GL: Congrats for going 2-0 last weekend in Little Rock, Arkansas. Can you give us some thoughts on the card?

Lou DiBella: In the opening bout I think Berto made a statement that he is one of the best young prospects in the world. At 23 years old, I don't think there's anyone out there with his level of explosiveness and talent. Jermain did what he needed to do to win decisively. I think he put a lot of energy into trying to get the knockout early and when he couldn't get that he had to tough it out. I think he might have ran out of gas a bit and the cut never stopped bleeding but again, Ouma proved what we already knew about him; he's a very tough fighter and a tough bastard and it doesn't matter who you are. Jermain was able to neutralize Ouma and basically dominate the fight to get himself a clear cut win. We had a great walkup which brought the crowd over 10,000 and it was the biggest indoor sporting event in the history of Arkansas. It grossed more than $1 million and everything worked out well in the end."

GL: How long will the cut keep him sidelined for?

LD: "I haven't spoken with his people or the doctors but my understanding is that it shouldn't have any impact on scheduling his next fight."

GL: How do you feel about open scoring making its debut on this card?

LD: "The scores would have been what they were and I don't think it really made much of a difference with Jermain and Ouma. Before we went on the air I think it made a difference in the Augustus fight because Jones fought harder after he heard the scores and the fifth and ninth were his two biggest rounds of the fight. I certainly don't think the open scoring stopped Jermain and Ouma from fighting how they wanted to fight."

GL: The open scoring will also help us identify inept judges as well but do you think the system would have been better served making its debut on neutral ground?

LD: "I think they're going to implement everywhere, it's not just going to be on neutral ground it's going to be everywhere, even when there is a hometown advantage. Obvious it becomes more of a concern when there's a hometown advantage, but I believe the open scoring worked well with this fight and it had no bearing on how either guy fought."

GL: After you and Golden Boy working together on two shows in a row, can you and Golden Boy get together to give us the only fight that matters at middleweight, which is the rematch between Jermain and Winky?

LD: "I'm not going to revisit it for Jermain's next fight but I think it will be a fight that happens in the future. Jermain just had four tough fights in a row. You can say what you want about Ouma but when you're getting pressed for twelve rounds, I don't care if the guy is smaller, he's a Ugandan warrior who had a gun in his hand when he was eight, he's tough for anyone to beat. Winky keeps screaming for 50-50 and under those terms it's never going to happen. Jermain's going to have some time off before we start discussing what his next move is going to be,"

GL: Jeff Wald has expressed great interest in getting Sergio Mora a shot at Jermain's middleweight crown. Is Mora part of...

LD: (cutting in) "Mora is a strong possibility. The guy can box his ass off, he's undefeated as a pro, he's world ranked all over the place, he won the Contender and he's a celebrity so he's definitely a viable option for Jermain's next fight."

GL: After looking impressive in his debut, can we expect Berto to become a staple on HBO?

LD: "I'm confident that he will be a premium cable staple. As great as he looked he still needs rounds. Every fight isn't going to be about moving him up the ratings or fighting an HBO guy. It's going to be about getting him more seasoned so next year at this time he could beat the shit out of somebody of consequence. I don't know that every fight will be on HBO, but I think he's established himself as a premium cable fighter. He went six rounds in this fight and he's only been six twice because most of his fights end by knockout. We want to get him more rounds before we put him in twelve round fights."

GL: Although he lost to Jermain, based on the fact that he went the distance and pressed the action I can't imagine his stock diminishing one bit. With that being the said, the only talented 154 pounder that you promote that he hasn't fought is Ike Quartey. I'm sure the network would accept that fight, is that something you're going to look to make?

LD: "I've got to talk to Bazooka about what he wants to do and what he wants to do with that situation. You have two very similiar situations where the smaller guy fought well but didn't have the arsenal to beat the bigger guy two weeks in a row. After watching those two fights, if you're the kind of person who makes matches in their head, you have to be like, 'oh my God, what a fight Ouma-Quartey would be.' It's a fight that can't miss, but I gave Ike a week to think about things, but we'll be in touch and if he wants to continue campaigning a fight with Ouma makes a lot of sense."

GL: You have a show in NYC later this week, what can you tell us about it?

LD: "It's the final installment of Broadway Boxing in 2006 and we've got Sechew Powell scheduled on the card, Curtis Stevens will also be on the show. Maureen Shea, who is a real crowd favorite will be on the show. She's one of the most exciting women fighters in the game."

GL: Tell us about February 17.

LD: "Edgar Santana will be featured on the card and we're going to be going live on Boxing After Dark with Paul Malignaggi and Edner Cherry with Sechew Powell and Ishe Smith as the televised co-main event. Edner Cherry is moving up from 135, but Malignaggi has moved up from 135 as well so the weight is not going to be much of an issue. I think it's a tough fight but a good one. Ishe and Sechew have held a grudge with each other for a while now and you know this better than anyone because these guys chat you up and they don't really like one another very much. Even if they respect each other, they definitely don't like each other and anytime you have two guys with that kind of disdain for one another it makes for a really good fight."

GL: Is there anything you'd like to say in closing?

LD: "Keep watching because there's a lot of fights on the horizon. 2007 will be a good year for boxing because people in boxing, we have to make it a good year for boxing. We have to make fights that are pleasind and we have to put together matches of interest becuase we're not skyrocketing as a sport and I think there are a lot of people who realize that in this environment we have to make the people care and you do that by making fights that people care about. With the Mayweather-De La HOya fight being done the whole industry should build around that fight getting made and surround it with good fights that the public wants to see. We don't have superstars like we used to, the fact that 300,000 people buy a PPv doesn't make someone a superstar. We need to make fights that have interest. We need boxers against punchers, punchers against punchers, I mean we all know what we need to do as an industry we just got to do it."

M

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