COME OUT AND SUPPORT JOHNNY BOS ROAST-TRIBUTE-BENEFIT THURSDAY NIGHT
The bash for the legendary Johnny Bos is this week (Thursday).
Bos, who has been around boxing for over 40 years, and is considered by Michael Katz to be one the most honorable and the most knowledgeable matchmaker in the business, is in poor health with congestive heart failure. And he has also been stiffed by almost every fighter he has brought to the top since the illness came on several years ago. He has not match-made a show in the New York area since having the courage to speak out against the New York State Athletic Commission after the controversial Arturo Gatti-Joey Gamache weigh-in in Febuary 2000. Medical bills, taxes, and old credit card bills are now weighing him down, making it almost impossible for him to survive.
Mike Marley came up with the idea of doing a benefit roast to help him hold off the pressure attack of the bill collectors .The event is also being co-sponsored by Lou DiBella and Alan and Jay Wartski. A few tickets are still left at $250 per seat for what will be an
unforgettable held at Hurley’s Steakhouse (48th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues – 7:00 PM). A number of big name personalities and boxing greats will be there to roast the beloved Wizard of Bos, who put the “B” in Bad and the “E” in Eccentric.
If you can’t make the event but want to contribute, donations of $100 or more will get you a DVD of the event. And if you are unable to contribute this amount, please send whatever you can to Mike Marley (250 W. 100th St., Suite 1102, New York, NY 10025). It promises to be a night you will be able to tell your grandchildren about. Mike can be reached by phone at 1-917-853-4484.
If you are unfamiliar with Johnny’s genius as a boxing man, and the trials and tribulations he’s suffered for several years, Mike Woods of ESPN will be doing an expose of some of the fighters and managers who when Johnny brought to the top, kicked the architect to the curb like a bad habit—and at a time when he’s been too ill and broke to do anything about it. If everybody whose life was once helped or touched by Johnny kicks in, this can be a significant moment, showing that boxing people can be kind and compassionate and do something for one of their own. And, remember, Bos hasn’t always been an angel himself, nor has he
gotten soft in 2007, so expect him to get roasted, toasted, and BBQ’d. Furthermore, for the collectors out there, many vintage boxing items will be on SALE.
DON’T FORGET THE DATE: THURSDAY FEB. 15, 7:00 PM, HURLEY’S STEAKHOUSE. BOSFEST 2007! SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS ASAP AND COME OUT SLUGGING.
