By Kerry Daigle, www.keeppunching.com

Throughout boxing history many promoters have entered in the boxing world with tremendous fanfare and left quietly.  We’ ve all seen it happen, especially those of us in the industry.  My personal experience in boxing over the last 35 years has given me the opportunity to meet some of the most colorful, intoxicating, and interesting people in the world.  I’ve watch boxing through the years excite, anger, and motivate fans globally with its exhilarating combination of primal savagery, unbelievable drama, and the surprising courage of its combatants.   The entertainment industry makes movies that become Oscar winning tributes to great and not-so-great fighters from the past …..some fictitious and some real.

Without a surprise the boxing business has attracted many of the world’s different personalities to become promoters.  This makes me think back to the books I’ve read of the great boxing managers who  developed pugilists to be the center of the entertainment industry attracting the media to come and listen to the celebration and intoxicating words of a promoter or manager at a press conference delivering the message about the next great champion with blasphemous words.  Jack Kearns comes to mind as the astute manager who went to Shelby, Montana with Jack Dempsey and ‘as they say’ broke four banks as Dempsey beat Tom Gibbons rather handily.

Where does this young man Dana Pitcher fit in?  Who is he?  Meeting with Pitcher and listening to his goals of  “becoming the next major force in boxing as a promoter” falls on ears of mine that has heard this story before.  Why is he different? His soft brown eyes stare vacantly into the distance as a big smile comes across his face while stating, “I am going to bring ‘big time boxing’ back to Louisiana and other parts of the country.”  Without missing a beat he speaks of the team he is putting together with Peyton Sher as his chief advisor and matchmaker, a man of extraordinary contacts and credibility in the sport of boxing having worked with the premier promoter of all time, Don King.  Sher, who has participated in some of the most memorable fights in boxing history such as ‘THE RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE’ with George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, ‘THE THRILLA IN MANILA’ with Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, along with the history making fight between BUSTER DOUGLAS AND MIKE TYSON in Japan, brings Dana Pitcher to ‘larger’ bargaining tables.  This is what is elevating Pitcher to promotions with major names on his cards while developing new and upcoming talent. 

Dana Pitcher attended Southern University in marketing and comes from the entertainment industry as a national concert tour promoter since 1983 working with the likes of B.B. King, Marvin Gaye, Prince, Luther Vandross, Toby Keith, Gladys Knight, David Allen Coe, Rick James among numerous others.  Pitcher holds the honor of breaking several attendance records thoroughout the country with concert promotions.   His “team building” of Dana Pitcher Productions, Inc is bringing notoriety to the game of promoting professional boxing. 

Yes, lots of individuals from blue collar workers to white collar executives have attempted to become big time boxing promoters in Louisiana and some have had great success and are doing exceptionally well.  Dana Pitcher is the new ‘promoter’ on the block and not afraid of taking chances.  Will his risk taking create the fan base he is looking for?  With his skills, tenacity, and fascinating ability to move forward without hesitation and looking to the future while developing young talent to promote could make Dana Pitcher a colossus in the industry.

I’m keeping an eye on him.