Boxingtalk caught up with Primer Round Magazine Publisher/Owner Art Gallegos. The Magazine is rapidly spreading throughout the western United States and Mexico, and will be at a news-stand by you in the very near future. Art Gallegos was kind enough to sit down with Boxingtalk to discuss the history, and the future of magazine.


BT - Talk about how the magazine got started, and what made you get into this project ?

AG - I had a lot of fans that brought to my attention that there is not enough media that it the fight. My motivation was to give back to the fans in the business, and to keep them informed on what's coming up next in boxing. The fans always wanted a poster or a picture to remember  that they were there at the fight. Little by little we developed a plan, and we went for it. We got the right people involved, and I was blessed that a lot of people in the business came to me, and told me that they were with me on this.

BT - What is your long term goal for this boxing magazine Art ?

AG - I just want this magazine to go to every young kids home, and to all boxing fans so they can have the memory of great fights. I have been in the closed circuit business for over 14 years, so I want this magazine to be in every home in America that buys the PPV's. The thing is, if you buy the PPV, you get nothing afterwards. If you buy Primer Round Magazine for $ 2.99, you can keep it for a long, long time. I have made a lot of great people since starting this. It's been a blessing, and I want to keep it around for many, many years.

BT - The magazine is bilingual, talk about what that does for the magazine.

AG - For my whole career in boxing I have been providing boxing for the fans in both sides, Spanish, and English. Mexicans have followed guys like Barrera, and Morales and haven't had a month to month basis of information to tell them what's coming up next for them. We have spanish writers in the magazine to inform the Mexican fans on what's going on with their favorite fighters. When we first came out it was just in Spanish. Every where we went I found out there was a demand for the magazine to be in English too, so I went out and found guys to make that happen too. It's a tough business, you have to make deadlines, and get the magazine to the printer. When you have a passion though, it's all worth it.

BT - For those who haven't seen this magazine, the paper you use is the expensive stuff, the glossy look.

AG - The business that I did in the past, I printed thousands of post cards to send to my clients. When I used to look at the post cards of the fight, I said to myself ' I wish I had the whole book that looked like the post cards'. I told the printer that we are going to be here for many years to come, and we made a deal with them that everyone can enjoy a quality magazine for $2.99. The printer even said, they never seen anything like this magazine!

BT - Where is the magazine distributed right now Art ?

AG - Right now it's in California, Arizona, and Las Vegas, and I am very pleased. We have 800 locations right now, and I am very pleased with them. The numbers that came in the first year, I am very pleased with. The distributor took the magazine from Mexico to Oregon, to all of these little mom and pop stores, and I have received calls from people wanting subscriptions. I have heard from people from cities that I have never heard of. I have received many calls from San Diego, Sacramento, and San Jose, and several major cities, as well as the small cities.

BT - The magazine is getting some credibility, recently the magazine had a representative on Showtime as part of the press row scoring.

AG - Absolutely, we were blessed with Showtime. Showtime opened the door for us right from the beginning. I made the call to them about a fight that Showtime was showing here locally. I was amazed at the response that we received. Showtime opened the doors for us, and they never forgot about us. I embrace and support everything that Showtime has done for us, it was to me like unbelievable.

BT - How can people get the magazine Art ?

AG - They can go to www.primeround.com and get a year subscription for $29.99. They can also call 1 - 877 - 759-  8822 to order. I have had a lot of people ask me for the collection, and I am so happy for that. It's a tough business to distribute them all, so I had some copies left over, so I was so happy that people were asking for back copies!

BT - Is there anything that you would like to say to the boxing fans in closing ?

AG - Yes, to the boxing fans please don't get discouraged by the bad publicity that boxing gets sometimes. Enjoy the fights, and if you ever feel like you have purchased a PPV, and you want something to show for it to remember it by, just call us and we'll give you a free sample of Primer Round magazine.

M

Send questions and comments to: bradcooney1@bellsouth.net