the point person when an athlete is rushed to the hospital. Reps also observe drug testing and review medical suspensions with the commissions. These are roles that the reps said cornermen aren’t expected to perform and that fighters pay to have done so they won’t have to do themselves.

“We’ve had it where a fighter gets handed a [medical] suspension, put the paperwork in his bag, then forgot all about it,” said another anonymous rep. “If you can get back there and do all that, then you allow everyone else to be focused on their jobs.”

But it’s probably the scenarios that managers and agents might now miss that have them worried.

“There have been situations where business has been presented,” said a rep, who also explained that fighters can be approached backstage by sponsors, commercial photographers and press, all toting release forms.

In addition to unreported locker room bonuses, fighter reps have told Sherdog.com that verbal contract extensions have taken place. One rep said his fighter was even presented with a written contract to sign without counsel advice before he could continue on with his duties that evening.

The NJACB’s Lembo said keeping the environment distraction-free and in order so that the inspectors can do their jobs is paramount.

“To me, it’s not a cut and dry issue,” Lembo said, “but I’m looking first to control the locker room, and I don’t believe a manager is needed back there.”

Lembo, who said smaller events than the UFC are the norm in New Jersey, keeps to a firm rule of three licensed seconds outside of “special” commission exceptions or championship bouts. In those cases, he’ll approve one extra cornerman, much like the NSAC does.

“Who’s the fighter going to get approached by in the dressing room if he’s just back there with his seconds? He can just get approached by that promoter. That’s the only person who would be allowed back there. The fighter can always say, ‘My manager’s outside. Let’s go talk there.’ I always tell the fighters: ‘If you don’t know what you’re signing, take it to your lawyer or manager.’”

Cox agrees the fighter should be given more of the benefit of the doubt.

“We all have horror stories of what these promotions have tried to do, but I’ll be honest, I’ve never had a problem with any of them except the IFL,” Cox said. “In the end, it comes down to the fighter. I have faith my guys won’t sign anything without me looking at it first.”

At least one regulator said he’d be open to looking into the issue if warranted.

Kizer, the NSAC executive director, said his agency usually tries “to let the manager and the promoter work it out on their own … but if they can’t, that’s what we’re here for.”

Kizer said three cornerman, as well as one business representative, is a reasonable backstage request as long as the rep has been approved for a manager’s license.

“Either the manager or the fighter or both [can call me],” Kizer said. “I don’t know if [the fighter] even needs to prove that he needs [the manager] backstage. If he wants him, that’s enough for me. If a promoter has a problem with a manager or a manager has a problem with a promoter with respect to a Nevada bout, they are fine to come to me and I’ll do my best to resolve the matter as the executive director, and if it’s a big enough deal, we’ll push it up to the five commissioners.”

Almost all the reps that Sherdog.com spoke to said they’d be comfortable with three licensed cornermen and one managerial figure allowed backstage, which is the setup the UFC and WEC approved until recently. Pavia suggested that promotions institute criteria to ensure only professionals gain entry and don’t abuse the system.

Many reps fear that if they don’t speak up, other promotions will follow Zuffa’s precedent and that many of the smaller companies don’t have the manpower and organizational skills needed to prevent the added problems that will arise.

“There was an event where backstage was so disorganized that all the fighters, not just mine, were worried if this fight was even going to happen, if they were going to get paid,” Pavia said. “There was nobody backstage. There was no water. There were no inspectors in sight. My fighters wanted me there.”

Kizer and Lembo, whose respective commissions handle the bulk of the big-money boxing events in the U.S., said backstage entourages can get out of hand, but they’ve never heard of a boxing promoter denying a manager or an agent a backstage credential.

“One qualified businessperson, that has a relationship with the fighter, serves the purpose backstage,” said Pavia, who boarded a red-eye Monday night to meet his main event fighter, Martin Kampmann, in Nashville.

In Kampmann's corner, six-time UFC champion and mentor Randy Couture, striking coach Mark Beecher and training partner Jay Hieron will undoubtedly provide the Dane with worthy advice.

Meanwhile, Pavia will support his fighter from the audience, hoping his services are not needed backstage.

Editor's Note: This article was corrected at 11:05 a.m. EST to clarify Kampmann's cornermen for April 1, who were originally identified at Shawn Tompkins and Mike Pyle.