10.02.07 – By Michael Marley, BoxingConfidential.com: Once a salesman, always a salesman. And Head Goose Dan Goossen can sell the flock out of almost anything. I hear tell that, many years ago, he had a thriving business selling surfboards in Iowa but that can’t be confirmed. Some say he sold tanning lotion in the Gobi Desert.
You get the point. Dan is the kind of salesman who makes the buyer think that he is being sold something he or she really needs or wants. He may have been the model for Alec Baldwin in “Glengarry Glenn Ross,” you know the A-B-C, Always Be Closing fast talker who bottom prize for salesmen was “you’re fired.” Yet, when it comes to fast-rising heavyweight contender Eddie Chambers, Goossen is not opting for the cold call or the hard sell. The bossman at Goossen Tutor Promotions does not have to after Chambers lit up the ESPN screens with his vicious, seventh round stoppage over previously unbeaten Derric Rossy Friday night.
Chambers, only 24, looked strong from start to finish. Big Bird Dan let son Craig Goossen and media marvel Rachel Charles handle business at the Long Island site but he surely liked what he saw on the TV screen at his SoCal mansion.
“Although Eddie looks small and is small…he fights big. I was really impressed with the performance. Eddie was cool calm and mean. Have I mentioned how mean he was?” Goossen said.
I fired a few coast-to-coast questions at the Chief Goose. Before I could verbally counterpunch, the onetime office products sales whiz tossed in one of his trademark quips. Goossen is as quick with the quips as Chambers was with both hands in demolishing Rossy, the former Boston College football standout who was just overmatched. (Chambers is now 28-0, 15 KOs, while Rossy falls to 15-1.)
“Now, Marley, don’t start calling him Eddie “Torture” Chambers. He goes by Fast Eddie like Fast Eddie Felson in the great movie, “The Hustler,” as played by Paul Newman” Goossen said.
That made me think of another quipster, the former AP boxing scribe “Fast Eddie” Schuyler but I digress. I stated pitching questions at the Spruce Goose.
Q. There was a definite buzz at the Astoria, Queens, Christos Steakhouse (best porterhouse steaks on the East Coast, Danny). I watched the fights with Ced Kushner, Mike Borao and wife Lauren, Alan Wartski and wife Maria and Big Jay Wartski. So it was a boxing crowd. Everyone raved about your Fast Eddie. Maybe you felt the buzz in Cali?
A. Good to hear the boxing guys liked what they saw. In my eyes, Eddie was pretty impressive. You have to like how he finished the guy, his violent nature. OK, he is small but he is training in Philadelphia where a small heavyweight named Joe Frazier came out of. Maybe you heard of him?
Q. You had another heavyweight winner on the show as Chris Arreola stopped Zakeem Graham in three rounds. Arreola is now 19-0 with 17 KOs. Arreola is not as polished as Chambers. What’s the prognosis for Chris?
A. Arreola is also a guy who will keep stepping up with more credible opponents. Look, he’s got a shot at being a real star as a guy of Mexican heritage. He is still learning, no doubt about it. But think about the ramifications of having a Hispanic heavyweight as a real star. We will step him up now against better opposition.
Q. So ESPN, which I know pays promoters peanuts without the shells, had a nifty show. But I got to believe Chambers graduates now to HBO or Showtime level. Am I right on that?
A. Well Eddie took six stitches on his eye but it seems to be on the surface, not down deep. That was from a head butt, not a punch, by the way. He may be ready to go against in early April. Yes, Eddie can really step up. The Eddie Chambers you saw last night can fight and beat a Hasim Rahman. Eddie is a Top Ten guy now. I’m confident he would beat Rahman and those type of guys and I mean now, not later. Eddie also gets a boost in the world ratings with that USBA title.
Q. Any thoughts on valiant loser Rossy?
A. Rossy impressed me also. He is a nice looking guy, has determination and punching power. And he has the football background. He just ran into a very good fighter in Eddie Chambers. Rossy just didn’t have the same amateur boxing pedigree or pro foundation that Eddie has. But don’t forget that Rossy is a tough kid and was an undefeated kid.
Q. I like Fast Eddie’s hand speed. Is that his biggest asset?
A. He’s got more than hand speed because he throws three, four or five punch combinations. He also did some serious body work. He is just a hard hitter and he likes going toe to toe with an opponent. Eddie is just going to get bigger and better. He’s not a dancer by any means. He’s more like a baseball player who is looking to hit every pitch out of the park. He sits in the pocket and fires those combinations looking to take the other guy out of there.
Q. Big Bird, I know you are happily married but maybe you can just “look at the menu” when you run your next show at the Playboy Mansion. Tell us about Tony ‘The Tiger” Thompson fighting Timur Ibragimov.
A. I will not be wearing my bathrobe. We leave that to Mr. Hefner. But Tony was set to go to Germany three times for a WBO eliminator against Luan Krasniqi. They pulled out twice claiming injuries and decided that not go give them strike three. We wanted a known opponent so we got Timur for Tony. It should be a good fight on FOX Sports Net on Friday, February 16. We look for great things from Tony The Tiger.”
Q. So the heavyweight division, while generally moribund, is picking up at Goossen Tutor. Is this part of your grand design?
A. I have always been a heavyweight guy. I like heavyweights and so do the fans. They love to see two big men in there throwing bombs at each other. So, yes, we’re happy at how our heavyweights are moving but we certainly do not turn a blind eye to talent in the other weight divisions.