LOVERRO: Bethesda native Sternburg rightfully among boxing’s greats

I was there for the early days of the brilliance of Fred Sternburg, when he was publicizing club fights in places like the Pikesville Armory, where he searched far and wide for a phone line for me to send my column about the fight he had convinced me to cover. He found one in the guard shack outside.

I was there when Sternburg’s career as a boxing publicist took off after he promoted David Tua’s fight with heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and he even had me thinking Tua could win.

Lewis boxed Tua’s ears off for 12 rounds.

“I was convinced he was going to win,” Sternburg said.

And I was there when his publicity campaign helped make Manny Pacquiao boxing’s biggest star, culminating in the Filipino’s showdown with undefeated Floyd Mayweather.

So why wouldn’t I be there in Canastota, New York, when Sternburg is celebrated for his legendary work as a boxing publicist by being inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame Sunday?

“Nothing prepares you for this,” said Sternburg, 65, a Bethesda native. When I got the call, I think I asked, ‘Are you sure, and when’s the recount?’ He says you’re in and only one of 10 publicists ever elected. I’m thinking, I’m going to be up there with these legends forever.”

One of the first calls Sternburg got when his election was announced was from his mentor and former employer, 96-year-old Washington public relations icon Charlie Brotman, who was with his friend, television reporter Chris Gordon. “Charlie kept spelling his name to me and I said, ‘Charlie, I know how to spell your name.’ Chris says, ‘No, he’s just trying to tell you how many times he wants you to mention his name in your speech.’”

I’ve known many public relations people in sports, some great ones. But boxing publicists are different. They are often like a character out of a Damon Runyon story, with a gift for selling a fight, often with colorful gimmicks that become the stuff of lore — like the time when Sternburg made a local, talented welterweight fighter named Derrell Coley into a national media celebrity, before the days of social media, using postcards.

“I had thousands of postcards printed up and spent hours licking stamps,” Sternburg said. “I’m surprised I didn’t die from that. I hit every friend and friends of friends and relatives to send them out. They were pre-printed with, ’I’m a boxing fan and would really like to see Pernell Whitaker get a title shot against Derrell Coley.’ We got an Associated Press story, a USA Today story. [HBO boxing executive] Seth Abraham wondered, ’Who the hell is Derrell Coley and why am I getting these postcards?’ It was a riot. We didn’t get the fight, but we got him a lot more recognition. He was a featured fighter on USA Network’s ’Tuesday Night Fights,’ and may have fought on that show more than any other fighter.”

It also led to a big payday and a main event fight for Coley against Oscar De La Hoya in Madison Square Garden in February 2000. Coley was knocked out by De La Hoya in the seventh round.

Sternburg was working with America Presents out of Denver at the time. They were promoting Tua, a Samoan heavyweight contender with knockout power — enough to knock out John Ruiz in 19 seconds in their 1996 bout. Four years later, Ruiz got a shot for the vacant World Boxing Association championship a few months before Tua fought Lewis, the World Boxing Council title holder, in November 2000.

There was a signature moment in that promotion that I played a part in.

“We have to go to New York, where Ruiz is fighting for the title, and he had just knocked Ruiz out in 19 seconds when they fought, yet Ruiz gets the title shot,” Sternburg said. “Tua, with a little coaching, when you asked the question, ‘What do you think of Ruiz, since he is getting this title shot and you aren’t?’ He said, “He seems like a nice guy, but I wish I had more time to get to know him.” We came up with that line at dinner the night before because Tua is like, ‘What do I say when they ask me about this?’ I gave up the line and he burst out laughing. He said, ‘What do I do? Do I just blurt it out?’ I said, ‘No, you wait for the question to be asked,’ and you were the one who asked the question.”

His highest profile moments, though, came after he started his own publicity company and took on a talented Filipino fighter named Manny Pacquiao. The two of them would ride Pacquiao’s knockout power and Sternburg’s knockout publicity to the top of the industry.

“I saw the world with Manny, and with Bob Arum, who did a great job promoting him,” Sternburg said. “Manny had a great sense of humor and he went along with anything we did. When he didn’t speak English, I had to come up with things, that’s why I came up with Manila Ice for the second (Erik) Morales fight (in November 2006. Pacquiao had lost a close decision to Morales in their first fight in March 2005. Pacquiao stopped Morales in the 10th round in their second bout).“You couldn’t talk to him to get quotes, and how many times can I keep trotting Freddie Roach out, who was great?” Sternburg said. “We came up with the secret weapon — Manila Ice. No one knew what it was. We are doing the HBO talent meeting with the commentators, and they are peppering him with questions about it, what is it, what is it? Is it the left hook? Is it the right uppercut? Manny would shake his head, no, no, it’s not that. They were all trying to guess what it is.

“Then I am in the press room after that meeting. Larry Merchant pulls me aside and says, ‘You’ve got to tell me what it is. I need to know what it is so I can talk intelligently about what Manila Ice is.’ I go, ‘Larry, I would love, but I signed an NDA. I can’t do it.’ At that point I thought if I can fool Larry Merchant, we have fooled the world. There are fans there with homemade Manila Ice T-shirts on and we were off to the races after that.”

Sternburg will cross the finish line Sunday (he’s still working, currently helping to promote the June 15 fight card with Tank Davis and David Benavidez in separate title shots) when he joins Pacquiao in the Boxing Hall of Fame.

I’ll be there to watch. After all, I may have had a small part in it. Like Charlie Brotman, I hope he gets my name right.

⦁ You can hear Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.