(MAY 3)  This week I had the pleasure to interview one of the top boxing managers in the sport today, Brian Cohen.  Cohen handles many of top elite female boxers, and he travels worldwide when one of his boxers are on the card.

I met Cohen many years ago and I have followed him---in the aspect of how he has managed female boxers, and will say that I only wish that I had had someone like him to advocate for me when I was thrown into a lion's den as a young fighter in my 20's----not knowing how cruel the sport can be to an innocent and naive fighter as I in the late 1970s.  I asked Cohen how did he get into managing boxers and his background in the sport.  Cohen told me the following:

"I first stepped into a boxing gym when I was 8 years old. My father was a very successful manager in Philadelphia and had some of the best boxers in the city. He also managed multiple world champions.

I had been doing my own thing fighting and building my record fighting all over the country. I made very good connections with promoters and matchmakers wherever I went.

I had torn my groin in a fight, and after receiving that injury, I had to go into a required rehab for a few months. I knew I would not be able to train properly.

But, I also knew being away from the sport would drive me insane.

So in 2009 the beginning of doing other things in the sport,  I applied for my promoters license in Philadelphia, and went on to promoting a show in my hometown of Philadelphia.

On that card, female boxer Lakeysha Williams' opponent fell out--and so the matchmaker had proposed Belinda Laracuente.

I remember watching Laracuente's fight against Christy Martin. I thought it was a bad fight for Lakeysha but the trainer she had at the time insisted on the fight--so the fight was made.

At the weigh-in, I was talking to Laracuente's corner person who just happened to be Melissa Hernandez. So she and I struck up a conversation----then exchanged numbers and began to communicate.

At the time I was still an active boxer but I had been around the sport all my life since my father was a boxing manager.

Hernandez and I finally agreed to terms so I got into my car and drove to Brooklyn and signed her in 2010-2012.

I was able to get her eight fights in those two years and back then the promoters weren’t as eager to put a female bout on them as they are now.

Then in 2010, my daughter, Alanna was born and I knew I wouldn’t be able to train like I use to while holding a full time job, managing boxers, promoting fights so I retired and focused on my boxers.

The more females I managed the more I dealt with promoters and matchmakers that wanted to underpay these woman.

So I started thinking. I said self,  'You have to start changing things for these women so by the time my daughter gets of age at least maybe I can make a difference.'

The news of what I’ve been doing with her spread so the females in the boxing community began to call and my management skills began to grow with it.

I try to treat each lady with the thought in mind that they are someone’s daughter, sister, aunt or cousin. I try to treat them like family.

Off the top of my head the list of boxers that I have managed at some point and the titles they have won with me are-

Melissa Hernandez- WIBA Lightweight

Ronica Jeffrey- NABF, WBU WIBA, 2 X WBC Silver featherweight, IWBF, WIBA Super featherweight

Melissa St Vil- IWBF welterweight, WBC Silver, IBU super featherweight

Alicia Napoleon- WBA world, WBC Silver super middleweight

Keisher McLeod-Wells- WIBA, NYS Flyweight

Sonya Lamonakis- NYS, IBA heavyweight

Nydia Feliciano- IWBF Bantamweight, UBF international featherweight

Jennifer Santiago-UBF international

Carla Torres- WIBA featherweight

Christina Linardatou- WBO World Super lightweight, WBC international super featherweight

I would like to say thank you to Brian Cohen for taking the time to be interviewed this week!